Freudenberg Politex

The award from Legambiente goes to Pisticci

Innovating and doing business in a responsible and sustainable way. Perceiving the environment not as an endless resource, but as an asset to be protected.
These are the principles at the basis of the corporate policy of Freudenberg Politex, which obtained the prize "Award Innovation Friend of the Environment for Southern Italy" promoted by Legambiente, the largest environmentalist association in Italy, and by Confindustria, the National Confederation of the Italian Industry.

The prize, annually awarded for technologies, processes, services and innovative management systems that produce significant environmental improvements, is attributed to companies engaged in sustainable development and which distinguish themselves for their actions resulting in environmental improvements, in particular in the regions of Southern Italy, where the need of innovation is extremely important. The award was given to the Management of the Pisticci site, lead by Dr. Rocco Marsico, Chief Technical Officer of the Group, in Bari last January 30^th, 2010.
"We build the future... by recovering the past" is the project that contributed to the excellence of the facility in Pisticci (MT).
At the Pisticci site, Freudenberg Politex produces polyester nonwovens obtained from post consumer recycled PET bottles, then sold as reinforcements for bituminous waterproofing membranes. PET bottles coming from waste collection are selected, washed and reduced to flakes. The flakes are then used directly in the spinning process to obtain the fiber needed for the finished product. The nature of the production cycle allows not only the recovery of waste, but also a significant reduction of CO₂ emissions into the atmosphere. Furthermore, the replacement of virgin raw material with recycled polyester, which guarantees the same quality levels, allows the saving of natural resources consequently reducing the environmental impact by eliminating the energy consumption linked to the process of producing virgin polyester. The effective contribution to the environmental protection is demonstrated by the analysis of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of its products, carried out by the Department of Environmental Engineering and Physics of the University of Basilicata, in the two plants of Novedrate and Pisticci and in progress at other sites of the Group. The LCA studies, following international rules, measure the environmental impacts that a product has during its life cycle. With the aim to confirm the objectivity of the data, Freudenberg Politex obtained for the products manufactured in Pisticci the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) label.

The production process of the Group puts emphasis on the importance of the waste collection, showing how it is concretely possible for industries to invest in clean technologies and to preserve natural resources.

The hope of Freudenberg Politex Management, starting from the President & CEO Dr. Riccardo Sollini who is personally committed in supporting sustainable technologies, is that the award contributes to increase the sensibility of the community in increasing the differentiated waste collection, in particular in the regions of Southern Italy.

Novedrate, February 2010