Situation

The Seville plant has two production areas. It is adjacent to an urban area and borders an industrial area. A connecting road has been built and is being used at the eastern border of the property. In this area, tertiary services (offices and Industrial Polygon) are currently under construction. The site is close to the town centre, near homes, a school and a health centre. The plant is located in an area where water is protected near the Guadalquivir River and on agricultural land.

First Iso 14001 certification earned in 1999.

The site renewed its certification for three years in 2002 and 2005.

Download :

- environmental statement 2007 (Spanish)

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Water consumption

Water consumption figures reflect an increase in activity.  Eight years ago, the plant put in place a water consumption management plan.  As part of new gearbox projects, with a view to optimizing consumption, the plant plans to re-use water from industrial processes (closed systems) and to separate the networks by providing a specific stormwater system.

In the second half of 2006, the environment and facilities department checked the heat treatment process and operation of the washing machines in workshop F. This monitoring process aims to minimize consumption, to reduce the use of chemicals and to limit discharges.

In 2007, this effort will be extended to the other stages in the production of gearbox J.

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Water-borne effluents

The settling installation has been upgraded to optimize effluent management.  In 2001, the plant commissioned a physical/chemical treatment facility to reduce pollutant flows. Pollutant flows are discharged to the municipal treatment plant.

In 2007 an action plan was put in place to improve the quality of emissions to water.  Results show an improvement in discharge parameters, with the exception of ammonium nitrate and total organic carbon.

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SO2 and greenhouse gas emissions

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Volatile organic compounds emissions from paint process

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Waste

The plant has adopted a system of separation at source.  It has reduced waste per gearbox through a campaign to raise personnel awareness and identify waste recovery processes.  A waste reduction plan was implemented between 2001 and 2004.  It aimed to reduce all types of waste produced by the plant, primarily through the initiatives below.

• In order to reduce volumes of Hazardous Industrial Waste, the plant has installed a press filter, thus also cutting the quantities of sludge from the physical/chemical treatment plant by 98%. This represents a 33% reduction in the total quantity of HIW generated by the gearbox department.

• The MT1 and TL4 gearbox project makes provision for the use of durable packaging, which reduces the quantity and volume of reusable waste.

The increase in waste in 2003 and 2005 is the result of the implementation of the new MT1 and TL4 gearbox projects.

In 2006, quantities of HIW rose significantly, particularly sludge from the settling tank, washing machines and cutting fluid unit, process waste, acid and alkaline emissions and grinding sludge.   In 2007 a programme was put in place to monitor each type of waste. 

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Energy

Despite an increase in activity, consumption remained stable between 1998 and 2002. 

Electricity consumption increased in 2003 and 2004 as a result of the extreme temperatures observed during both the winter and the summer (use of heat pumps) and new projects developed.  However, consumption of natural gas stabilized, as a result of moves to phase out the centralized boilers and to rationalize consumption in the heat treatment workshop. The start-up of the new TL4 gearbox in 2005 pushed energy consumption up.

The increase in energy consumption is lower than the significant upturn in activity.

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Highlights

 

Integrating the environment into the MT1 and TL4 projects

In 2003, the plant began putting in place the industrial installations required to produce a new gearbox.
 
In April 2005, the plant began producing a new manual six-speed gearbox, the "TL4", for petrol and diesel engines on small and medium-sized cars. The TL4 project is the result of joint work by Renault and Nissan engineers.

The industrial production contract for this project includes a chapter on the "environment". It describes the procedures to be followed for each of the most significant environmental aspects (soil, water, discharges, chemicals, waste, etc.).

In 2006 the plant assessed its major risks for the first time.  Based on this diagnosis, covering chemicals legionella and waste, an action plan was put in place to address all anomalies. An audit will be carried out every year.

Also in 2006, the site completed a soil diagnosis to support RD 9/2005. The results were presented to management in February 2007.