Benefit companies voluntarily pursue, in the course of their business activities, in addition to the purpose of profit, one or more purposes of common benefit. They pursue, in a responsible, sustainable and transparent manner, and without enjoying economic or tax incentives, one or more positive effects on people, communities, territories and environment, cultural and social goods and activities, institutions and associations and other stakeholders.
Free Benefit Activities
They were born thanks to a global movement of businesses, the B. Corp® certified, which, since 2006, has managed to draft a law proposal, incorporated into the Stability Law 2016, in effect from 1st January 2016. The management of benefit companies requires a balance between the interest of the shareholders and the interest of the community and they commit to report transparently and completely their activities through an annual impact report, which describes both the actions carried out and the plans and commitments for the future.
A benefit company is a traditional company with altered obligations that commit the management and shareholders to higher standards of purpose, responsibility and transparency.
Purpose: Benefit companies commit to create a positive impact on society and the biosphere, or shared value, in addition to generating profit. Sustainability is an integral part of their business model and SBs create favorable conditions for social and environmental prosperity, today and in the future.
Responsibility: Benefit companies commit to consider the company's impact on society and the environment in order to create sustainable value in the long term for all stakeholders.
Transparency: Benefit companies are required to report annually and according to third-party standards the results achieved, their progress and future commitments towards achieving social and environmental impact, both to shareholders and to the general public.
This implies a change in the corporate Paradigm: with Benefit Companies a new type of company is introduced that continues to pursue the purpose of profit but adds one or more social or public utility purposes. This implies that a benefit company brings advantages for all stakeholders.
This implies a change in the corporate paradigm: with Benefit Companies, a new type of company is introduced, which continues to pursue the purpose of profit but adds one or more social or public utility purposes to it. This implies that a benefit company brings advantages for all company stakeholders, for customers and suppliers, for talents, for shareholders and management and a balance of financial and non-financial interests when making decisions, even in the event of a possible sale, or for companies listed on the stock exchange, helping to attract investment capital of impact as it offers greater legal protections, responsibility and transparency in pursuing its mission.
A benefit company must be used to achieve a Common Benefit, as well as to generate profits for shareholders. In Italy, like in some US states, Colorado and Delaware, it is required to indicate in the bylaws a Specific Common Benefit and not just a generic one. Common Benefit is defined by law as a positive material impact on society and the environment. Among the specific purposes of Common Benefit we include, for example: providing goods or services for disadvantaged individuals or communities; protect or restore the environment; improve human health; promote the arts, sciences or advancement of knowledge; increase flows of capital to entities that create a Common Benefit (impact investments).
Developing a green project for a field for intensive use is complex because so far institutional investors only focus on synthetic grass fields. Changing the idea is not easy because innovative hybrid turfs are not sufficiently widespread, there are a lack of reference regulations which are, among other things, difficult to develop and, as often happens, there is much improvisation. Green incentives help to examine the green alternative but there is not enough knowledge to develop projects to draw on funding and without an effective project even the funds seem wasted.
INDICATING THE WAY OF THE GREEN ALTERNATIVE
In common imagination, synthetic grass field means little maintenance while the natural grass field is impracticable when it rains. Convincing investors that there is an effective green alternative goes far beyond the technical-commercial proposal that a company exercises; often, companies tend to do what the customer wants and look suspiciously at innovations.
The benefit activities of POWERgrass are centered on the dissemination of knowledge for the management of green areas for sporting use and in assisting public authorities, associations, and sports promotion entities that operate in a non-profit world to access non-repayable funding.
The benefit activities, carried out free of charge, occur through consultation for the development of feasible strategic plans and the direct support to technicians of public bodies to develop and contextualize green projects, adhering to regional and state calls for proposals.
POWERgrass's study compares three types of fields for intensive use for three decades, as also required by the Environmental Impact Study (SIA) and wants to be a real guide to draft a Feasibility Study with a holistic vision.
The Benefit activity was initiated by mid-July 2020 and until October 30, 2020, the company assisted about 8 municipalities and 2 sports associations to complete and submit a project requesting non-repayable funding. Three of them managed to pass the technical-administrative checks and enter the ranking, thus obtaining a non-repayable grant of 700 thousand each.
Since November 2020, the company contacted about 400 municipal administrations to provide support for the design of green project development for future calls for proposals.
