Environment & Health and Safety

• Prysmian promotes at each industrial site and every Group company the adoption of a certified environmental management system that guarantees constant monitoring of activities, and continuously sets objectives and targets for improvement.
• Prysmian products are designed and created in compliance with international industry standards with the goal of satisfying current requirements aimed at improving environmental performance, cutting the use of harmful substances and reducing pollution.
• Prysmian undertakes to apply the best available technology for reducing the environmental impact of its products and to seek ever new solutions for maximising its technical and environmental efficiency.
• Prysmian undertakes to minimise the production of waste and to foster the recyclability of materials.
• Prysmian provides training and information about the environment, involving every level of the organisation in the application of operating procedures and rules aimed at ensuring environmental and territorial protection and integrity.

• implementation of the improvement objectives recommended by the Environmental Management System (EMS) in compliance, amongst others, with the requirements of ISO 14001;
• everyday operational management (eg. maintenance of filtration systems, waste disposal, environmental analysis costs etc);
• compliance with new laws or specific requests by the Authorities. “Environmental/Safety” investments (including those in loss prevention) amounted to around Euro 3 million in 2009.

Sheathing of the P-Laser cable at the Pignataro Maggiore plant in Italy.

Prysmian cables for cleaner energy
Management of its business on an environmentally sustainable basis is not just an ethical commitment for the Group but a key factor in its very business competitiveness. Prysmian constantly endeavours to implement management and production processes that help improve environmental sustainability and to develop ever more eco-friendly products.

Underground power transmission systems
The Group designs, produces and installs High and ExtraHigh Voltage cables and systems for the transmission of power directly from power stations to the primary distribution networks. The commitment to developing high-tech integrated solutions with an ever lower environmental impact has distant roots in Prysmian’s history: over the years the Group’s product strategy under the Ecology Line label has led to the reduction, and elimination where possible, of lead traditionally used in mixes for insulation, cable sheathing and metal screening. As far as High Voltage cables are concerned, lead, which is particularly heavy and difficult to dispose of, has gradually been replaced by lighter, more ecofriendly aluminium, also featuring excellent technical characteristics in terms of electrical conductivity. Prysmian’s latest generation “Smooth Welded Aluminium Sheet” cable complies with the principal international environmental standards, including ISO 14001.

Submarine power transmission systems
Prysmian cables with extruded insulation for direct current power transmission, used to cover very long distances like in the case of submarine systems, offer significant environmental advantages. The Group plays an important role in numerous strategic projects in the submarine systems sector, many of which involving renewable energy. Ultra high-tech submarine cables transport power from the world’s largest offshore wind farms to where this energy is consumed, providing the link between the wind farm’s towers, and the link from the wind farm itself to the primary transmission grid. In this way Prysmian presents itself as a partner of choice not only for companies that build power stations, but also for utilities and grid managers concerned with power transmission and distribution.

Power distribution cables and systems
In the field of power distribution, Prysmian produces Medium Voltage cables to connect buildings to primary distribution networks and Low Voltage cables for power distribution and the wiring of buildings.
Prysmian’s commitment to environmental sustainability meets its high point in the P-Laser technology developed by the Group’s researchers, representing an important innovation in Medium Voltage power distribution cables for the utilities sector. Cable produced with this technology has an insulating system that uses fully recyclable high performance thermoplastic (HPTE) materials, and is able to replace traditional cross-linked polyethylene insulated (XLPE) cables.
The new technology adopted by Prysmian also makes for a more streamlined production process since the cable can be made on a single, uninterrupted production line, considerably reducing the high energy consumption of alternative processes.

Cables for construction
Prysmian produces a wide range of Low Voltage cables for distributing power to and within residential and non-residential buildings. Development and innovation pays particular attention to high performance cables, such as Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSOH) cables, which are used in applications where safety must be guaranteed: in the event of fire, this product not only limits the spread of fire, but also considerably reduces the emission of smoke and acid and toxic gases. In addition, when LSOH cables are burned upon disposal, they do not pollute and do not require any specific measures or cleaning detergents. The Group is constantly involved, both with European and national authorities, in developing regulations to implement the Construction Products Directive for the compulsory adoption of Low Fire-Hazard cables in places with the greatest fire hazards.

Cables for industrial applications
Prysmian’s extensive product range serves a large number of diverse industries, including Oil & Gas, Transport, Infrastructure, Mining and Renewable Energy. The Group offers solutions to the Oil & Gas industry for both upstream and downstream activities. Cables installed in extreme production environments like these are exposed to attack by numerous chemical substances, such as hydrocarbons, solvents, acids and bases, and were traditionally protected with a lead sheath, which was environmentally problematic. Prysmian has responded to this problem by developing the “Drylam” range of products in which protection is provided by a particular type of shield.
With reference to renewable energy, Prysmian offers companies that specialise in building offshore wind farms not only submarine and onshore cables, but also products that assure the control and transmission of the power generated by blade rotation: these are critically important cables that must ensure proper operation even in the most extreme conditions.
In addition to its activities in the wind sector, Prysmian is active in supplying integrated cable and connector solutions for large scale and high power generation capacity photovoltaic plants. Prysmian has proprietary technology in this sector as well, allowing it to produce cables and parts that comply with the strictest performance standars, duration, safety and respect for the environment.

Telecom cables
As partner to the world’s leading telecoms operators, Prysmian produces and sells a wide range of optical fibre and copper telecommunication cables, suitable for all types of application for voice/video/data transmission. Even for products for these types of application the Group’s endeavours have translated into sustainable solutions. For example, “micromodule” optical fibre cable uses a considerably smaller quantity of materials than before (one kilometre of 144-fibre cable weighs 110 kg compared with the 190 kg once required); it therefore uses less raw material and so has a lower environmental impact than traditional solutions

Prysmian HSE Policy (Health, Safety and Environment) (PDF)