Poste Italiane with the pillars presented in the Integrated Report is the emblem for a responsible company in terms of sustainability. For Poste Italiane, the Integrated Report is not only a an instrument for reporting to stakeholders, but is the result of the adoption of an integrated approach to business management, “integrated thinking” that sees the coexistence of financial and sustainability impact assessments in corporate decisions.
Care for the environment is an objective with which every company must parametrise its choices and strategies: projects and initiatives are part of an important and essential panorama of values to contribute with a clear and effective vision to implement concrete commitments to sustainability. The Company continues to promote in the various areas initiatives to enhance the territory with an increasingly aware approach on environmental issues to arrive at the “zero emissions” objective set for 2030, as confirmed by the Chief Executive Officer Matteo Del Fante on the occasion of the presentation of the Group’s “2024 Sustain & Innovate” Strategic Plan. Energy efficiency projects promoted all over Italy, correct waste management, production of renewable energies, rationalisation of the distances travelled, continual renewal of the fleet with more ecological vehicles: these are only some of the areas in which the company’s radical sustainable shift on green issues has become concrete.
A green commitment that comes from afar
Poste Italiane’s commitment to environmental sustainability, translated into one of the pillars of its strategy (decarbonisation of the properties and of logistics), is not a recent choice of the Group. Already between 2009 and 2013 the first large photovoltaic plants were installed in the Centre and South of Italy thanks to the Energy Accounts that remunerated surplus energy input to the grid making it possible to create plants with a higher capacity than the consumption of the properties to which they were connected. Since 2015, the company has strengthened its virtuous pathway through the purchase of green energy which now, through Guarantee of Origin certificates, has come to cover almost 98% of Poste’s needs (2021 Integrated Report).
A second important step was the launch in 2017 of a multi-annual replacement plan with a change to LEDs of the lighting units of buildings and which with gradual steps arrived in 2021 at covering more than 78% of the areas.
In 2018 Poste Italiane began to take part in and support initiatives such as the “Green Month”, “I Will Use Less Light” and “Earth Hour” to spread a culture of environmental sustainability.
In 2019, with a significant effort of training and study, 12 technicians of the Property Department were certified as EEMs (Experts in Energy Management): the skills acquired enable them to guide all investments and maintenance activities on Poste’s property assets (5 million sq. m.) increasingly towards an efficient management of energy resources. Again in 2019 the four most important initiatives that the company has embarked on in these years were presented to and approved by the Investments Committee. Here they are, in brief.
The great photovoltaic network
In addition to the approximately 25 plants created between 2009 and 2020 that today produce approximately 1.5 GWh per year, the new investments involve the creation between 2021 and 2022 of more than 400 photovoltaic plants that will cover all regions with one of the most significant actions in the whole of Italy over these years and certainly the initiative with the highest number of plants ever created in Italy. This project will make it possible to create a production capacity of 18 MW with a production forecast of 25 GWh per year. During 2020 two pilot plants with the same technology that will be used for the next 400 systems were constructed and brought into production; the first was made at the office of the North West Property Area at Via Pindaro in Milan. The second project is instead significant for the fact that is was created on a wing of the Poste Italiane Headquarters in Roma in combination with the creation of 5 recharging stations for electric vehicles.
Smart Building: buildings with green intelligence are created
The project, also financed by the EIB, involves the creation on 2,000 Poste Italiane buildings of a Building and Energy Management System (BEMS) with a single platform for supervision, management and integrated control of the plants aimed at optimising maintenance management and increasing energy efficiency. The project involves both the installation in the buildings of sensors and systems for the control and monitoring of plants, and connection to a centralised platform that enables gradual optimisation of the management of plants and environments. With assets in the form of thousands of buildings scattered over every climate zone and every latitude and altitude of our country, Poste Italiane is a magnificent laboratory representing the extreme diversity of climatic conditions that characterise our territory. As such, it needs technical solutions that can be adapted to the different conditions and that can manage in an optimal manner the comfort of environments for both employees and customers but always trying to use the lowest possible quantity of energy and using the systems as well as possible both to reduce faults and to increase the useful life of the said plants.
