LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire sustainable challenge kick-off meeting in Bologna.

On Wednesday, 29 October, the kick-off meeting for the LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire project was held at the Officine Maccaferri SpA headquarters in Bologna. The project stems from a partnership between two major Italian multinationals: Maccaferri Industrial Group (through its companies Officine Maccaferri SpA and SAMP SpA) and RadiciGroup (through Radici Novacips SpA).

The LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire project sustainable challenge: to design an innovative process with a lower environmental impact for producing extruded steel wire to be used in metal net protection and containment structures.

Enthusiasm is the word to describe the kick-off meeting for LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire, an all-Italian pilot project –

stemming from a partnership between two major Italian industrial multinationals, Maccaferri Industrial Group

and RadiciGroup – which was awarded financial support by the European Commission's LIFE+  programme, the European Union's environment fund.

The moderator of the kick-off meeting, which was held at the historic Officine Maccaferri headquarters in Bologna, was Piero Tatafiore, corporate communication manager of the Maccaferri Industrial Group.

Among the speakers at the meeting were Ruggero Targhetta, sole administrator of EURIS European Research Investments Services, and Stefania Biasuzzi, EURIS project manager ("Opportunities and Development in the European LIFE Programme"); Francesco Ferraiolo, corporate technical director of Officine Maccaferri ("Officine Maccaferri's Role in the LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire Project"); Claudio Colibri, corporate R&D manager of Officine Maccaferri ("The LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire Project"); Cesare Clausi, Europe business manager of the RadiciGroup Plastics Business Area, and Erico Spini, marketing & application development director of the RadiciGroup Plastics Business Area ("RadiciGroup's Role in the Project"); and Roberto Bazzani, sales and marketing VP of SAMP ("SAMP's Role in the Project").

Objective of LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire ... To design an innovative process with lower environmental impact for producing extruded steel wire to be used in making metal net protection and containment structures. The sustainability aspect of the project is the use of polyamide 6 (PA6 engineering plastics) as a viable alternative to PVC for coating the steel wire. Tests will be conducted not only on conventional PA6 but also on PA6.10 engineering plastics produced using 64% biopolymer manufactured from sebacic acid.

The traditional process for producing extruded steel wire, in which steel wire is plated with a very thick zinc coating layer and then PVC coated, is an energy hog. Hence, the idea put forth by Officine Maccaferri – world   leader   in   the   research,   design   and  manufacture   of   advanced

environmental civil engineering solutions – to develop a new and innovative production process in which the zinc coating process is minimised. Polyamide 6 plays a central role in this project, because, compared to PVC, it ensures better technical and environmental performance.



corporate R&D manager of Officine Maccaferri, in his presentation, "from the development of a replicable methodology for the eco-sustainable production of steel wire coated with polymeric material using new materials and new processes, to the set-up of a demonstration production line to show the savings in materials and energy by properly documenting process yield and product performance. But that is not all. We also expect to contribute to the application of the experimental PEF methodology for the environmental evaluation of processes and products, to promote wider acceptance of the environmental factor as a parameter in public bidding for road construction and maintenance and, last but not least, to raise awareness of the advantages of embarking on an environmental sustainable path in industrial production through an effective communication strategy."



The technical aspects of RadiciGroup's contribution to the Life-Inno.Pro.Wire project were illustrated by Erico Spini, marketing & application development director of the RadiciGroup Plastics Business Area. "Polyamide is a viable lower environmental impact alternative to PVC as material for use in extruded steel wire coating. The excellent technical characteristics of this material has allowed us to set ambitious objectives for the LIFE-Inno.Pro.Wire challenge, such as a 20% reduction in wire coating thickness and a 30-50% increase in the service life of the final product, the metal gabion. Among the advantages of using polyamide are a reduction of about 20% in wire weight for a coating of equal thickness and improved resistance to mechanical damage during

the installation and servicing of the gabions."

The figures for the Life+ 2013 programme, the European Union's environment fund.

The number of applications for co-funding received by the EU Commission from the 28 EU member states was 1,468, of which 225 proposals were selected by the Commission for co-funding through the programme's three components:

q  LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity: 92 projects from the 342 proposals received were selected for co-funding.

q  LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance: 125 projects from the 961 proposals received were selected for co-funding. Of these, 35 were Italian.



LIFE+ Information and Communication: 8 projects from the 165 proposals received were selected for co-funding.

Total    investment:     EUR    589.3      million,    including     EU     funds    of     about      EUR    282.6            million (www.ec.europa.eu/life).

Among the EU member states, Italy was one of the top beneficiaries of LIFE+ co-funding. Emilia Romagna and Lombardy were the Italian regions with the highest number of co-funded projects.

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