Porcelain Insulators in accordance with the philosophy of Circular Economy

A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.

In a circular economy, material cycles are closed. There is no such thing as waste, because every residual stream can be used to make a new product. In this system, it is therefore not only important that materials are recycled properly, but also that products, components, and raw materials remain of high quality in these cycles.

Ceramic Insulators are by nature ecological and fully in line with this philosophy. The Ceramic Circular Economy is illustrating the following principles represented by porcelain insulators:

• Basic raw materials
• Short supply chain
• Extremely long lifetime > 50 years
• Contains only non-hazardous materials and is 100 % Recyclable.

More about the fact, that Porcelain insulators are a greener choice you can find here

Ceramic Circular Economy Scheme

At the end of 2020 PPC received an open letter from the top 7 European Transmission System Operators:

Elia Group (Belgium)

REN (Portugal)

RTE (France)

Tenne T (Netherlands, Germany)

Grupo RED Eléctrica (Spain)

National Grid (Greait Britain)

Terna (Italy)

This letter presents the invitation to the PPC Insulators Group to join their journey for the greener choice.

As Transmission System Operators (TSO), we are at the center of the energy transition of our societies and economies towards a more sustainable and carbon-free world. Our mission is to ensure that we provide sufficient capacities for the transport of renewable energies, while ensuring reliability of critical network infrastructures at affordable costs for our customers. We owe this to the societies we serve.

Yet, as the transition towards a more sustainable economy continues, more and more elements of our core business are affected by this transition—from the way we interact, move and produce to the way today’s demands is shaping tomorrow’s supply. Thus, as TSOs, our responsibility has grown far beyond our traditional objectives. Today, we must also reflect on the choices we make when buying the materials and services that are essential to our operation.

The international momentum of investments into more sustainable products provides us with the certainty that we are only at the beginning of a global transition. A growing societal responsibility demands of each enterprise—public or private—to contribute towards this common objective. As European utilities, we must lead the way in this transition and attempt to be at the forefront of green investments. As Purchasing Departments, we play a significant role in this ambition. This means paying increased attention to the environmental, biodiversity, circular economy and social impact of the equipment and services we buy – simply put: making a greener choice. We welcome and promote new ideas to fulfill conventional needs with innovative solutions. We are convinced that almost all aspects of our business will become ”greener” and more sustainable by revising the technologies and methods, investing in innovative digital technologies (5G, AI) to allow electricity networks to play their role as a “central nervous system” of the electricity system.

All suppliers—established and new—are encouraged to contribute to this evolution. We will take into consideration this new trend in our future selection and / or awarding criteria’s.

Furthermore, we strive to gain a deeper insight into the environmental footprint and social impact of the products and services we purchase. We do this with the long-term objective to encourage those suppliers who are able to make measurable reductions in this regard.

Lastly, as TSOs, we are jointly urging and will incentivize our partners to set up sustainability targets. Simultaneously, we recognize that our suppliers rely on a clear signal from the European market, setting the path for the coming decades in order to ensure the necessary investments.

With the present letter, we seek to confirm our engagement to support this transition and encourage our existing and future suppliers to take decisive action for a more sustainable and resilient world tomorrow.

Together, we are ready to make the Greener Choice.

Reply from PPC Insulators to the open letter of TSOs

Reference: Your letter “The Greener Choice”

Dear TSO’s

As a supplier to you and many other TSO’s around the globe it is with great pleasure we received your letter referenced above. Our spontaneous comment after studying its content is “GREAT!”. PPC has since long encouraged the large players (TSO and OEMs) in the T&D industry to include sustainability and overall lifetime cost (economical and environmental) when selecting products/suppliers rather than solely focusing on low cost initial price.

Referencing again your letter and the section where you welcome suppliers to promote new ideas. We will contact your local representatives for a meeting (or VC) to explain what PPC Insulators is already doing in this regard and what more we can achieve by working closely together. To succeed, investment in both time and money is required. PPC is already doing both. We expect this investment to pay-off and look forward to learning how you will evaluate products/suppliers not only based on lowest offered price but also from a sustainability perspective.

To give you a flavor of our ambitions. By ways of compensating, in partnership with ClimateCare ltd, PPC Insulators was already Carbon Neutral (Kioto Scope 1 and 2) in 2019. Going forward we are examining how to achieve full Carbon Neutrality (without compensation) by 2030. The path to neutrality is the sum of many steps of which the major ones include advanced degree of heat-recuperation and use of green fuels in all manufacturing processes.

With regards to another key aspect of the circular economy, re-use, we already today have virtually no waste in the production and all delivered products are 100% recyclable. For your reference we attached a white paper “Porcelain Insulators are naturally green”

Thanks for taking this initiative and we look forward to constructive dialogue with your various teams. As PPC Insulators we are for sure ready to join you in making a Greener Choice!

Erik Göthlin

CEO PPC Insulator group

Vienna 2021-01-31

Attached: PPC White Paper “Porcelain Insulators are Naturally green”

REACH/ROHS

All PPC porcelain insulators are alumina porcelain C130 manufactured from natural materials including china clay, clay, feldspar, alumina and silica. These raw-materials and minerals do not contain any conflict minerals or substances that are RoHS or SVHC-listed. PPC used fittings and flanges are mainly made of cast-iron or casted aluminum, which do not contain any of the conflict minerals or substances of very high concern. No dangerous waste material is produced as a byproduct of the production process and there are no known acute or chronic effects on the environment.

PPC is committed to follow the evolution of the list of substances of very high concerns and is prepared to take actions whenever necessary.