Pirelli sustainability is 3D

These results were obtained by implementing responsible management across the entire value chain and a solid organisational structure which ensures, on central and social level, the actual operative implementation of the guidelines dictated by the Sustainability Steering Committee. 

One of the activities which best summarises the dimensions of sustainability for Pirelli is the Global Stakeholder Dialogue, promoted by Pirelli in February 2015 in Brussels, with the goal of gathering the expectations and feedback on the group's Sustainability Plan and concrete objects for the forthcoming years from the major international stakeholders.

The strategic vision of Pirelli is concreted in the long-term objects stated in the 2013-2017 Industrial Plan in 2020 perspectiveand covers all dimensions of sustainability running parallel to the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. --Quality Education,Decent Work and Economic GrowthandResponsible Consumption and Production are only some of the SDGs that Pirelli is undertaking with actions aimed at the internal community and the external Stakeholders, including the supply chain. Particularly important is the commitment in favour of  Climate Action, a theme of extreme relevance for Pirelli which led to the group's involvement  in the main side events of Cop21 in Paris 2015.

“2015 was a key year for Pirelli in the area of sustainability”, said Filippo Bettini, Chief  Sustainability and Risk Governance Officer. Not by chance, all the Corporate Sustainability gauging values improved over the year. These include those directly business-related, like the proceeds from Green Performance products, which totalled 48% of the total versus the 46% of 2014 and the 25% of 2009 (base year used for comparing the plan targets), the growth of Research & Development investments (215 million Euro, over 3% of the total proceeds) from which the most important experimentations using new, more eco-friendly and high performing materials originate, such as silica derived from risk husks and natural rubber from guayule. Again in 2015, Pirelli scored a reduction of specific water use of 3% with respect to 2014 and of 42% with respect to 2009, while the waste recovery rate increased to 91%, improving by one point with respect to 2014 and 18% with respect to 2009. 

One of the most significant examples to represent the all-encompassing sustainability of Pirelli is the partnership with Kirana Megatara, one of the major natural rubber suppliers in the world. Pirelli, with Kirana Megatara, supports small natural rubber producers in Indonesia, by means of process and product quality training activities, donation of high-quality rubber tree seeds and scholarships for their children: this activity produces social as well as economic benefits fostering the increase of production and consequently decreasing deforestation by correctly exploiting the rubber trees growing in existing plantations.  “With these training activities, small producers acquire the methods for increasing the productivity of their plants and this is a fundamental aspect also to face the reduction of the price for natural rubber which has recently hit them", explained Eleonora Giada Pessina, Group Sustainability Officer of Pirelli. "Quality, productivity and economic advantage are, in turn, essential to protect biodiversity because the incentive to abandon low-yield plantations to create others causing deforestation is greatly limited”.

Pirelli has always had a strong international vocation and boasts a long tradition in social activities targeting the internal community and the local communities in the countries where it operates. 

Some important numbers exemplify several key projects for the internal community. In 2015 Pirelli totalled 8.3 average days of training a head for employees, compared to the 8.2 days of 2014, thus exceeding the 7 average days target set in the Industrial Plan. Investments for health and safety, which during the 2013-2015 period exceeded 40 million Euro, benefited from the long-term partnership with DuPont Sustainable Solutions focused on maximum diffusion of the “Safety Culture” concept on all organisation levels and in all companies of the group. 
The focus on the health of personnel, which is a distinctive trait of the history of Pirelli, is reasserted by the organisation of conferences on well-being and free prevention campaigns on issues in rotation and the opening of the outpatients hospital in Bicocca 90 years ago: this medical structure of excellence is free and open on weekdays to employees for tests and routine or specialised medical check-ups.
Families also play a key role in corporate welfare for Pirelli. Employees can choose flexitime to balance their working and private life better and their children can benefit from scholarships, summer camps and sports and cultural activities.

With regards to the external community, Pirelli has always supported social, cultural and education activities aimed at improving living conditions, protecting the environment and fostering and promoting local culture. In 2015, Pirelli invested over 7.5 million Euro in favour of the external community, which is over one million Euro more than in 2014. Some examples of the commitment of Pirelli in this area which are worth remembering are the restoration of Christ the Redeemer in Rio and the Intercampus Projects fostering the inclusion of youths by means of sport. These practical activities witness the commitment of Pirelli in the area of sustainability seen as a real incentive for gaining competitive edge and supporting the business development of the group.