RCR has been implementing diversified and specific levels of ecological policy since the early 1970s:

• The treatment of all polluting gaseous emissions was brilliantly dealt with in the ‘70s through the introduction of “cold-top” electric melting furnaces into the production cycle: RCR was the first company in Italy to do so.

• The replacement of former gas furnaces with electric ones has provided remarkable results in terms of product quality, reduced plant noise, reliability and absence of pollution; it is a technology that allows us to obtain both maximum quality and minimum environmental impact. During the ‘80s and ‘90s RCR has remarkably improved its production process and what’s more, in comparison to other producers of high-quality glass for domestic use, RCR can boast reduced CO2 emissions.

• In terms of heat recovery, over the course of the last decade, RCR has carried out numerous interventions to achieve ever-greater efficiency, and has created a new plant for the co-generation of electrical energy and heat, which will allow for an overall savings of natural gas equivalent to 600,000 Nm3, as well as the elimination of 3000 tons per year of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

• Water used for washing and cooling, from production and secondary manufacturing processes, is treated and recovered. RCR has specific systems to treat and purify effluents, and a considerable quantity of water thus purified is recovered and reutilized internally. Reutilized water fulfills more than 50% of the plant’s day-to-day water needs.

• Extensive reutilization of waste within the plant’s own production cycle or in other production sectors, leading to a reutilization percentage above 90% in terms of weight. Through the opportune treatment of acid water derived from grinding operations, RCR obtains chemical plaster required by cement industries.Cullet, classified as a product subject to particular disposal regulations, undergoes specific operations of cleaning, selection and grinding to allow for its reutilization in the batch mix, without any detriment whatsoever to product quality. As a result of these efforts, RCR today internally recycles more than 99% of the cullet it produces.

RCR has always been a pioneer in the use of advanced, innovative and efficient technologies, such as laser applications and advanced mechatronics or the use of hydrogen.

In keeping with a tradition of beauty and respect for nature that is the heritage of its birthplace, RCR thus rejects the purely economical approach, ensuring its employees, its territory and its customers the guarantee of articles realized with 99% recycling of production waste, emitting a very low quantity of greenhouse gases, consuming little energy preferably supplied through renewable sources.

The company’s plans also include the never-ending research for efficiency and the strengthening of its own photovoltaic and biomass systems, so as to cover with green energy a significant part its day-to-day requirements.