Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the Italian financial services institution for economic development, oil, gas, and energy major Eni S.p.A, and global shipbuilder Fincantieri S.pA. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop joint circular economy projects to identify and implement technical solutions to confront the issue of marine litter. The aim is to study and develop technologies to collect marine litter at sea and along the coast and transform them into products and fuels.
The Memorandum of Understanding follows agreements signed last August, includes an agreement between CDP and Eni which will involve collaboration on the development of shared projects to reuse urban waste, particularly non-recyclable plastic waste (Plasmix) and secondary solid fuel (CSS) that comes from mixed waste collection, in order to transform them into products for sustainable mobility and industry such as hydrogen and methanol.
The signing of the MoU is part of CDP, Eni, and Fincantieri’s wider commitment to support the energy transition and achieve 2030 targets set out by the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan as part of the European Union’s energy strategy.
CDP will help to promote initiatives to create new business models and will also contribute its economic and financial skills, its institutional network, and its regional knowledge to help identify appropriate tools and ways of supporting the initiatives; Eni will provide its industrial and technical expertise to study and develop initiatives to set at an industrial level its Waste to Chemical technology and to transform Plasmix and CSS.
These important initiatives will allow us to continue the commitment that we made in our t2019-2021 industrial plan to achieve a growth model that is increasingly oriented towards sustainability. We believe that – from a system viewpoint – the shared commitment of CDP, Eni and Fincantieri is strategic to enable the development of innovative projects that will be strictly connected to the energy transition and the circular economy, and will have a positive socio-economic and environmental impact on the country, said Fabrizio Palermo, CEO of CDP.
Develop marine collection system
In terms of the agreement on marine litter, Fincantieri will provide its knowledge regarding the choice of naval means and their configuration, and study the logistic implications to facilitate the waste collection, selection and treatments at sea – especially regarding plastic-derived waste – as well as treatable and untreatable waste product disposal.
Such initiatives demonstrate that working virtuously is by no means a stereotype. We are fully aware that today to create value we must combine growth and financial solidity with social and environmental sustainability. The commitment that we put in place with internationally renowned stakeholders such as CDP and Eni, with which we are carrying out important medium and long-term projects, contributes to promoting a culture of corporate responsibility. We note with satisfaction that we have been the largest shipbuilder to join the United Nations Global Compact. I also recall that for the type of ships we build – considered as real floating cities – in compliance with the most strict regulations we take care of waste treatment using technologies which could have potential applications also in other areas in the future, remarked Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri.
Moreover, CDP, Eni, and Fincantieri are also aligned to combine technical solutions research with the need to carry on information and awareness-raising activities, to help spread a culture of environmental sustainability. The MoU may be subject to future binding agreements that the parties will define in compliance with the applicable regulatory and regulatory profiles, including those relating to transactions between related parties.
We strongly believe in this common path with CDP and the partnership with Fincantieri, which will allow us to combine our experience, capabilities, and resources, and offer an important contribution to Italy’s path towards decarbonisation and circular economy. As defined in our new Strategic Plan, Eni has fully based its industrial and economic strategy on decarbonisation goals, reconciling them with constant value creation. We have set long-term goals to reduce emissions at all levels of our activities, using a perimeter, and creating evaluation criteria that are unequaled in our industry in terms of detail and size. This long transformation process, is now entering a crucial and irreversible phase, and our efforts would be an end in themselves if they were not linked to important system operations such as this initiative, which brings together key industrial and economic players, said Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni.