The LED: an ally in energy saving
This is an “ongoing” project that is refinanced from year to year and which led in 2021 to the creation all over the country of a further 90,000 lighting units to arrive at 78% of Poste Italiane’s areas, with gradual extension. LED lamps, now in common use also in our homes for several years, entail a reduction in consumption of approximately 50% compared to traditional solutions and a longer useful life of the device reducing also the need for maintenance. In addition, as every year the technical standards are updated to be always aligned with the most modern technologies, in the latest installations the lamps used are also adjustable in power (dimmable) and this makes it possible not only to manage switching on and off but also to automatically adjust the light intensity and therefore the consumption according to the environmental conditions so as to take into account the conditions of natural luminosity.
Increasing energy efficiency
This too has now become a recurring chapter in Poste Italiane’s investments starting from 2019. It brings together a whole series of projects aimed at obtaining lower consumption of resources in particular for managing the heating and cooling of our buildings. The levers that are used are many and go from renewal of the systems at the end of their life cycle with more efficient devices, to the renovation of properties to improve thermal efficiency using insulating materials and fixtures that permit thermal insulation with respect to the external conditions and the revision of the methods of heating and cooling changing from fuels such as heating oil to natural gas or even heat pumps powered by electricity. Also in this case the actions are carried out following technical parameters, renewed from year to year by the GSE, that indicate the types of solutions that make it possible to benefit from incentives for greater efficiency of the devices installed.
“You get what you measure”
2020 was also the year of the turning point for measurement. A famous saying in English is “You get what you measure” and in this case it is particularly true. Even knowing the technical, behavioural and economic elements that determine an effective use of resources it is only through measuring consumption, performance and environmental conditions that it is possible to identify at the origin waste, virtuous cases and opportunities for improvement. It is for this reason that during 2020 several projects were launched in parallel with the aim of collecting an enormous quantity of data in the field and concentrating them in dedicated software for collection, monitoring, analysis and management. Again in 2020 projects were also launched such as for the planting of species capable of absorbing a large quantity of CO2 in their life cycle, which can be implemented intensively in some Poste Italiane properties and land with green spaces. Also in 2020 the Platoon project began; this is financed by the European Community and sees Poste Italiane among the 27 participants coming from different countries. The project, which will finish at the end of 2022, has the objective of creating and testing in the field instruments and algorithms capable of extracting value through the analysis of Big Data originating from the world of energy.
In the new sorting hubs where rainwater is collected
The first of the new parcel Hubs of SDA, a construction of 75,000 sq m inaugurated in 2019 at the Interporto (freight terminal) of Bologna and the two subsequent constructions in Milan and Rome represent a clear milestone for Poste not only for the generation of renewable energy with photovoltaic systems on the roofs but also for the recovery of rainwater and above all for all the arrangements that have made it possible to obtain (the first buildings for Poste and among the first in Italy) BREEAM certification, one of the most widespread certifications at the international level for the environmental sustainability of buildings.
The future objectives
Geothermal systems to manage heating and cooling with renewable energy are already being studied for the future. NZEBs (Nearly Zero Energy Buildings) with minimum energy needs are being assessed. An issue that will assume strategic importance in the future is the management of water resources.
The new buildings provide for the collection and reuse of rainwater for non-drinking uses. The same thing will be done as already in 2021 also in 2022 through the decommissioning of no-longer-used diesel tanks at Post Offices which will be reclaimed and replaced with tanks capable of collecting rainwater which will be reused for the irrigation of newly-planted trees. Finally, at all Poste sites, sprinkler mixers will gradually be installed on taps to reduce the flow of water. In the very many Poste Italiane buildings, which are different in characteristics and dimensions, different approaches will be applied to achieve Carbon Neutrality. In the long term, Poste’s mission is to represent a virtuous example for the country with a direct impact but also with indirect effects in terms of green culture.
