Abstract-Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a recent entry in the economy of modern enterprise both at global level and for Romanian companies. CSR adds a new dimension to the enterprise's performance in the social fields, contributing to the sustainable development of economic entities. CSR components are included in an international standard -ISO 26000. The paper presents authors' experience in implementing this standard. Possible steps of a roadmap for CSR implementation: a. Top management endorsement and nomination of a complex CSR team b. Developing formal company CSR policy documents c. Selecting and engaging the company's stakeholders as early as possible.
The paper presents authors' experience in implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and aligning it to company sustainable strategy. It starts with a formal commitment expressed by the Company's top management and the nomination of a CSR Team, continues with the elaboration of a CSR Policy, the identification and engagement of stakeholders, the evaluation (by using a multiple criteria decision making matrix) of the most relevant CSR strategic directions that could affect the Company, the structuring of tactical measures (greening technologies, investing in social projects, zero-corruption, work with stakeholders in CSR projects, spread CSR along the value-chain, corporate governance, etc.), action plans, resource allocation, setting up responsibilities, the set up of a CSR plus a synthetic metrics, reporting / monitoring procedures. CSR is integrated in the Company's sustainable strategy (using a specially developed alternative of the Kaplan and Norton's Balanced Scorecard). The paper presents the main steps of the implementing procedure, showing that CSR, environmental, quality and health and safety management systems work together to contribute to a better visibility and business success.
In the last decade, international organizations have expressed their concern about the capacity of classical economical indicators to encompass the whole story of the developing processes, especially in their relationship with the environment. A comprehensive environmental metrics has been adopted (states and organizations reports indicators like greenhouse gas emissions, ozone concentrations, surface of contaminated land, number of threatened species, etc.) and operates in parallel with the traditional industrial indicators. But it seems not enough since this complementary metrics does not illustrate the entire complexity of development processes, in the 21 st Century. Recent EU documents stress the importance of sustainable development, of the importance of industrial symbiosis as a tool to better manage material, energy and human resources and evaluate the possibility of generating and reporting new, synthetic, composite indicators that could include both the information in the classical economical indicators but also the environmental impact and the quality of life. The paper is a contribution in this respect and, starting from the results of the implementation of the Industrial Symbiosis paradigm in the case of a power plant, it presents how the EU recommendations about a more sophisticated metrics of ecoefficiency works, for the first time at the level of a Romanian enterprise. An original, new metrics is generated, that takes into account whether and how the technological and economical processes are accompanied by a favourable trend for the environment, A new, composite index for ecoefficiency and sustainability is presented in its structure and dynamic evolution, enabling local managers not only to assess their sustainable development trend, but also to identify where should their action be directed in the short term to correct unfavourable trends. The study was a part of the PAZEWAIA Project financed by Innovation Norway.
The EU's energy and climate change concerns have materialized in the last years in launching 2020-2030 strategic initiatives. The Plan Up project seeks to monitor this area. Each EU member must implement its own plan (NECP) structured on 5 main dimensions: energy security, decarbonization, energy efficiency, internal energy market, research-innovation-competitiveness. Romania is committed to reducing CO2 emissions by over 43%, to increasing energy efficiency by over 37% and to promote renewable energy to reach approx. 28% of the portfolio (97% for the rail transport sector). The impact of COVID-19 must be immediately included in the NECP and seen as an opportunity and the NECP, adapted accordingly. The paper presents this Project and the potential Romanian contribution in the Transport Sector, a sector currently in a massive reorientation (electric cars, encouraging public transport, anti-Diesel offensive, etc.) and the most severely affected by COVID-19. The vast Romanian experience in the use of dimethyl-ether (DME) as an ecological substitute for diesel is presented, which would dramatically reduce the need for investments in the conversion of the current fleet of diesel vehicles. DME is also as a C3-C4 fraction substitute (CFC), in sprays, refrigerant agent in refrigerators, etc. Examples of applications of the proposed solution are given (USA, Scandinavia). The advantages of DME would be that it can be synthesized from renewable sources (municipal, agricultural waste), thus adding value to waste and improving the energy resources balance of Romania and the EU. The paper also seeks an objective critique of the (not so-)miracle solution of electromobility.
Energy and environment are top priorities for the EU’s Europe 2020 Strategy. Both fields imply complex approaches and consistent investment. The paper presents an alternative to large investments to improve the efficiencies of existing (outdated) power installations: namely the use of data-mining techniques for analysing existing operational data. Data-mining is based upon exhaustive analysis of operational records, inferring high-value information by simply processing records with advanced mathematical / statistical tools. Results can be: assessment of the consistency of measurements, identification of new hardware needed for improving the quality of data, deducing the most efficient level for operation (internal benchmarking), correlation of consumptions with power/ heat production, of technical parameters with environmental impact, scheduling the optimal maintenance time, fuel stock optimization, simulating scenarios for equipment operation, anticipating periods of maximal stress of equipment, identification of medium and long term trends, planning and decision support for new investment, etc. The paper presents a data mining process carried out at the TERMICA - Suceava power plant. The analysis calls for a multidisciplinary approach, a complex team (experts in power&heat production, mechanics, environmental protection, economists, and last but not least IT experts) and can be carried out with lower expenses than an investment in new equipment. Involvement of top management of the company is essential, being the driving force and motivation source for the data-mining team. The approach presented is self learning as once established, the data-mining analytical, modelling and simulation procedures and associated parameter databases can adjust themselves by absorbing and processing new relevant information and can be used on a long term basis for monitoring the performance of the installation, certifying the soundness of managerial measures taken and suggesting further adjustments
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