Situation

The plant is located in an industrial estate on the east bank of the Medellín River. Ambient temperature ranges from 20°C to 35°C.

Initial ISO 14001 certification in 2002.

The site renewed its certification in 2006.

Download:

 Environmental Statement 2006 (Spanish/English)

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Water consumption

The plant uses water from the municipal network for human consumption and production processes. In 2007 the site consumed 2.3 m3/veh., which was 11.5% less than in 2006.

In 2007 water use was optimized by a new surface treatment tunnel and a higher process recycling rate, which saved 50,000 m3  of water over the year.

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Water-borne effluents

Currently, the plant has a residual water treatment plant, where preliminary treatment of effluents is carried out. The treated effluents are transported to the municipal treatment plant.

The plant also introduced lead-free electrocoating, which drastically reduced the heavy metal content of wastewater.

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SO2 and greenhouse gas emissions

All furnaces and boilers run on natural gas, a fuel that does not emit sulphur dioxide and that has the lowest rate of GHG emissions. 

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Volatile organic compounds emissions from paint process

Paint is applied manually. In 2007 7.65 kg of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) were emitted per vehicle, 11% less than in 2006.

The actions deployed to reduce those emissions include paints with a lower solvent content, fewer purges in the paint booths, fewer colours applied, recovery of purges from application guns, etc.

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Waste

In 2007, 6.4 kg of solid waste was generated per vehicle, a 3% increase on 2006, despite the actions deployed to reduce the quantity of this waste, such as sorting, reduction at source and continuous training of staff through internal communications media.

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Energy

In 2007, the plant consumed 0.56 MWh of energy per vehicle, which was a 14% decrease on 2006.

Actions deployed include the installation of training benches, shutdown of equipment when out of use, and tracking of compressed air leaks.

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Highlights

 

Sofasa’s Environment Statement was published for the first time in 2007 and forwarded to the environmental authorities and to all the site’s employees and stakeholders.

Sofasa as part of the Renault Group, shares the corporate objectives with respect to environmental protection.  For this reason, the Sofasa plant puts in place important efforts in order to reduce the impact of their activity on the environment, in the framework of a responsible and engaged Environmental Management Policy.

The site organizes activities such as nature hikes so that staff and their families can enjoy the landscapes of the region and the variety of wildlife.