The inauguration of the oxy-combustion furnace, took place today in Pescia, in the province of Pistoia after a €110 million investment.
The investment not only created jobs but is also described a s a significant environmental leap forward for the group.
Today’s event saw speeches by the CEO of Verallia Group Patrice Lucas, the CEO of Verallia Italia Marco Ravasi, the Industrial Director of Verallia Italia Andrea Maffei and the Director of Verallia Pescia plant Mattia Papini.
The new furnace has allowed the hiring of about 100 staff, with a concrete impact on the territory in terms of employment, inclusion and social cohesion.
In the plant, 20% of the staff is female - numbers that are part of Verallia Italia's path on gender equality.
The investment has also, involved over 100 local suppliers who are partners of Verallia Italia.
With the new furnace, Verallia Italia has adopted Air Liquide's HeatOx technology: an oxy-combustion solution that re-places the air introduced into the furnace with oxy-gen, im-proving melting efficiency and reducing polluting emissions.
Waste heat is recovered to heat industrial environments, eliminating methane boilers.