Production

At our plant in Borghetto di Borbera, we have always worked towards optimizing production processes and saving energy and at the beginning of 2022 we made significant “Industry 4.0” investments to automate and upgrade machinery aimed at energy efficiency.

Air
To control the impact of emissions into the air coming from the thermal power plant for the production of steam, from the heating systems and, to a lesser extent, from the production plants, we have installed clean energy systems with greater energy efficiency and lower emissions into the atmosphere.

Emission points are constantly monitored through smoke and fume sampling and chemical analysis to verify compliance with laws and our company’s environmental policy.


Water
We draw water for industrial uses and for the firefighting system directly from a sub-bed well located near the Borbera stream and, thanks to the adoption of an internal recycling system of cooling water, we have reduced the amount of drinking water drawn from the aqueduct by 89%.

Water drawn from the aqueduct (m³ per tonne of product)

2015	2017	2020
0.5	0.05	0.03

Waste water
For the safeguard of the surrounding area, since 2003 the cooling water of the production plants is not discharged into the Borbera stream, but recycled inside our factory. Every day, we check critical parameters several times and more thorough checks are periodically carried out by external laboratories and by the ARPA (Regional Environmental Prevention Company).

Our factory is spread over an area of about 60.000 m2, including 18.000 m2 of covered space and 5.000 m2 of greenery. In addition, there are about 20.000 m2 of fields, also owned by Sutter, adjacent to the factory, where we sow seeds.

To prevent any spills that could penetrate the underground water table, we use double chamber underground tanks equipped with a leak detection system for the storage of particular substances.

Our on-site emergency team is constantly trained and do drills to avoid accidental spills and intervene in the event they occur.

We have also adopted environmental prevention systems for waste management, using only ecological service providers registered in the Italian National Register of Environmental Managers and we promote separate collection, implementing where possible the recovery and reuse of plastic, paper, wood and metal components.

Thanks to the proper training of employees, we have reduced the amount of mixed waste per ton produced by 78%.

Mixed waste (kg per tonne of product)

2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
3.2	3.1	0.8	0.7	0.6	0.6

Paper and Plastic (kg per tonne of product)

	2014	2017	2020
Paper	3.7	3.5	3.46
Plastic	2.2	2.0	1.8