Social performance
Innovation Disclosure 103-1
Radici InNova (Consorzio Radici per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione s.c.a.r.l) became fully operational in 2020 with the aim of further establishing innovation as the main driver of development for the Group. Indeed innovation – especially in sustainable terms – is a key element that over the years has enabled RadiciGroup to successfully engage with the most diverse sectors and offer the market competitive, cutting-edge solutions. Below are some of the main strategically important projects that met their initial targets during 2021. A common and distinctive feature of all these projects is that they are based on collaboration. Customers, Suppliers, Scientific Partners and Group Companies have made significant contributions in terms of know-how and vision, with a view to mutually supporting and improving Radici InNova's activities. In the area of new applications, acquired health sector knowledge and expertise, strongly influenced by three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, was an important starting point for the development of innovative materials. In particular, advanced filter materials for the environmental and automotive sector, and materials for the technical and textileclothing sector were researched. In addition, to support the new business related to personal protective equipment, recyclable and circular textile solutions were put in place for the medical and workwear sectors. In 2021, Radici Innova began an important partnership in a new area for the RadiciGroup: the design of prototype clothing for the space sector, capable of being comfortable to wear while being able to detect the wearer's physiological and vital parameters. This project was the first experience in developing "smart clothing" capable of collecting, storing and exchanging information such as heartbeat, respiration, body temperature from and to the surrounding environment. It marked a first important goal at the beginning of 2022 with the realisation and test use of the first space clothing prototypes made with Group materials.
Another important activity led to the research and development of alternative processes to obtain the chemical intermediates needed to manufacture the Group's polymers from renewable raw materials. The patent application filed in 2020, for RadiciGroup's process for the purification of bicarboxylic acids, was granted in Italy and Europe in 2021. As has been the case for some years now, research into the development of polyamides from renewable sources continued. Numerous Customers have expressed an interest in both chemical intermediates and polyamides from renewable sources. Therefore, an exploratory phase of possible application collaboration was launched. In relation to the circular economy, one of Radici InNova's core objectives, projects for the research and development of recycling processes (mechanical, chemical and by dissolution) from postindustrial and post-consumer waste continued. At the same time, ecodesign activities continued to assist Customers in their design process, one of the main results of which was the production of the first recyclable racing ski suit in 2021. The strengthening of the internal structure for the life cycle analysis of products and processes designed or manufactured by RadiciGroup has enabled Radici Innova to meet the ever-increasing needs of Group Customers to measure the environmental performance of products and processes to demonstrate their commitments to sustainability. This is a significant recognition of RadiciGroup's decision to systematically base its assessments on scientific and reliable measurement systems. At the same time, for each of the Group's Business Areas, the activities necessary for the improvement/ performance development of products continued, with a focus on optimising costs, improving quality standards and reducing the environmental impact of production processes.
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