In the Benefit activity, two company members are engaged who daily talk with municipalities intending to develop a project of a grass sports field.
THE EDUCATIONAL METHOD OF ECOLOGICAL MAINTENANCE
The administrators and managers are terrified of the costs of the maintenance of natural grass playing fields; the task then becomes arduous for technicians when the weather is rainy, but this is no longer a problem for POWERgrass. For this reason, a hybrid and efficient draining system with a simple, economical, and ecological maintenance method has been developed.
The method developed by POWERgrass is disseminated through its own website where numerous in-depth pages and several instructive videos on the YouTube channel are developed. In addition, POWERgrass offers a technician expert in maintenance free of charge for a year so that the client can perfectly understand the best practice to maintain his hybrid field. Publications, advice, training courses, and informative meetings are part of the dissemination of the teachings of regenerative agriculture that are being
The method developed by POWERgrass is disseminated through their own website where numerous detailed pages and various instructional videos are developed on their Youtube channel. Additionally, POWERgrass provides a maintenance expert free of charge for a year so that the customer can perfectly understand the best practice to maintain their hybrid field. Publications, advice, training courses, and informative meetings are part of the dissemination of the teachings of regenerative agriculture that are offered without any obligation to purchase products or services.
WE ARE REWRITING THE FUTURE MANUALS ON REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
Nature, over millennia, has established biological ties among all beings in the food chain while maintaining a harmonious balance. However, humans with the model of intensive agriculture adopted since World War II in Italy and the World aimed to maximize yields through excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to suppress diseases and pests. These have had a devastating impact on biological activity in the soil, which has practically rendered it almost sterile, demineralizing it and washing it away.
An increasing number of scholars embrace an innovative vegetative production model also known as regenerative agriculture. This is a modern cultivation technique that aims to balance natural processes between microorganisms and plants to obtain healthy and quality products. Everything depends on enriching the soil's organic noble substance by capturing carbon during photosynthesis and then making it available to the microorganisms in the soil.
The application of the teachings of regenerative agriculture to the grass of a sports field brings significant benefits, where the only limit is intensive trampling because it compresses the porosity, altering the physical properties of the soil and constraining the gaseous exchange between the soil and the air. By regularly lightening the soil, gas exchange (CO2 ⇄ O2) necessary for biological processes is ensured. In the well-drained and well-aerated substrate, microorganisms proliferate and mineralize forms of nutrients inaccessible to plants. By frequently cutting and letting grass residues deposit on the soil, some of the nutrients are reabsorbed into the cycle.
The application of regenerative agriculture teachings to the turf of a sporting field provides significant benefits, where the only limit is that of intensive trampling because it compresses the porosity, altering the physical properties of the soil, constraining the gas exchange between the soil and the air. Regularly lightening the soil ensures the necessary gas exchange (CO2 ⇄ O2) for biological processes. In a draining and well-aerated substrate, microorganisms proliferate and mineralize forms of nutrients inaccessible to plants. Frequent cutting and leaving grass residues to deposit on the ground, some of the nutrients re-enter the cycle thanks to biological activity.
From the point of view of environmental impact, among the advantages of turf cared for in symbiosis with the biological activity in the soil, it can be summarized that a well-managed turf:
Only through soil regeneration, can we have a positive environmental impact. The maintenance of all green spaces with regenerative agriculture is the only method to counter pollution in our cities. It’s everyone’s responsibility and it rewards us with health while also offering a prestigious aesthetic aspect.
REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE MAKES CROPS RESILIENT
Our agricultural production is based on tillage, plowing and the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides as it has become a tradition in recent decades that is difficult to change. However, people are more willing to change when they are faced with a problem they don't understand or when they don't have enough knowledge to solve it.
This is the case of the Milan racecourse where the insect attack forced the owners to stop racing in August 2021 after the larvae of Popillia Japonica ate the roots of the grass and the horses slipped during the race. POWERgrass applied its knowledge for the first time in such a large area and 4 weeks later the horses were racing on the tracks again.
In the following link you can download the reports of our Benefit activity for 2021 and 2022.
2024 POWERgrass S.r.l.
- IT13102060152
SirCer by Perivallon
LL.PP. OS 24, OS 6, OG 1
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