Herambiente Group and Italpizza
Together for the valorisation of waste oils and the recovery of industrial waste
Italpizza chooses Hera as a global sustainability partner
From green energy to total waste recovery: the collaboration between the multiutility and the frozen pizza giant combines circularity, management efficiency and guarantee of operational continuity, from waste vegetable oils to hydrogenated biofuel along a certified supply chain.
From renewable energy to 100% recovery (including food oils)
The supply of electricity entirely from renewable sources has been complemented by an ambitious circular economy project, which, around 12 months after its launch, has already achieved an important milestone: 100% waste recovery. In other words, every waste product leaving the Modena and Pavia plants is reintegrated into the cycle as a second raw material or through different forms of energy, from electricity to biofuel, in the latter case valorising also waste vegetable oils.
The management of sludge is key to operational continuity
In this case, the focus is on the sludge produced by the internal purifier at Italpizza, where all the plant's washing water flows loaded with food residues and chemicals from the products used for cleaning. Continuity of production depends on the collection of these semi solid sludges, which are destined for the production of biogas. Herambiente ensures continuous collection and treatment and also offers an emergency response service.
Paper and cardboard: savings from just-in-time management
Another particularly important waste flow is that of paper and cardboard used both for the packaging of individual pizzas and for shipments. In addition to guaranteeing 100% recovery, as on the other fractions, Hera has optimised its logistics. Thanks to the installation at Italpizza of 2 latest-generation remote-controlled compactors, Herambiente can always verify remotely their operation and filling level. Compared to the previous situation, where there was only one traditional compactor, it has now been possible to reduce the number of collections to just one per week, conducted just-in-time, instead of the previous three. One trip only, which translates into lower costs as well as a simplification of administrative procedures.
The 3 drivers of the project: circularity, efficiency and business continuity
In addition to circularity, the Italpizza Hera partnership has two other essential features: efficiency (i.e. cost reduction) and business continuity. The guarantee of business continuity is one of the main drivers behind the global waste management project developed by Herambiente Servizi Industriali, the Group company specialising in industrial waste treatment and recovery. 2023 data
