Past, present and future: the culture of eco-compatibility comes to san benedetto

Eco-sustainability, energy saving, research and innovation. On the basis of these guidelines group Acqua minerale San Benedetto SpA has worked for years to become a carrier of eco-culture that could contribute to the abatement of harmful emissions and to the energy production from renewable sources. The new arrival at San Benedetto is actually a photovoltaic plant created at the factory in Pescara. The project is part of a more extensive company’s mission of “Resources for Life:” adopting diligent behavior to ensure complete enhancement of water as gift to be passed on to future generations.

We talk about it with Tullio Versace. “Constant attention paid to environmental issues and to energy saving have always been an inextricable part of the San Benedetto company’s project. The Group’s approach to innovation enabled it to generously invest in research to produce low plastic bottles or bottles from recycled plastic and to contribute to reduction of the CO2 emissions.

Part of this context is also creation of the new photovoltaic plant at our factory Gran Guizza S.p.A. in Popoli (Pescara) where we bottle mineral water branded Guizza and Primavera. With 17,809 photovoltaic modules spread on a surface of 17.000 m² and a capacity of 2 MWp, the structure will allow producing 2,500 MWh of power and saving 1,279 ton of estimated carbon dioxide a year.”

What other initiatives have you implemented to promote eco-sustainable culture?

“As of the early 1980s we have invested a great deal in technological innovation: we have launched the PET (polyethylene terephthalate, easily recyclable plastic) containers, we have patented some bottle types and we have designed continuously lighter packaging to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“The New Life for PET” is our recent initiative: created in 2013 based on a Memorandum of Intent signed with the Ministry of the Environment and the Region of Veneto. The agreement provided for installation of special eco-compactors at some stores of some supply chains. The consumer is supposed to insert the used PET bottles there. Through the collected material that will be sent to recovery/transformation points at the authorized recyclers, we will be able to measure possible saving of emissions that otherwise would be sent into the atmosphere. It is a short chain that, if it brings positive effects in the experimental phase, it will incentivize to use PET regenerated for production of bottles and it will stimulate adopting new consumption habits of the users, an active part of the project.

This project, the only case of cooperation among all the actors of the chain, is not just a flagship of the company. “Indeed, in 2009, after signing the agreement with the Ministry of the Environment, we became promoters of a voluntary process of the carbon footprint mapping, in order to check the emissions produced by the mineral water chain and to define the work program aimed at the CO2 reduction.”