Situation

Transferred from Flins to Grand-Couronne in 1975, the business was set up on land rented from the Autonomous Port of Rouen, near the River Seine, the A13 motorway and a railway line. The plant consists of seven buildings covering a total area of 70,000 m2.

Initial ISO 14001 certification earned in 1999.

The site's ISO 14001 certification was renewed in 2003 and 2006.

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Water consumption

Water consumption comes only from sewage and personal use. An annual total of 4,095 m3 was consumed, which is a 19.6% decrease on 2006, achieved through better leak management.

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Water-borne effluents

The plant has a separate sewer system. Wastewater is discharged to the municipal system, which is connected to a treatment plant.

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SO2 and greenhouse gas emissions

SO2 emissions are generated by the boiler plant which uses low emission heavy fuel-oil with a very low sulphur content (FETBTS). The boiler plant has power of 15 MWh.

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Waste

The site recycles 100% of Ordinary Industrial Waste (OIW). The progress achieved by the site on recycling OIW means that more than 95% of waste can be sorted.

Fundamental changes have been implemented:

• use of durable packaging,

• optimized at-source sorting.

In 2007, the site produced a total of 2,504 tonnes of waste, 5.16% of which was OIW. In 2006, total waste amounted to 2,555 tonnes, 5.25% of which was OIW. These results show a 2% decrease in total waste production between 2006 and 2007.

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Energy

In 2007, annual electricity consumption was 4,489 MWh. In 2006, electricity consumption was 4,632 MWh. That means a 3.08% reduction in electricity consumption between 2006 and 2007.

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Highlights

 

 Nora Méjeri, Environmental Manager:

Environmental policy at Grand-Couronne

Defined by Renault’s senior management, the overall objective is to “ensure our activities comply with environmental best practice at all times”. The Grand-Couronne site is committed to achieving that objective through the following actions:

- Identify and reduce the negative environmental impacts of our business, in particular, our unrecovered waste and waste generated by our customers.

- Comply with legal and other environmental requirements applicable to our site.

- Prevent risks and reduce pollution through preventive action, as part of the continuous improvement approach.

- Provide information and training to employees on the site’s environmental impacts and their role in preserving the environment;

- Communicate on the site’s environmental actions and achievements.

In line with these main actions, the Grand-Couronne plant has set reduction targets for: 

- unrecovered waste,

- waste generated by our customers,

- CO2 emissions. 

                                      
Reducing CO2 emissions by using river transport:

Since April 2007 some containers have been shipped by river on barges. This means of transport reduces the number of shipments by truck and consequently cuts CO2 by 50%.  A barge can carry the equivalent of 44 trucks.

World Environment Day:

On  June 5, 2007, the Grand-Couronne ILN played an active role in UN World Environment Day.

In partnership with the Autonomous Port of Rouen, the management of Grand-Couronne invited local and regional elected officials and managers from the Seine-Normandy logistics competitiveness cluster and France’s environment agency (ADEME) to a major event dedicated to environmental protection.

“An information brochure on our actions to protect the environment was handed out to visitors. The switch from road to river transport, combined with optimized filling of containers, will cut CO2 emissions released into the atmosphere by 65% in 2007,” says Nora Méjeri.

Tour of the workshops:

After a presentation by Grand-Couronne plant manager, Didier Joly, of the activity and actions undertaken by ILN to support sustainable development, the guests were able to see how the approach has been put into practice in the workshops.

They visited the dexterity school and the dojo, where newcomers learn how to sort waste for more effective recycling.
In parallel with this operation, activities linked to the environment were organized on the site, including a competition on the environment in everyday life and a screening of Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth.