Enel Procurement’s commitment to sustainability

When in 2017 Enel’s “Global Procurement” Office contacted EPDItaly to propose a collaboration with the aim of enhancing the supply chain, it was immediately clear that a very ambitious project was hiding behind that simple request.
Enel, a leading player in the field of energy production and supply at an international level, had decided to undertake a sustainability policy, as it was considered a strategic element in the management, growth and development of its business: a Circular Economy for Global Procurement.
The theme of the circular economy is very topical and sustainable development aims to ensure “the satisfaction of the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to achieve their own” (Bruntland Commission 1987). The circular economy intends to support this latter concept based on the possibility of re-using materials, resources and energy, enhancing what is recovered and / or maintained at the end of the product’s life cycle.
The project aimed at the complete tracing of the incoming and outgoing materials of Enel’s supply chain, the in-depth knowledge of flows in terms of components, environmental impacts and recyclability and the creation of partnerships with its suppliers, to create alliances fundamental for the pursuit of one’s strategy.
Thanks to the support of the EPDItaly Program, Enel has achieved one of its priority objectives: the development of an analysis and qualification system for its suppliers, which mainly takes into account the environmental sustainability characteristics of the processes and products in order to increase, in the medium period, the eco-efficiency of the entire supply chain, using the Environmental Product Declaration (Epd) tool to qualify companies, thus helping to enhance the entire supply chain.
The first step towards using the EPD was Enel’s development of specific Product Category Rules (Pcr) for 13 product categories: switches, isolators, meters, wind turbines, solar panels, transformers, storage, lighting poles, charging columns, cables, air conditioning systems, electrical panels and gas turbines, within the EPDItaly Program Operator.
The PCRs define a set of rules suitable for guaranteeing, for each individual product belonging to a specific category, a uniform approach for conducting the Life Cycle Assessment (Lca) and the consequent drafting of an Epd.
The Life Cycle Assessment methodology and the EPD format allow Enel to choose procurement using quantified environmental information on the life cycle, to allow comparisons between products that fulfill the same function.
Collaboration with an internationally recognized partner, such as EPDItaly, allows Enel to ensure that the information contained is correct. The publication of the EPDs of the suppliers, in fact, is a guarantee of what they have declared.
Enel’s choice is a virtuous choice which, in the use of the Epd, represents the beginning of a path of innovation for an entire sector and acts as an example and reference point for other sectors that have recently embarked on the path of sustainability.
The suppliers responded promptly to Enel’s input. In fact, in 2021 alone there were 28 EPD publications.
EPDItaly is available to guarantee the market of competence, independence and impartiality, as the published EPDs are verified and validated by a certification body accredited by Accredia, the single Italian accreditation body.