Martine Martin :
« The environmental policy that was updated with the arrival of new management in 2007 is still in force and enables us to apply environmental management practices at every level of the organisation.
Our environmental results in 2008 were in line with previous years. Performance of the EMS is measured by our environment indicators, which are now discussed every month at management committee meetings. At the same time, 2008 was a year of audits and DRIRE inspections that confirmed our environmental management performance. »
The overall management of waste is outsourced to a contractor. The contract was renewed in June 2007 and clearly lays down the priorities for progress of the three-year plan. More efficient systems have been installed, such as the rotary filter for step sludge, or are under development, like the small bins for the piping galleries.
Monthly meetings are held between the waste contractor and the environment network in order to find quick solutions to any anomalies and to adapt organisations to changes in the workshops. 1,000 collection bins have been installed on the site to improve selective sorting (plastics, better sorting of paper, etc.).
Two drier-crusher systems for shavings also came into operation in mid-2009, following the analyses conducted with the waste contractor in 2007 and 2008.
The mild winter of 2007-2008 and the energy-saving measures that are taken all year long both helped to perfect the use of the boilers and the production of compressed air.
The energy-saving committee remained very active. The results of the weekly measurements helped to target points to be improved and to reinforce communication. The machine shutdown audits (VOR diagrams), designed to reduce the factory’s non-production time energy consumption, exceeded the targets that were set for 2008. Management continues in 2009, with even closer monitoring of non-production time energy use at the end of each night shift.
Systematic measurements were taken during all earthworks and building works as part of the campaign to prevent soil pollution. Soil samples are taken before and, sometimes, during the works in order to check the quality of the subsoil. Special measures are taken for new facilities in order to prevent any risk of pollution of the subsoil.
A project was conducted to characterise the quality of the soil in a machining shavings storage area.
Our ISO 14001 certification was renewed for the third time in seven years in 2008. The audits conducted by the statutory auditors of the environmental accounts also confirmed the site’s good performance. In an effort to progress even further, management decided last August to set up Monthly Environmental Committees, in addition to the monthly presentations of the Environment Management System performance indicators by the Environmental Manager. The presence of the Deputy Director of Operations at the committee meetings proves the desire to break new ground with certain indicators.
In April, the factory took part in the Sustainable Development Week organised by the Haute-Normandie regional government.
As usual, on June 5, we held the Annual Environmental Convention to coincide with World Environment Day.