- Reducing environmental impact involves investing in renewable energies, recycling materials, optimizing resources and eco-design.
- The engineering company Infinitia offers easy-to-incorporate solutions with high levels of efficiency.
- The Aragonese startup’s team of professionals works on new materials to make companies more environmentally friendly.
High costs or a complicated process of adapting to change are some of the main obstacles that the industrial sector encounters when starting on the road to sustainability. Is it possible to overcome these and other challenges posed by the SDGs?
Of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, we would like to focus on number 9, which refers to “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure”. The international organization (UN) states that “inclusive and sustainable industrialization, together with innovation and infrastructure, can unleash the dynamic and competitive economic forces that generate employment and income. These play a key role in introducing and promoting new technologies, facilitating international trade and enabling the efficient use of resources.”
However, making the most of these strengths is in progress, but far from being achieved. The consequences of COVID-19 have also been felt in this regard. “The pandemic is severely affecting manufacturing industries and is causing disruptions in global value chains and product supply,” they explain.
Investment in Research and Development (R&D) by companies become key pieces aimed at deepening innovation and technological advancement. These are very useful and practically indispensable tools for meeting objectives that benefit the environment. Worldwide figures in this regard are positive according to their progression, until a certain “standstill” coinciding with the arrival of the coronavirus. As indicated in the reports made by the United Nations, the commitment to R&D grew from 1.5% in 2000 to 1.7% in 2015. It was in similar parameters in 2017. However, it should be noted that in developing areas it did not reach 1%.
In the manufacturing scenario, incorporating sustainable criteria in production processes means, as in other sectors, being able to meet today’s demands without affecting or compromising future generations.
If we take this purpose to the “industrial floor”, implementing energy-efficient solutions means investing in renewable energies, recycling materials, optimizing resources and eco-design. And the most important thing is that all of this is profitable.
Despite an a priori negative scenario, “industrial companies are becoming increasingly aware,” explains Javier Sanz, CEO of Infinitia. “When they come to us to help them make the most of an element of a part, for example, they are somewhat lost; however, the solutions we provide are easy to incorporate, with high levels of efficiency and taking into account the time and economic costs,” he explains.
The work carried out by this Aragonese engineer is highlighted by a team of professionals who work in the search for new materials that help companies to be more environmentally friendly. The sustainable trend in business is more of an imperative than a possible option to be considered. Company strategies must include this factor in their planning.