All industry sector in one place! Report of the 11th Green Industry Summit edition!
On October 6, at the Arche Hotel Krakowska in Warsaw, the “Green Industry Summit” conference was held. During four panels and three speeches, the challenged faced by the industrial sector and logistics in the context of achieving the sustainable development goals were discussed. The event was crowned with the evening gala of “Green Industry Diamonds” awards for the most outstanding entities from industry, transport and logistics sector.
The substantive part was opened by the speech of Prof. Dr. Hab. Eng. Jacek Kijeński – multi-annual coordinator of the Polish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform from the Warsaw University of Technology, entitled “Green energy for industry”. At the beginning, the Professor pointed out that his speech will be controversial and thanks to that, he wants to give room for interesting discussions and thoughts. According to his words, the only one universal currency becomes energy, but energy deficit itself occurs notwithstanding the events we have been struggling with the recent time – notwithstanding the financial crises, pandemic situations and military actions. In his speech, he also invoked the research carried out by Robert Johnson from the Harvard University that it is not carbon dioxide that contributes most to the increased greenhouse effect. However, these actions are because of methane, and it is this organic chemical compound we should capture from the atmosphere, and later we should burn it to carbon dioxide.
After inaugural speech, it was time for panel discussions. The main topic of the first discussion panel was the green industry tranformation towards circular economy. The moderator was Prof. Dr. Hab. Eng. Andrzej Kolasa, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology. Participants in the discussion were: Katarzyna Mroczkowska – Marketing Lead for Central, East and South Europe, HMD Global, Iwona Jacaszek-Pruś – Corporate Affairs Director, Kompania Piwowarska, Prof. Dr. Hab. Eng. Jacek Kijeński – multi-annual coordinator of the Polish Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform, Warsaw University of Technology, and Artur Pollak – President of the Management Board, APA Group, Łukasz Dominiak, Director of Public and Government Relations, Animex.
At first, speakers debated on modern technologies that will help with recycling and in fight with the problem of economy destabilization. In addition, they referred to digital tranformation and transitions from industry 2.0 to industry 4.0. They also mentioned the issues of polymer waste, segregation processes of this waste and also, they paid attention to the problem of clean water deficit in the world in the context of various contaminations, related to the lack of efficient recycling activities. At the end of this panel, the speakers discussed the dilemma between food safety and the search for appropriate packaging for its storage.
After a short break, it was time for the presentation of Mr. Daniel Ładno – Enterprise Accounts Senior Manager, CEE, Dassault Systèmes, entitled “Digital support for the implementation of sustainable development goals”. In his presentation he said what digital twin is in general and what it is used for. First of all, digital twin needs a central place, from which it retrieves current data, and the digital modeling itself allows for a faster transition from an idea to a product manufacture, i.e. it deals with the analysis of the overall life of a given product.
The second discussion panel entitled “Climate Neutral Construction” was led by the moderator Dr. Bartosz Zamara – Development Manager, Trebbi Polska. The discussion was attended by: Łukasz Marcinkiewicz – Director of Infrastructure Projects in Lafarge in Poland and Managing Director of LH Engineering, Adam Ambrozik – Senior Public Affairs Manager, CEE, VELUX Polska, Jacek Zychowicz – Director of Concrete Technology, Warbud, Dr. Eng. Maciej Skowroński – Vice-President of the Board, Metroplan Polska, Kamil Kowalczyk – Sales Director, Unihouse. Among the speakers, the discussion was held i.a. about the concept of building and product utilization and about reducing energy costs in residential construction. The question was whether investors are interested in taking into account the ecological concept when planning real estate. Later, some various research were presented, including among others renovation in your own house. It turns out that the first place in the ranking is the aspect of durability and price, and only one of the last places – environmental impact.
Nowadays, professional recipients often bear a lot of responsibility, in contrary with the individual recipients, where it is still problem with proper approach to environmental problems. The interlocutors additionally paid attention to the fact that people in Poland place importance more often on individualism, that is an opposite of climate sustainable construction and that we should take example from Western and Northern Europe countries in this regard. The western trend of construction from wood that is going to Poland with great strides, was also mentioned.
