Environment and Sustainability

Finmeccanica strives constantly to reduce its impact on the environment and to promote sustainability. We take sustainability seriously, both in the way that we run our operations and, equally importantly, in the outputs of our business. This is evident in the design principles of our products as well as in the fundamental nature of some of the projects we are embarking on in the renewable energy arena.

All operating companies follow a group-wide Environmental Policy that’s based on operational best practice and evolves over time. Training is provided to promote action in support of these goals. The principles of the policy are to:

• Identify areas for environmental improvement
• Apply and share best practice
• Monitor and reduce use of hazardous substances
• Save energy
• Recycle and reuse
• Minimise waste production
• Make use of alternative energy sources where possible

Finmeccanica included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes

Finmeccanica has joined the prestigious list of companies in the Dow Jones World and Europe Sustainability Indexes, being acknowledged as a leading company in the Aerospace and Defence sector.

The Dow Jones Sustainability indexes are the most important stock exchange indexes regarding sustainability, published by the Sustainable Asset Management sustainability rating company in Zürich, in collaboration with Dow Jones Indexes of New York. The indexes comprise the measurement of numerous parameters concerning economic, social and environmental performance. The stringent selection criteria confirm the commitment and constant work of the Finmeccanica Group towards a sustainable and lasting business.

Sustainable development means getting the balance right between our environmental, economic and social needs so that future generations can also have a good standard of life.

Working in isolation will only realise a fraction of our potential. We have engaged with several of our first tier contractors working together in partnership with a common goal of reducing our impact on the environment and ensuring business sustainability. All of our operating companies now ensure that sustainability is considered as an important criterion when selecting suppliers for both direct and indirect procurement.

Strong environmental ethics and successful sales are not incompatible in the strategy of a defence sector business. We are embracing both of these important objective and delivering a successful result.

Sustainability initiatives

The UK government is a pioneer within the EU for sustainable procurement and was also the first to set a legally-binding target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 34% by 2020. Accordingly, Finmeccanica has recently signed the UK government’s Sustainable Procurement charter. This sets demanding targets for minimising the impact of procurement and operations on the environment, and also on other areas like society and the wider economy.

Finmeccanica in the UK is also proud to be part of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). This is an open forum where we engage with industry peers and transparently disclose information on our carbon emissions, and then work together to devise best practice strategies to reduce them. SELEX Galileo has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard making them the first defence company in the UK to achieve this certification.

ISO certifications

In the UK, all operating companies are working towards ISO 14001 certification and thirteen Finmeccanica sites have already achieved it. The ISO 14001 standard provides a framework for the development of environmental systems and audit programmes that support them. It therefore actively promotes effective environmental management in business, and helps cut down pollution and carbon footprints.

Waste management

All Finmeccanica companies in the UK actively manage their energy use and waste control to minimise their carbon footprints. Where possible, every effort is made to reduce the consumption of energy during the development, manufacture and running of development programmes, and this is an ongoing process. All waste generated is controlled by the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) regulations. Only licensed waste carriers are used, and up-to-date records are kept both to comply with legislation and ensure that waste is disposed of in an environmentally sound way. Special provisions have been put in place for the disposal of batteries, electrical and electronic waste, ensuring maximum reuse and compliance with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive (WEEE) regulations. All of our manufacturing divisions conduct ongoing analysis of impact on landfill and set annual targets for improvement with some of our companies achieving a 12% annual reduction in waste to landfill.

Alternative energy

Many of our UK sites are working to research and make use of alternative energy where possible. We have introduced technologies such as solar powered forklift trucks and external lighting to our larger sites, and are now planning to introduce wind turbines to some of our more remote sites. As a result of our efforts in this area, one of our companies has been invited by NQA to pilot the new ISO 16001 certification which covers new energy. NQA are a leading assessment, verification and certification body that works in partnership with a wide range of businesses, government departments and charitable organisations to help improve performance in quality, environment and health and safety management. We are proud to be recognised as environmentally aware and constantly look for new and inventive ways to improve our credentials.

Green Apple Award

SELEX Galileo in the UK has recently achieved Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice and Sustainable Development as well as the Green Heroes award for the Implementation of Environmental Minimisation Programme – ‘The Green Company Programme’.

This award involved the development of a waste minimisation programme across all UK sites as well as establishing the ‘Green Company Programme’ environmental commitment. It has helped improve our environmental performance and resulted in a more sustainable company. The Green Company Programme itself, which is encapsulated in a written statement of intent, has challenged us to develop current operating practices into more environmentally sound strategies. Common company standards have been reviewed and fresh ways to manage our environmental impact are also being developed.

Fresh air and fitness with our Cycle to Work Scheme

SELEX Galileo and SELEX Elsag have helped reduce pollution by encouraging employees out of their cars and onto a Cycle to Work scheme.

This offers significant cost-savings to employees when buying bicycles and related safety equipment. The company purchases the items on behalf of each employee through a leasing company, and employees then spread the repayments over a 12-month period as a ‘salary sacrifice’. These are taken from employees pay before income tax and NI contributions under the UK government’s Green Transport plan. At the end of the lease period, the employee would then buy the bike at a fair market value.

The great reduction in the initial outlay associated with buying a new bicycle has increased the number of employees taking part in this healthy activity. So in addition to the reduction in pollution, the Cycle to Work scheme has also improved employee fitness and morale.

SELEX Elsag’s good Design for the Environment

SELEX Elsag's processes for Product Integrity and Design for the Environment ensure that the environmental impact of its products is kept to an absolute minimum throughout their lifecycle.

The Product Integrity process ensures that all relevant environmental legislation is met and that the impact of products on the environment is reduced throughout their lifecycle and disposal.

Within that, Design for the Environment considers the environmental aspects of products at the planning stage. Designers are challenged to consider the different phases of a product’s lifecycle and what might be required of it under normal, abnormal and emergency conditions. Wherever possible, they use recycled or recyclable materials and avoid, or at least minimise, the use of non-renewable resources. An environmental questionnaire helps guide this process.

Consideration is also given to how the product will be disposed of at the end of its life. For example, whether modular design might make it easier to disassemble; how the item can be created using the fewest number of different materials; how different parts containing hazardous materials can be kept apart; whether common components can be used throughout and what are the most environmentally friendly coatings and finishes.

A Safety and Environmental Case report records details of any hazardous substances contained in the product. This ensures that the appropriate information for the safe and environmentally sound disposal of the equipment is available at the end of its life.

Recycling of AgustaWestland landing pad concrete

When it came to replacing the aircraft flight pad at their Yeovil site, AgustaWestland recycled 100% of the old concrete slab and used it as a sub-base for the new landing apron.

Not only did this save on fresh reserves of crushed rock being ripped out from the earth, it also saved on fuel emissions from transporting it to site. Furthermore, all the environmental costs associated with removing 2,000 tonnes of concrete and 700 tonnes of top soil to landfill were also eliminated.

Additional financial savings were also made by not having to pay the considerable financial costs of sending the concrete to landfill, which would have been in the region of £50,000.

Global environmental perspective

Across the family of Finmeccanica companies we have developed and are delivering products and systems which are designed to help address the national and international environmental challenge. Through near real time earth observation, our space businesses give nations and authorities the ability to monitor environmental conditions across the globe. This capability is used both to monitor long term changes over large geographies as well as in instances where there is a need to track specific environmental threats.

As a business, we are pleased to report that environmental impact assessment is becoming an important differentiator with our major customer groups. We continue to embrace sustainability in our design processes with a focus on efficiency, both in products we make and the way we make them.