Situation

The Revoz site is located in the town of Novo Mesto in Slovenia, 60 km south-east of Ljubljana, the capital city. The plant is located on the southern edge of Novo Mesto, on the right bank of the Krka river, which runs through the town. The southern edge of the site is bordered by houses

Initial ISO 14001 certification earned in 1999.

Certification renewed in 2002 and 2005. 

Download :

- sites's environmental policy (french)

- environmental statement 2004 (slovenian/english)

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Water consumption

An improvement plan has contributed in stabilizing the plant's water consumption despite a 40% increase in production between 1998 and 2006. The site has the best performance of the bodywork assembly plants in the Renault group as regards water consumption per vehicle produced. This result was achieved by implementing the following measures:

• making personnel aware of the need to save water,
• using the best technologies on the new TTS line, lowering water consumption,
• reusing wastewater for surface treatment to top up the salting-out pits,
• recycling all cooling water,
• optimizing all consumer processes, especially TTS and electrocoating,
• optimizing distribution networks.  

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Water-borne effluents

Improvements made in the treatment plant for liquid effluents in 2005 reduced pollutant discharges into the Krka River, especially toxic metals. The full results for the site do not properly reflect this progress because, in 2001, the scope of the discharges that were taken into account in the overall assessment was changed.

The plant has:

• installed a channel to drain black wastewater from the west annex, additional oil separators at the coach station, and a channel for draining water from the truck entrance;
• upgraded the wastewater treatment plant and adjusted treatment capacity and operation in line with the new TTS and electrocoating facility;
• installed a new wastewater treatment line (containing organic matter) at the treatment plant;
• optimized operation of the industrial wastewater treatment plant installed in 2005, which allows the quantity of heavy metals and COD to be greatly reduced;
• started removing zinc from phosphating wastewater,
• set up permanent sampling of wastewater and regular measurements of the quality of discharged wastewater;
• raised awareness of staff at the workstations where hazardous substances are used.

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SO2 and greenhouse gas emissions

SO2 emissions are linked to gas and fuel consumption: total elimination of the use of fuel in the electrocoating oven led to a considerable decrease in SO2 and greenhouse gas emissions.

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Volatile organic compounds emissions from paint process

The reduction in emissions of volatile organic compounds since 1996 has been achieved by improving the paint application process, especially through automation and use of electrostatic rotary spray.  Moreover, efforts to recover waste solvents and incinerate furnace discharges have contributed to reducing VOCs. 

Since 2002, the plant implemented low-pressure paint application guns that reduce solvent emissions by 100 g/vehicle. By replacing the basic pneumatic painting machine with robots, solvent emissions have been cut by a further300 g/veh. A measurement campaign to determine incinerator efficiency has made it possible to improve the materials balance.

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Waste

The reduction in OIW volumes, calculated on the basis of the increase in activity, can be attributed to the introduction of a workstation sorting programme. Waste that is to  be recovered or burnt to generate energy is collected separately.

The quantity of packaging waste per vehicle was lowered by increasing use of durable packaging.

The plant has substantially reduced its Hazardous Industrial Waste (HIW), especially by eliminating paint sludge water. This bodywork assembly plant has the highest performance in terms of the amount of HIW generated per vehicle.

 

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Energy

The reduction in fluid consumption is the result of various efforts managed by the "energy" group. In 2002, the plant installed fuel consumption meters close to points of use and fitted check valves to shut off the compressed air supply when not in use. Heat wheels reduce energy consumption by recovering heat. About twenty wheels have been installed on the booth air conditioners, ovens and buildings used for painting since 1992 and are used to reheat incoming fresh air. The temperature gain depends on weather conditions, but is 10°C on average for Revoz. That represents a considerable saving.

Saving efforts were also focused on optimizing starting and shutting down facilities at weekends and optimizing lighting.

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Highlights

 

2007 was a key year for Revoz, with the launch of New Twingo. For the first time in its history, the plant is the exclusive manufacturer of a completely new model. The project is partly subsidized by the Slovenian government.  2007 was also a record year, since the plant achieved an absolute production record of 200,164 vehicles.

• Award for the company that is most respectful of the environment

ISO 14001 certified in 1999, the Novo Mesto plant’s approach is based on a major staff training plan, and now plays the role of a pilot plant for the rest of the country. Involved in efforts by government bodies, and consulted by other companies, the plant, with the support of its staff, thus finds additional motivation in applying Renault's policy. On November 27, 2003, the plant was awarded the most environmentally-aware company prize by Slovenia's Environmental Development Fund.

• Noise

Changes in some building structures and certain processes have reduced noise produced by the plant.
To reduce noise emission, the plant has installed noise walls and silencers on some ventilation systems.

• Continuous improvement plan

Developing a continuous improvement plan has made it possible to maintain stable environmental impacts despite an increase in production of about 40% between 1998 and 2006 and 30% between 2006 and 2007.

• Management

Environmental operations are fully integrated into standard operations on all workstations.