Gruppo CAP has published its Non-Financial Statement - Sustainability Report, which reports on the company's social and environmental performance for the period 1 January to 31 December 2023. ‘Source of connection' is the document's guiding thread, which confirms the company's commitment and continuous and constant dialogue with the territory, stakeholders, employees, but also with the environment and technology.
CONNECTED TO NATURAL RESOURCES, COMMITMENT TO THE PLANET AND RESOURCES
Climate change is increasing the risk of extreme events, including those that threaten the availability of clean and safe water. This context requires a concrete commitment to adopt more sustainable practices. In this scenario, Gruppo CAP is committed to ensuring that citizens have access to safe and high quality water.
The aim is to reduce waste and the over-exploitation of water resources, and to optimise consumption in order to invest in continuous improvement of the service. In fact, the water sector is very energy-intensive: in this sense, Gruppo CAP is always looking for the best technologies to adopt and is at the forefront of energy efficiency and transition processes, promoting the use of renewable energy to power plants and processes.
In 2023, Gruppo CAP reduced the amount of water entering the network by 2.5%, treated 11.6% more wastewater and reduced total energy consumption by 1.43% compared to the previous year. More than 11,350,000 MJ of energy has been saved thanks to improving the efficiency of the water supply and purification systems. Water losses have been reduced and are now below 20%, while the purified water that Gruppo CAP returns to agriculture represents 45% of the total. Finally, the amount of sludge sent to landfill is 0%.
CONNECTED TO PEOPLE TO ENHANCE THE MULTIPLICITY OF RELATIONSHIPS
The European labour market is going through an unprecedented phase, and the growing brain drain is having an impact on the entire economic fabric. In this context, new strategies are needed to attract and retain talent, especially from the Millennial and Gen Z generations, who are increasingly concerned about climate change and social justice.
Gruppo CAP's constant commitment to the development of human resources has led it to increase its workforce in 2023, recruiting 87 new employees. In fact, the strength and growth of the Group are based not only on professional skills but also on the contribution and engagement of each and every individual. For this reason, personnel management policies are based on respect, integration and the recognition of the value of every person. In this perspective, in 2023 Gruppo CAP obtained the Gender Equality Certification, UNI PdR 125:2022.
Great attention is also paid to professional development, with more than 30,000 hours of training, and to well-being: the 922 people working in the CAP Group are all covered by a health and safety management system. Thanks to its commitment to its employees, Gruppo CAP has, for the fifth year in a row, been named one of the world's 1,800 best companies to work for by the Top Employers Institute.
CONNECTED TO THE TERRITORY TO STRENGTHEN THE VALUE CHAIN
In such a changing and precarious context, access to water becomes a critical factor: if not properly managed, it risks widening the social divide, with negative consequences for the most vulnerable communities. Faced with this challenge, it is essential to embark on a journey of change, working with citizens, businesses and institutions to reduce waste and improve water in all its forms.
Gruppo CAP is committed to this, promoting a virtuous circle to restore value to the environment and communities in the areas where it operates. The green utility has implemented several initiatives, from digitisation projects to service customisation, in order to build a relationship of trust and transparency with users and to constantly improve the services offered. Last year, the percentage of users satisfied with Gruppo CAP's services exceeded 97%.
To build a shared corporate social responsibility, in 2023 Gruppo CAP will assess 100% of new suppliers against socio-environmental criteria and involve 7,506 students in environmental education projects.
CONNECTED WITH SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES TO CREATE SAFETY NETS
Technological innovation and artificial intelligence are two essential tools for ensuring more sustainable and smart management of water resources, reducing waste and providing proactive responses to climate change, including extreme events, making cities more resilient to environmental shocks. In 2023, Gruppo CAP has undertaken numerous initiatives to digitise processes, introduce cutting-edge systems and apply predictive analytics tools in various areas, such as water leak detection, in which CAP has invested over 15 million euros. To date, there are 10 active research and development projects, and in 2023, more than 174,800 smart meters were installed, with all sensors protected by cybersecurity techniques.
Furthermore, Gruppo CAP has developed use cases that will contribute to a comprehensive project for creating a data base to be processed with big data technologies. The aim is to bring the integrated water service closer to the dynamics of Industry 4.0, and to significantly improve performance.
Gruppo CAP’s new Sustainability Report is available at this link.