Situation

The Lardy technical centre is located in Essonne, about 50 km south of Paris. Spanning the municipalities of Lardy and Bouray-sur-Juine, the Lardy technical centre is nestled in natural surroundings and protects some 100 hectares of forest on the site.

The sealed area now covers 37 ha, of which 9 ha are buildings. This is unlikely to change much once the Powertrain Engineering Centre has been completed.

The built area, which was previously concentrated on the south-east of the site now extends northwards. The section occupied by production buildings therefore borders  a residential area, with educational and retirement facilities less than 1 km away. The forested section borders a different residential area.

The surrounding environment of the Lardy site has two other special features: the railway line between Paris and south-western France crosses the site, and the Mesnil-Voisin chateau, listed as a historic building, is in the vicinity.

First Iso 14001 certification obtained in 2000.  

Initial ISO 14001 certification was earned in 2000 and renewed in 2003 and 2006.

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Water consumption

In 2007, water consumption at the Lardy technical centre continued to fall, as in recent years. Completed at the end of 2006, the switch to closed-loop cooling systems paid off fully in 2007, by reducing water consumption by a further 4%.

Since the results for water consumption were so positive, targets were redefined in 2007. The removal of the last open-loop cooling towers was the final improvement in this area.

Installing the new L69 set of (closed-loop) cooling towers was one of the site’s major projects in 2007. They went into operation in January 2008. The L39 set of (old, closed-loop) cooling towers could then be dismantled.

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Water-borne effluents

In 2007, the flow of wastewater almost doubled on the previous year. That result can be mainly attributed to weather conditions.

Since concentrations of toxic metals, suspended solids and organic matter remained stable while flows increased strongly, discharges fell considerably between 2006 and 2007.

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SO2 and greenhouse gas emissions

In 2007, GHG emissions fell by 8% on 2006 and by 12% on 2005.

The two main reasons for this positive result on GHG emissions were:

• lower gas consumption by the boilers due to milder weather,

• increasing use of biofuels in engine tests.

Having risen the previous year, SO2 emissions started to head down in 2007, falling by 2%. Total atmospheric emissions therefore fell.

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Waste

In 2007, OIW fell by 8% as a result of the efforts made in previous years. Variations in this type of waste can be attributed to fluctuations in the site’s activity and improved awareness of the importance of reducing waste at source.

HIW increased by a substantial 38%, mainly because of a problem with one process, which caused a spike in various liquid effluents.

Total tonnage of inert waste was multiplied by a factor of nine. Paradoxically, this huge increase only reflects the site’s considerably improved ability to manage building waste.

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Energy

For the first time since 2000, energy consumption decreased slightly. This can be attributed to milder weather in 2007 than in previous years. 
 

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Highlights

 

In 2007, the Lardy technical centre stepped up the progress approaches introduced at the beginning of the decade.
First, major investments were made in reducing atmospheric emissions.

The site finished equipping all the boilers with low-NOx burners to reduce NOx emissions.

The emphasis was also on replacing the open-loop cooling towers with closed-loop systems, which will continue in 2008. This considerably lowers the risk of Legionnaire’s disease associated with the cooling towers, which are necessary for the site’s activity.

Maintenance of cooling and air-conditioning facilities continued apace to prevent accidental atmospheric emissions. A progress plan to replace the oldest facilities is currently being examined.

In addition, waste management at the site took a major step forward. Building waste is now systematically incorporated into the environmental management of projects.

Lastly, the completion of the closed system for process wastewater reduced water consumption by 4%. Water consumption has been reduced by 65% since 2000.

All these progress actions were incorporated into the site’s biggest project in recent years: the Powertrain Engineering Centre, scheduled for completion in 2010.