After the lunch break, it was time for the second presentation by Ms Aleksandra Gumel – Head of Logistics Solution Design CEE, Rohlig Suus Logistics, entitled “Green Supply Chains”. The company provides seven services related to the presentation of the carbon footprint and has prepared a CSR report for 2021. In addition, it has carried out an energy audit of all its facilities, and is currently working on reducing indicators that are unfavourable from an ecological point of view. As one of the activities of the company, the spekaer presented minimizing the use of foil in packing parcels.
The thematic axis of the third panel was Sustainable Transport and Logistics. The moderator was Mr. Przemysław Piętak – Supply Chain Advisory Director, CBRE. The panel was attended by: Monika Jarosik-Szmidt – Key Account and Research & Development Manager, ABC-Czepczyński, Piotr Chmielewski – Member of the Management Board, ROHLIG SUUS Logistics, Grzegorz Słomkowski – Member of the Management Board of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, Robert Neumann – Chief Quality Officer, Blulog, Prof. Dr. Hab. Wojciech Paprocki – Director of the Institute of Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility, Warsaw School of Economics. Michał Brzozowski – President of the Management Board of Metroplan Polska, connected with us remotely. Experts exchanged views on the diversification of supply sources in the face of pandemic states, as well as ensuring production safety and taking care of the “just in sequence” strategy. They also mentioned how IT solutions can help optimize the entire supply chain management process.
After a short break, we moved on to the third case that was presented by Mr. Michał Świerczyński – Commercial Director, Dalkia Polska, and this concerned DBOOT – Design, Build, Own, Operate, Transfer – a new concept of financing decarbonization in industry. In his speech, he presented the main solutions aimed at energy saving, decarbonisation, obtaining energy from renewable sources and improving the company’s profitability in this area. Moreover, he mentioned a model of cooperation with an industrial customer based on a supply chain.
The last panel was devoted to Green Energy for Industry. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Hab. Bolesław Rok, Professor at the Kozminski University, Department of Entrepreneurship and Business Ethics. The panel was attended by: Przemysław Janiszewski – Director of Energy and Industrial Construction, Unibep, Arkadiusz Musielewicz – Vice-President of the Management Board, Director of Innovation and Development, Ecological Projects Poland, Jacek Ławrecki – Director of Communication, Fortum, Piotr Apollo, MBA – President Of the Management Board, Tauron Nowe Technologie, Marta Głód, Director of PV project purchase and development, OX2 Poland.
At the beginning of the panel, one of the speakers emphasized that ever achieving 100% energy from renewable sources turned out to be impossible, which became a stimulus for further considerations on the need to stabilize the economy and long-distance prospects. According to the interlocutors, the problem of market instability is perceived in improper planning of activities, which contributes to i.a. energy sector. And the determinant of economic progress towards renewable energy sources should be the development of photovoltaic farms, and above all, determination – to be able to complete already started projects.
Green Industry Diamonds
After the substantive part was finished, the time has come for the evening gala, which was officially opened by Prof. Dr. Hab. Michał Kleiber – Vice-President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, President of ECCOMAS, Knight of the Order of the White Eagle – a member of the Competition Jury and Beata Radomska – CEO Executive Club. The culmination of the Gala was the awarding of statuettes in 10 Competition Categories, which honoured the best companies, outstanding managers and business leaders.
„Green Industry Diamonds” Laureates:
TECHNOLOGY LEADER FOR INDUSTRY: Metroplan Polska
SOFTWARE LEADER FOR INDUSTRY: Dassault Systèmes
INDUSTRIAL CONSTRUCTION LEADER: Kajima
Distinction: Warbud
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION LEADER: Lafarge
Distinction: Fakro
LOGISTICS LEADER FOR INDUSTRY: Rohlig Suus
GREEN ENERGY LEADER FOR INDUSTRY: Polenergia
ESG LEADER IN INDUSTRY: Velux
FINANCING LEADER FOR INDUSTRY: Bank Pekao S.A.
FACTORY OF THE YEAR: Danfoss
CEO OF THE YEAR: Katarzyna Byczkowska
Last Updated on November 21, 2022 by Anastazja Lach