Herambiente receives the Pimby Green 2025 Award for FIB3R, the carbon fibre regeneration plant built in Imola

The award ceremony for the Pimby Green 2025 Award, established by Assoambiente to promote the culture of “Please In My BackYard” and recognise those who invest in innovation and sustainability to improve the country's competitiveness, encouraging dialogue with the local community, took place on 12 September in Rome. The award, created to identify new works and infrastructure that companies and public administrations have implemented to reduce emissions, promote development and enhance the Italian territory, was collected by the CEO of Herambiente, Andrea Ramonda, together with the Deputy Mayor of Imola, Elisa Spada.

The award was given to FIB3R, the industrial plant for the regeneration of carbon fibre built by Herambiente in Imola: located in the heart of Motor Valley, FIB3R is capable of producing 160 tonnes of recycled fibre per year, with energy savings of 75% compared to the production of virgin fibre. The plant was built with an investment of €10.8 million, supported by a contribution of over €2.2 million from the PNRR – NextGenerationEU.

The project, which is particularly dedicated to the automotive, aerospace, nautical and furniture sectors, is an expression of an advanced industrial model, capable of combining innovation, sustainability, competitiveness and enhancement of the territory.

“Our new FIB3R plant, the first in Europe on an industrial scale for the recovery of carbon fibre, is the result of close collaboration with the local community and the Municipality of Imola, - said Andrea Ramonda, "which has supported the project from the outset with vision and expertise. An open, transparent and inclusive dialogue with citizens, institutions and local companies has made it possible to overcome resistance and create a virtuous example of a participatory and shared process, capable of actively involving all stakeholders in the implementation of a project that generates value for the community".

"The FIB3R plant is a virtuous example of circular economy and applied research that concretely demonstrates the great results that can be achieved through close collaboration between the university and local companies that have shown great vision and expertise, - says Elisa Spada, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Imola with responsibility for the environment -. Located in the heart of Motor Valley, inside a disused warehouse, and therefore with zero land consumption, this plant demonstrates in concrete terms what it means to make sustainability the driving force behind a new vision of industrial development and to create new jobs. We chose to support this project before its implementation with a public meeting in which researchers, engineers and companies illustrated the progress made and answered questions from citizens, and with a dedicated page on the Council's website where everyone can find more detailed information. I would like to thank Assoambiente for this important award, which honours us, and all those who contributed to the creation of this valuable experience, from the University of Bologna to Alessandro Curti and his staff, to Herambiente and the municipal technicians".