Riopele won the 1st prize at the Kaizen Award Portugal

Riopele won the 1st prize in the Sustainability category at the Kaizen Award Portugal. The ceremony took place on May 16th at the Jerónimo Martins Auditorium of the Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon.

The Kaizen Award Portugal recognises organisations that implement Lean and Kaizen practices of excellence. The best companies are recognised for effective implementation, innovation, and excellence in Kaizen principles and methodology.

‘What distinguishes human beings is that human being think, decide, and act. This is Riopele’s motto and is instilled in all employees of the company: think, decide, and act with determination’, emphasized José Rosas. In his acceptance speech, the Head of Continuous Improvement at Riopele highlighted the sustainability goals set - by 2027, the year of its 100-year anniversary, Riopele aims to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations, reduce its carbon footprint by 20% in its value chain, and 60% of the water used in its production processes will be recovered and reused. He also mentioned the investments already made, including the installation of a biomass boiler and the new photovoltaic solar park.

Isabel Domingues, Head of Sustainability, considered this award as a recognition for the entire Riopele team, which works daily to become even greener. ‘As sustainability is one of our company's strategic pillars, our journey began decades ago, with recognition through the certification of the integrated management system by ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 standards’, Isabel Domingues stated.

Riopele, a company that exports 98% of its production, aims for a constant market positioning and is attentive to the requirements imposed by its customers, adding to its portfolio other certifications that attest to the traceability of its products and assess their environmental and social performance.

In terms of challenges, Isabel Domingues considers that ‘climate change, water scarcity, and the attractiveness of the sector for young people are the major constraints that the company faces in the medium term’.