On Smart mailboxes data on pollution always visible
Poste Italiane is committed to installing in the country, by the end of 2024, 11,000 smart mailboxes, covering about half of small Italian municipalities. The mailboxes with digital technology will be able to check for the effective presence of mail, collect environmental data (temperature, humidity, pollution) and will offer useful information to the Municipalities in which they are located.
The presence of Poste Italiane in the sustainability indices
The path taken over the last few years has made it possible to reduce by 25% in two years (2017-2019) the group’s direct and indirect CO2 emissions as well as to reduce energy consumption by 7% with consequent benefits including economic ones and together with the other sustainability initiatives to position the Poste Italiane group among the most sustainable companies in the world. This aspect is certified also by the inclusion of Poste in the Global Dow Jones Sustainability Index and by the inclusion in the FTSE4GOOD sustainability indices and classification among the “Industry Movers” of the Robecosam “Sustainability Yearbook 2020”. Poste Italiane is a leader for sustainability among the Italian blue chips in the new MIB ESG index and appears also in the “Leadership” band with A- rating of the annual ranking prepared by the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), the independent non-profit organisation specialised in environmental reporting and in the assessment of performance and strategies on climate adopted by companies. The result was obtained on first participation in the CDP Climate Change questionnaire (in which in 2020 more than 9,600 global businesses took part) and makes the company increasingly attractive for investors that rely on environmental sustainability strategies.
Poste Italiane is also a world leader for sustainability in the Euronext Vigeo-Eiris 2021 index: the Group achieved results highly above average for the sector in the three ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) dimensions assessed by Vigeo-Eiris. Vigeo Eiris is part of Moody’s ESG Solutions, one of the leading international ESG rating agencies, and selects twice a year the 120 listed companies with the highest level of floating capital in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific, analysing the most advanced environmental, social and governance performance.
The alliance with Sennder to save kilometres
Long-range transport, as well as having a high cost, also has repercussions on the environment because the trucks used are powered by diesel with emissions of 900 kg per 1000 km travelled. With the aim of pursuing greater sustainability from the environmental point of view a Joint Venture has been created between Poste Italiane and Sennder, a European leader in the digitalisation of road transport, which will guarantee to Poste Italiane annual savings of more than 6% on expenses for full-load transports and also a reduction in CO2 emissions. The actions to optimise the logistic network carried out starting from 2020, together with the use of vehicles with reduced emissions (LNG – liquefied natural gas), led to a saving of approximately 11.7 million km and a reduction of more than 7,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide (of which 33 tonnes linked to the use of vehicles with reduced emissions).
Poste’s sustainable logistics: the green fleet and Joint Delivery
In line with the objective of prioritising the efficient use of renewable sources and rationalising the consumption of energy from fossil sources, the main actions that generate benefits in terms of environmental sustainability in the world of logistics are attributable to the “Joint Delivery” model and to the plan for green evolution of the company fleet. The implementation throughout the country of the new delivery model, which involves the transition from a single-network structure to a structure with two networks differentiated by methods, frequency of delivery and type of product managed, entails a reduction of kilometres travelled and facilitates deliveries at the first attempt so as to reduce the need for a rolling fleet. And if we think that the 33,570 motor vehicles, motorcycles, tricycles, vans and service vehicles make Poste Italiane’s fleet the largest in Italy and among the largest in Europe we can imagine the impacts of these corporate choices on the national economic system. Over the last few years the Company has committed itself to introducing new-generation vehicles, electric or petrol-powered with three or four wheels, in order to increase gradually the green proportion and improve at the same time the quality of the service. The advantages of this strategy are of three kinds: environmental, safety, service. An increasingly green fleet: going from 11% in 2016 to 17% in 2020, to arrive by the end of 2022 at the replacement of the entire company fleet with latest-generation vehicles with limited emissions. The percentage of alternative and electric vehicles will increase on the basis of the models available on the automotive market compatible with Poste’s needs, with the objective of reducing by 40% the emissions generated by the delivery activity with the replacement of approximately 19,700 vehicles made up of approximately 4,200 electric vehicles, 7,200 hybrid vehicles and 8,300 traditionally-powered vehicles but with low emissions.
