Lucart presents its 17th Sustainability Report

Lucart 17th Sustainability Report, the first to be endorsed by a certifying body, has been presented in Lucca during an event entitled “Carta Canta – Essere Green Heroes” (that translates loosely as “Paper speaks volumes – Being Green Heroes”).

Since 2014 the company has reduced specific CO2 and NOx emissions by 14.9% and 47% respectively, cut specific energy consumption by 13.2% and totaled 80% of recovered waste. Moreover, specific water consumption decreased by 23.3% compared to 2013.

Lucart 17th Sustainability Report also highlights the achievement of a turnover of more than € 540 million (+6.5% compared to 2020), confirming the company’s continuous growth in a year marred by the pandemic and the global economic crisis that resulted from it.

RESULTS

Lucart is continuing on the way of ecological transition in the paper industry by anticipating the 2025 target of using 100% recyclable and/or compostable packaging and is working to increase the use of packaging made from renewable materials (79%) made entirely or partly from recycled raw materials.

The company is as committed as ever to Natural, the ambitious circular economy project launched in 2010 for developing the use of alternative fibers to the virgin pulp, to recover all the materials contained in Tetra Pak® type beverage cartons. From 2013 to 2021 in the scope of the Natural project, Lucart contributed to:

• recovering more than 7.6 billion beverage cartons, a quantity capable of covering the circumference of the Earth 44 times
• avoiding the use of more than 3.3 million trees, a quantity sufficient to cover more than 11,200 football fields
• preventing the emission of more than 195,000 tons of CO2, equivalent to the quantity that would be generated by 1,542,208 car journeys from Rome to Milan

The Natural project and the Tetra Pak® recycling activity led to creating an industrial symbiosis between Lucart and CPR System with the foundation of Newpal S.p.A., a subsidiary dedicated to the molding of high-quality pallets made of recycled plastic coming from the Borgo a Mozzano plant.

Newpal S.p.A. will be involved in an investment of about € 7 million for the creation of an industrial hub in the Ferrara area equipped with an innovative moulding plant for recycled plastics. It will be fully operational by January 2023 and completely close the circle of Tetra Pak® type carton recovery. It is expected to create great advantages for the environment and new business opportunities.

“During 2021, there was a rebalancing of demand for goods between consumer and Away from Home products, in a context of strong economic recovery, especially in the second half of the year. However, the year was characterized by a steep rise in the prices of all raw materials, both fibrous and auxiliary materials, and energy prices sky-rocketed in the last quarter of 2021, aggravated by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in the first quarter of 2022,” commented Massimo Pasquini, Lucart CEO.

“Sustainability continues to be the inspiring element of our innovations and relationships with our stakeholders to build a better future. The macroeconomic framework for raw materials and energy prompts us to expedite the actions we have already taken in recent years and which see us determined to invest in the circular economy, production and energy efficiency, self-production and purchase of renewable energy, and market and product diversification, with particular attention to the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRP), under which the Lucart Group has submitted several projects,” he completed.

THE PRESENTATION EVENT

Confirming the strong link with its territory, Lucart chose Lucca’s historic center to tell its stakeholders about some of the sustainability and circular economy projects launched in 2021.

These include Urban Safety Everyday: a new street furniture project that combines safety, innovation and recycling of waste materials, created by R3direct, an Italian company specialized in large format 3D printing, in collaboration with Lucart. It is a 3D-printed cladding made from plastic and aluminum granules recovered from beverage cartons, to transform concrete crash barriers into elements of street furniture equipped with seats and planters. The prototype was purchased by the municipal administration of Lucca and is located in the city center.

Among the stories of the Green Heroes presented is also the story of ERG, an Italian industrial group that has been operating in the energy sector for more than 80 years, which has chosen to embark on a path that has gradually led to the abandonment of the old production models, based on fossil fuels, to follow the evolution of renewable energies.