VINCI - 2005 annual report

Optimising waste
management
VINCI continued to introduce waste sorting
across all its businesses in 2005. In view of
the volume of waste involved, VINCI
companies are developing ways to reduce the
production of waste at source and optimise
waste sorting, traceability, treatment and
recycling. Waste produced by construction
sites falls into three categories defi ned by
regulations: inert waste, non-hazardous
waste and hazardous waste.
In 2005, the Paris region purchasing club
initiated a pilot project in which several
VINCI companies – Sogea Construction,
GTM Construction, Freyssinet, Eurovia and
VINCI Energies – are participating. It involves
setting up a joint system for the global
management of waste from their construction
sites. The volume of such waste reaches
80,000 tonnes a year, of which 60% is inert
waste that can be recycled by Eurovia. The
deployment of a joint programme with
common tools (on-site pre-sorting
equipment, manuals to harmonise treatment
processes, framework contracts with
suppliers, etc.) is to reduce the costs of
managing waste, as well as improve traceability
and the recycling rate. This initiative, which
received the Special Synergies category award
in the VINCI 2005 Innovation Awards
Competition, will be audited, formalised and
rolled out to other regions.
Preventing and
limiting pollution
VINCI combats noise on two fronts:
innovation (quieter road surfacings and
noise barriers, for example) and the
reduction of noise emissions at their source.
On construction sites, in addition to
complying strictly with noise emission
regulations (especially those applying to
compressors, jack hammers and tower
cranes), the Group’s companies consult with
nearby residents to defi ne working hours
that will reduce their exposure to noise.
Appropriate solutions are implemented on
A RESPONSIBLE GROUP / ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
Group worksites to protect air quality.
These include the use of sprinklers to limit
dust dispersion when vehicles pass, and the
installation of dust removers directly above
stone crushers in tunnels. Flue gas treatment
techniques are developed by VINCI Environnement
for household waste incineration plants,
and by Eurovia for the emissions from
its own industrial facilities. In 2005, Eurovia
developed a process to reduce volatile
organic compounds (VOC) emitted during
the production of asphalt mixes.
The organisation of 15-minute “environment”
sessions on Group construction sites
raised employee awareness of solutions that
prevent accidental discharges into water and
soil. Settling tanks, fi lters and emergency
spillage kits made up of absorbent materials
are coming into widespread use to prevent
soil pollution and water contamination.
Protecting
the environment
For their design and build projects, VINCI
companies carry out environmental impact
studies that include a section on fl ora and
fauna, especially for activities related to ICPE
(installations classifi ed for environmental
protection).
PRESERVING THE BALANCE
OF ECO-SYSTEMS
Controlling environmental impacts is a
major concern at every stage of a motorway
project (design, construction and management),
starting with the impact study that
has to be carried out before the project can
be declared of public interest. Once put into
service, motorway infrastructure is subject to
environmental assessment: an intermediate
assessment after one year, and a fi nal assessment
at the end of three to fi ve years.
In May 2005, Cofi route presented the intermediate
assessment for the A85 motorway.
This checked aspects such as the quality
of the motorway’s fi t with its surrounding
landscape (embankments blending with the
natural contours of the terrain), attention
paid to water treatment (both surface and
ground water), and the protection of wild
animals: the construction of crossings for
both large and small animals, installation of
ponds for frogs, and measures to limit bird
deaths at selected areas of the motorway. In
addition, in January 2006, Cofi route and the
French foundation for the protection of the
habitat of wildlife signed a partnership agreement
for the preservation of biodiversity.
REHABILITATING END-OF-
OPERATION QUARRIES
Group companies transform end-ofoperation
alluvial quarries into leisure centres
for water activities; rock quarries are restored
and reforested. Local liaison and consultation
committees set up by the operating
companies, which local nature protection
associations are invited to join, are essential
for the success of rehabilitation projects. In
2005, Carrières Bretagne Sud (Eurovia) won
the best environmental practices award at the
sustainable development competition
organised by the French national union of
aggregate producers (UNPG) for its
restoration of the Quinipily quarry in the
Morbihan region. The quarry, which had
been in operation for almost a century, was
converted back into a natural site. Completely
replanted, it now has a lake where the
excavations took place.
Risk prevention
ECONOMIC RISKS
Only two of VINCI’s installations are affected
by France’s national plan for the allocation of
greenhouse gas quotas: Opteor-Sonnex at
Lisieux in Normandy and the CICF factory at
Chateauneuf les Martigues in the south.
Their quotas are 14,429 tonnes
and 159,172 tonnes of CO 2 respectively.
VINCI does, however, participate in discussion
groups on the changes that are likely to
occur, particularly on the themes of
“buildings and CO 2 ” and “transport and CO 2 ”.
INDUSTRIAL AND ENVIRON-
MENTAL RISKS
VINCI has low exposure to industrial and
environmental risks. Some of Eurovia’s
business activities – binder plants, coating
plants and quarries – are closely regulated
and have characteristics that are similar to
those of industry. They can therefore be
exposed to limited but well identifi ed risks.
The risks presented by binder and coating
plants stem from the fact that they use or
make products that are potentially dangerous
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