sain t-gobain annu al report 2008 annual report

54
BRØDRENE DAHL’S PROGRAM FOR REDUCING
THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
OF ITS DISTRIBUTION OUTLETS
Brødrene Dahl, part of the Building Distribution Sector,
launched its Green Regions program in 2008, a package
of initiatives designed to reduce the environmental impact
of its fifty distribution outlets in Norway. The program
addresses such issues as goods transport and vehicle
emissions, waste management and packaging reduction,
energy use in heating and cooling systems and recycling
of waste and returned goods. In addition, Brødrene Dahl
is working with suppliers to make sure their products
meet its internal environmental standards and
are packaged in recyclable materials. The company
will also begin recycling waste generated by
its customers.
Typology of Saint-Gobain sites
Our manufacturing processes present relatively few
technological risks. Moreover, nearly 45% of revenue
comes from building materials distribution, which poses
very few risks to the environment. A breakdown
of Saint-Gobain sites, including a list of those governed
by special regulations, appears in the section entitled
“Risk Factors”, under “Industrial and environmental risks”.
Minimizing waste and reducing consumption
of primary raw materials
Our waste management priorities are guided by the EHS
charter objective of zero unrecovered waste. They are
as follows, in order of importance:
• Reduce the quantity of by-products generated
• Reuse these by-products internally
• When by-products cannot be reused internally, promote
external recovery processes such as recycling or energy
recovery through incineration
• As a last resort, bury final waste.
Waste reduction is therefore a priority for the Group. In 2008,
concerned sites generated 3.5 million tons of production
waste, compared with 3.7 million in 2007 based on comparable
output and scope of consolidation.
The Sectors adapt this waste reduction policy to their own
operations. For example, in 2005 and 2006 the Lapeyre
and Point.P banners in the Building Distribution Sector
jointly developed a waste reporting system – derived
from Gaïa but adapted to the specific profile of distribution
operations – that is now in the process of being deployed.
Point.P has also developed a fee-based waste disposal system,
governed by strict specifications, for use by its customers
who are invited to drop off their waste materials
upon completion of a project and reload their vehicles
with new materials. This service has the added benefit
of generating a competitive advantage for the Group.
Currently there are about 100 waste disposal points in service,
and given its success the program is likely to be extended
to other banners in the Sector, notably PUM Plastiques.
The real challenge of waste reduction lies in its recovery –
in other words, recycling. Some of this recycling is performed
within the Group at specialized companies like Valoref.
The more we use recycled materials, the more we reduce
our consumption of primary raw materials. In addition to
recovering our own waste products, we use recycled materials
from external cullet, recovered scrap metal and other outside
sources to ensure optimal use of raw materials.
Three materials that are critical to our operations – glass,
cast iron and gypsum – are infinitely recyclable.
Glass
The primary method for reducing resource consumption
in glass furnaces is to include cullet (crushed recycled glass)
among the raw materials. By making new glass from
recycled glass, the Group saves on both primary raw materials
and energy: the waste glass collected has already been
prepared, so the energy that would normally be used
for its chemical processing is eliminated. Saint-Gobain has
five facilities that produce cullet from its own waste glass.
Located in France, Germany and Italy, these facilities mainly
supply the Packaging Sector’s furnaces. The Group also
purchases cullet from external sources. There are two main
constraints on glass recycling. The first is that it is difficult
to recover clean, uncontaminated glass – an especially
important consideration for flat glass manufacturing.
The second is that the level of household waste glass being
collected is stagnating in some countries, for a variety
of reasons including declining alcoholic beverage consumption
and changes in waste collection practices. The proportion
of non-recycled glass used within the Group fell between 2007
and 2008 based on a comparable scope of consolidation.
In 2008, glass furnaces at concerned sites used 13.2 million
tons of primary raw material, compared with 14 million tons
in 2007, 4.4 million tons of externally-sourced cullet, versus
4.1 million in 2007, and 2.8 million tons of internally
generated cullet, unchanged from 2007.
Both the Insulation Division and the Packaging Sector
use significant volumes of recycled glass materials in their
furnaces. Use of cullet from internal and external sources
has increased: in 2008 it accounted for 18.9% and 40.9%
Saint-Gobain - 2008 Annual Report