On Wednesday 8 December 2021, FEDIL - The Voice of Luxembourg's Industry held its 2021 FEDIL Environment Prize award ceremony, in the presence of a representative of Luxembourg's Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Sustainable Development, several guests, jury members and this year's winners.
For this 17th edition of the FEDIL Environment Prize, the jury, composed of experts from the public and private sectors, had to choose four winners from ten high-quality projects. The four prizes went to:
- Environment Award 2021 in the "Product" category: Robinloop by Peintures Robin S.A.
The new "Robinloop" wall painting is a circular product par excellence, as it is made from paints and lacquers coming from the recycling centres of the SuperDrecksKëscht® initiative. Taking great care in sorting the products collected, Peintures Robin specialists recover the raw material in the tank, add other materials (if necessary) to meet the requirements of quality, whiteness and viscosity, then filter and condition the finished product. "Robinloop" is a white matte interior wall paint which is considered safe according to the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulation, the production of which has no impact on water, energy and air. The first customers were very satisfied both with the quality of the product and with its circular and environmentally friendly characteristics. - Environment Award 2021 in the "Process" category: Use of sustainable traction resins as replacement of petroleum based resins by Goodyear S.A.
With sustainable sourcing in mind, teams at the Goodyear Innovation Center in Colmar-Berg have developed a solution to replace petroleum-based resins with bio-, pine-based ones that help improve tyre performance. After having reviewed the various products available on the market, carried out specific laboratory analyses and factory tests, the technical solution consisting in using terpene resins obtained from pine trees was deployed on a large scale for the production in particular of the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 and Eagle F1 SuperSport tyre lines. Combined with other raw materials in the tread compound formula, these vegetable resins not only reduce naphtha / crude oil requirements, but also improve wet performance and reduce fuel consumption. - Environment Award 2021 in the "Management" category: Cryogenic refrigeration unit lorries from La Provençale S.à r.l.
In order to reduce its carbon footprint, La Provençale has invested in 40 refrigerated lorries running on cryogenic nitrogen. Durable and clean, the new refrigerated boxes reduce CO2 emissions for the entire vehicle by 40%. This liquid nitrogen system only releases nitrogen, the natural component of air. As such, the cryogenic solution allows a reduction of more than 90% of the total particle emissions of a refrigerated heavy vehicle compared to a traditional diesel refrigeration unit. Moreover, noise emission is greatly reduced even at maximum power and the cold chain is made safer and more efficient. As a result of the telemetry developed by the IT team, the standard equipment could be further improved in performance, efficiency, reliability and consumption. A 50,000 litre nitrogen supply station with two filling terminals has been set up on the La Provençale site. One-quarter of the 160 refrigerated lorries are equipped to date and, by 2025, half of the fleet will travel on the roads with nitrogen cooling. - Environment Award 2021 in the "Management" category: Marketing of flour and seeds in 100% recyclable plastic bags by Moulins de Kleinbettingen S.A.
After having marketed in 2010 an innovative packaging allowing a clean and reclosable use of flour and promoting a long shelf life of the product, Moulins de Kleinbettingen have taken a new step by developing 100% recyclable plastic bags. To achieve this, the packaging made up to now of two materials, PE and PET, and a cap will be made of a single 100% PET material. The challenge was to develop a plastic bag meeting the same requirements of practicality, conservation and technicality on a packaging line. Knowing that in total about 3,000,000 such sachets are placed on the Luxembourg, European and American markets each year, this innovation is expected to have a positive impact on the environment. Moreover, replacing disposable packaging with recyclable packaging is an essential part of complying with the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) labels.
According to FEDIL, these four projects fully meet the criteria set out in the Environment Prize regulations, namely ecological interest, novelty, sustainable development and practical application.
The winners were presented with their diplomas as well as films designed specifically for the occasion and which illustrate the respective projects.
In her speech preceding the presentation of this year's awards, FEDIL President Michèle Detaille welcomed the very good quality projects presented in the context of this competition, illustrating the interaction between ecological progress and entrepreneurial spirit. The winners have demonstrated that the concepts of the circular economy and the reuse of recycled products, the eco-responsible sourcing of raw materials as well as the responsible use of resources and energy are already a reality in companies. This corroborates FEDIL's vision that, in the face of climate and environmental challenges, industry is an integral part of the solution.
The evening also included a presentation on the challenges of hydrogen in the decarbonisation of Luxembourg by Astrid Behaghel, Investment Director - Impact at BGL BNP Paribas.
