Nice celebrates World Recycling Day 2024 with an innovative approach: 360° supply chain involvement and measurability of results

Material recycling is a fundamental component of the ecological transition towards greater environmental sustainability that our societies are undergoing. Through the principle of reuse, in a circular economy perspective, materials are reintroduced into the production cycle, generating additional value and limiting the use of raw materials and energy. Italy is a virtuous country in this field: the waste recycling rate has reached 72%, compared to a European average of 58%¹.

Aware that the Smart Home market is experiencing a period of strong growth in our country with an increase of 337% between 2016 and 2023², Nice is committed to making this progress environmentally respectful. 

"Through a sustainable 360-degree approach throughout the entire supply chain, from production to distribution, Nice is committed to transforming innovation into concrete actions, with a long-term impact. Every step counts: from responsible waste management and the adoption of ecodesign principles, to attention to the circular economy and the implementation of internal interventions and policies aimed in this direction. We are committed to making sustainability measurable and tangible, as highlighted in our sustainability report 'Welcome to the Nice Future'," says Marco Bianchet, Group Quality & Sustainability Director at Nice.

On World Recycling Day, celebrated on March 18, Nice illustrates how, since 2018, the company has been planning and implementing projects to monitor and improve the environmental impact of products assembled within its facilities and marketed through the global sales network.

The commitment to waste reduction focuses in particular on four key areas:

• Waste management: today, 84% of Nice's production waste is managed through separate collection, compared to an Italian average of just over 70%. Furthermore, the company is a member of the Remedia Consortium, the most important at the national level for the management of RAEE waste and is studying solutions to recover both electronic components and plastics discarded already during the product assembly phase. 
• Design and development of solutions: based on life cycle analyses of products, Nice has carried out processes to optimize the environmental impacts of some of its flagship products, favoring the use of recycled materials, reducing weight, or introducing new technologies to lower emissions during use and standby, thus also obtaining EPD certifications for Robus 600, Spy 550, Era MAT MA, Era INN Smart AC, Yubii Home, RolMotion, Next Solar, Next FIT, M5Bar, RUN 2500. 
• Reduction of packaging: Nice is working to eliminate polystyrene and other plastic materials from product packaging. On average, over a year, this generates a saving of 17.7 tons of plastic packaging material, resulting in a reduction of 65.8 tons of CO2eq. The company is also gradually eliminating the paper product instruction manual in favor of a digital version accessible via QR Code, with a reduction in 2023 of over 100 tons of CO2eq, an amount that could power approximately 4,329 km in a vehicle traveling 10 km per liter of fuel³. 
• Product repairability: Nice's after-sales approach encourages following the entire product lifecycle, favoring the repairability of products through the replacement of replaceable parts. 

More responsible use of resources and reduced environmental impact also involve energy efficiency, starting from Nice Headquarters in Oderzo, in the province of Treviso, Italy. Nice has adopted a series of energy efficiency interventions at its headquarters, including: 

• the choice of forklift models that use lithium batteries, a permanent monitoring system for electricity consumption, and the replacement of existing heat generators with new condensation ones that guarantee more effective power modulation, higher efficiency, and lower CO2; 
• the implementation of an LED relamping program, accompanied by the creation of an automatic switching-off system with a twilight clock that activates or deactivates automatically based on time and brightness. Once fully operational in 2025, this will allow an annual saving of 81,600 kWh, equivalent to the average annual consumption of over 30 families⁴.

¹ Report “Recycling in Italy 2023”, Fondazione per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile, 2023, https://www.ricicloinitalia.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Riciclo-in-Italia-2023.pdf Cfr. 11/03/2024 
² Edition 2023-24 of the Osservatorio Internet of Things, School of Management of Milan Politecnico, 2024, https://www.osservatori.net/it/ricerche/comunicati-stampa/smart-home-mercato-italiano Cfr, 11/03/2024 
³ To calculate the distance that can be covered with 100 tons of CO2eq, we take into account the efficiency of vehicles and the average fuel consumption. Assuming that a car travels an average of 10 km per 1 liter of fuel and that each liter of fuel burned produces about 2.31 kg of CO2eq, dividing 100,000 kg by 2.31 kg per liter gives us 43,290 liters. So, dividing the total liters by the average fuel consumption per kilometer yields 4,329 km. 
⁴ Family of two people with an estimated average annual consumption of 2,700 kWh, as estimated by ARERA. https://www.arera.it/comunicati-stampa/dettaglio/it/com-stampa/23/230628 Cfr. 11/03/2024