What
we do
Future goals and challenges
The past year has been an important one for FIS. In 2023, the Ferrari family sold their controlling stake in FIS to the private equity fund Bain Capital. This move makes us even stronger and more stable.
We are preparing for the challenges of tomorrow by designing a sustainable future with our Sustainability Plan for the 2023/2025 period. Another of our goals is to strengthen some key business processes, applying them for sustainable development.
Where we are
Materiality analysis
We have updated the material topics by analyzing the emerging trends and conducting a benchmarking process on sustainability issues. We have then used the issues identified to define the main positive and negative impacts which we generate on our stakeholders, classifying them as ‘actual’ or ‘potential’.
In parallel, we have assessed the impacts generated by taking into consideration the nature of our activities and the dimensions specified by the GRI Standard 2021.
MOST RELEVANT THEMES THAT GENERATE IMPACTS
Negative
Poor waste management
Misuse of energy, climate change and polluting emissions
Inappropriate or excessive use of raw materials
Positive
Economic value creation and sustainable growth strategy
Welfare, gender diversity and fair working conditions
Training, professional development and employee retention
The results of our efforts
Despite the challenges and global turmoil, in 2023 our business continuity has remained unchanged. Indeed, we were able to react quickly through our Supply function.
33% of our turnover comes from non-European countries, led by the United States. This is a client portfolio that includes more than 300 long-term clients.
Responsible
business management
Our pillars
Legality, honesty, transparency, fairness, good faith: our business organization, activities and behavior are based on these solid ‘pillars’.
We have implemented an Organization, Management and Control Model pursuant to Italian Legislative Decree 231 of June 8, 2001, which regulates the administrative responsibility of corporate bodies.
In November 2023, we decided to roll out a training program on Modello 231 regarding compliance with the aforementioned law. By the end of the year, the program had involved 1,233 people, about 60% of our workforce.
We have implemented a Code of Ethics Ethics that covers the aspects of building relationships with those individuals with whom we conduct our business.
Risk management
Cybersecurity
Our commitment to improving security management and increasing the trust of our customers through the competitiveness and reliability of our systems is enshrined in our ISO 27001 certification.
Risk management
At FIS, risk management is part of a continuous process that involves constant identification, assessment, processing and monitoring.
Tax management
We handle tax-related issues with the utmost transparency, seeking to implement solutions enabled by the legislation which are best suited to our business needs.
Governance
After founding the company and leading it for more than 65 years, the Ferrari family family has sold control of FIS to the Bain Capital fund.
The governing body of FIS is the Board of Directors, which guides the company pursuing the goal of achieving sustainable success. In addition, it defines its strategies and identifies the most suitable corporate governance system for carrying out the company's business.
Our stakeholders
We take stakeholder expectations into account in all decision-making processes. We cultivate relationships with them that are built on collaboration and respect. These are fruitful relationships with shared values, principles and a common idea of sustainable development.
Our people
Connections with people are the key to our success. At FIS, we have stable relationships with our employees: 95% of employees have permanent contracts and 5% have fixed-term contracts. 84% of our staff have been with the company for at least six years, and all our employees have been hired under the national collective bargaining agreement for the chemical industry. For 2023, the average age of FIS employees is 41: 41.4 for men and 38.6 for women.
Since 2016 we have seen the number of female employees increase by 73%, with 21% of new hires in 2023.
We care about issues of diversity & inclusion.
The well-being of our people
Over the years, we have been committed to developing organizational solutions with the aim of promoting an effective work-life balance, taking steps to:
- facilitate a work-life balance;
- support social security and top-up health care;
- provide financial support for special individual situations;
- make available additional goods and services.
Our employees have the option to care for children up to the age of 18 and elderly parents by taking paid leave for up to a maximum of 48 hours per year. We grant each new mother, if they take optional maternity leave, a top-up salary (up to 100%) to supplement the payments already provided by INPS (Italian social security institute). We are committed to ensuring that the gender pay gap, the difference between salaries paid to men and women, is eliminated.
Each of our processes is constantly monitored by using the best technologies and then refined using the strictest safety assessments.
Training and talent
The total number of hours of training delivered in 2023 in the three plants totaled 71,848, equivalent to more than 4.5 days of annual training per person.
With the help of a specific competency matrix for each job, each person's development plan is set out in order to maximize individual and team performance. Skills are developed in line with three overarching aspects:
- Direction e Transparency;
- Excellence ed execution;
- People and relation.
Customers and suppliers
Suppliers (number and type)
The supply market in which we purchase raw materials (sourcing) includes more than 40 countries, with a strong concentration in the Far East, particularly China.
The main objectives of our supply chain are:
- creating value through a sustainable approach;
- risk management;
- cost optimization.
Over the past two years at FIS, we have worked to strengthen the supply chain. We have developed an APS (Advanced Planning & Scheduling System) which provides us with improved decision support within production and logistics processes as part of an end-to-end supply chain approach.
Our community
FIS is at the forefront of supporting and responding to the demands that come from the territories where our business has its roots.
For a long time, our payments have been directed to supporting organizations engaged in social work, in the cultural field and others that promote sporting activity among young people. Much of this funding is destined for the Vicenza area, but in recent years we have also begun to support social and cultural promotion initiatives in the area around Termoli.
In addition, our engagement with educational institutions continues. In 2023, we once again distributed our journal, with the intention of raising awareness of chemistry and sustainability issues among the younger generation.
The solution for
a greener planet
Contribution to SDGs
An essential part of our sustainability journey is signing up to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A structural cornerstone of our work is SDG 3 - "Ensuring health and well-being for all and all ages."
We also support SDGs 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13, which are closer to our business and values and in line with the expectations of our stakeholders.
Sustainable production processes
Every year, we invest about 3% of our turnover into research. Thanks to our highly skilled chemists, we are able to explore new opportunities for "green chemistry".
We believe in the principles of sustainability to the extent that the individual objectives of our chemists (MBOs) are tied to achieving certain sustainability indexes in the laboratory, foremost among them PMI itself. We are engaged in a testing phase aimed at integrating into the MBOs issues relating to reducing water consumption and CO2 emissions.
Circular economy and waste
Waste recovery is a central aspect of our Sustainability Framework. The goal is to contribute significantly to the decoupling of economic growth and the consumption of raw materials by encouraging their reuse.
30% of our waste is sent for recovery externally; another 30% is disposed of, again externally. The remaining 40% is disposed of by in-house incineration with energy recovery. This share is expected to grow in the coming years, thanks to the construction of the incinerator at the Lonigo site.
Energy and emissions
To date, our direct energy consumption mainly involves fossil fuels (essentially natural gas) used for heating, cogeneration and other utilities. A smaller portion, however, is attributable to energy use for waste incineration.
Almost all direct energy consumption comes from non-renewable sources (methane gas); as for indirect consumption, 46% of it comes from renewable sources, a share that is constantly increasing, with the aim of supplying 100% of our energy needs by 2026.
In 2023 we built a new trigeneration plant in Lonigo to contribute to the generation of electricity, heat and cooling, helping to improve the efficiency and energy diversity of the production site.
Water
One of the three KPIs identified in the sustainability framework, linked to the bond issue, concerns the consumption of fresh water: the target is to achieve a 20% reduction by 2026 versus 2020 levels.
The bulk of the water supply comes from groundwater for the Montecchio Maggiore and Lonigo sites, and from surface water for the Termoli site.
Our total water abstraction, in absolute terms, is decreasing. The excellent result - equivalent to 20% of the total water abstraction for every tonne of product compared to the figure for 2020 - is continuing to fall, following a long-term trend.
