Description

BACKGROUND

"Circularity by design" is GI&N's way of incorporating circularity into its value chain. Through a modular eco-design of network assets it is possible to extend their useful life or identify new solutions to activate new product life cycles, reducing the environmental footprint through the reuse of high value materials and minimizing the use of virgin resources.

Starting with the circular redesign of network assets, GI&N is addressing the challenge of the "closed loop" cycle aimed at reusing waste material from discontinued assets for the production of the same next-generation product. This approach makes it possible to transform traditionally waste material into new products with high industrial value, reducing environmental impact and costs (totex) throughout the entire life cycle.

To date, the "Circular Smart Meter" project is active in which, starting from the concept of Circularity by Design, the modular design of the new smart meters and their realization, based on the reuse of materials (plastic and copper in primis) of end-of-life meters (closed-loop), as well as the implementation of innovative tracking techniques for reverse logistics, which will make the new smart meter the enabling element of the "Circular Transformation".

In parallel to the closed loop, GI&N has also launched the challenge of the open loop, which aims to maximize the recovery of decommissioned materials, with the aim of identifying and creating new products (furniture, pallets, stationery, sustainable jewellery, etc.) that have social impacts on communities.

CHALLENGE

Starting from the concept of "Urban mining", i.e. the set of actions and technologies aimed at recovering secondary raw materials and energy from the products of urban metabolism, the challenge is to identify innovative solutions for recycling, reuse and valorisation of the assets, in decommissioning, of our global distribution network. The idea stems from the parallelism between the large cities considered, the concept of urban mining, "mines" of materials available for reuse and our distribution network also rich in materials with high technical and economic potential ready to be revalued in new recycling and recovery processes.

Starting from the analysis of the current As-Is linear process, the objective is to identify alternative solutions, in a closed-loop and/or open-loop perspective, and to define the new circular process (To- Be circular process) that takes into account environmental, regulatory, social and economic impacts.

The solutions will have to start from the "zero waste" environmental strategy, and may include both business and social applications with an impact on communities.

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

• presentation of the innovative solution that comes from the recycling, reuse and valorisation of network assets, complete with a description of its technical and economic characteristics, purpose of use and added value and expected benefits compared to as-is ;
• review of the management process of the starting asset aimed at the realization of the proposed solution and comparison between the linear As-Is process and the circular To-Be process;
• preliminary assessment of environmental, social, regulatory and economic impacts.

Depending on the suggested idea, the challenge could meet one or more of the following sustainable development goals (SDGs) to transform our world, starting from SDG 12 which is the reference one for the challenge:

• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Challenge rules

Except for the people involved in the organization and management of the I&NNOVABILITY CHALLENGE and their spouses or partners and their relatives up to the fourth degree calculated according to Italian law, the proposals could be submitted by all the employees working in the legal entities pertaining to the perimeter of Infrastructure & Networks at Enel Group in the following countries Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Italy, Peru, Romania and Spain.

Explain your proposal clearly in one of the five (5) following languages of Enel Group: English , Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. If needed to provide further details, you can attach up to five (max 5) documents on the platform.

Solvers must develop their proposal so that benefits and feasibility can be assessed. Challenge seeks for solutions that can be implemented in the short term to obtain practical results. General ideas or not detailed solutions will receive low ranking in the evaluation. Additionally, the application of new technologies and a sustainability approach in the proposed solution will be considered a plus. 

The maximum number of members per team is 3. The submission will be done by the Team Leader and the list of team members must be identified in the submission. Please note that team composition must be specified in the Proposal’s attachments.

The Evaluation Committee will decide 3 finalists for each challenge and a jury will award one (1) winner per Challenge.

Proposals will be admitted on the platform from 10th February,2020 to 15th May, 2020 (within 23.59 CET), and the evaluation will start after this date.

All proposers are invited to read carefully the challenge and the regulation of this contest before submitting a solution.

By submitting a solution, you automatically accept the Regulations of this challenge other than the Terms of Use of this platform.

What happens next?

The I&NNOVABILITY Challenge Evaluation Committee will evaluate your proposal and might contact you to gather additional information.

Your innovative proposal will be evaluated based on technical, sustainable, economic and business impact parameters, for I&N. The presentation of the proposal will also be evaluated.

At the end of the assessment, you will receive feedback.

In case of being selected as a Finalist, an Enel I&N contact person will get in touch with you to discuss the next steps.