Champigny-sur-Marne: an Eiffage Énergie Systèmes branch rolls out eco-responsible best practices

“When we decided to install beehives at our Champigny-sur-Marne head office, we called on the services of a well-known local association, which analyzed the site’s environmental qualities. A group of volunteers even took on the task of planting melliferous species (rosemary, lavender, ceanothe and abelia grandiflora), to help bee colonies acclimatize. After installing three beehives decorated with our branch logo, the beekeeping training association AFAPI 77 organized awareness-raising sessions for our employees on the world of beekeeping,” explained Environmental Quality Manager Samah Dos Santos.

Employees were invited to watch the honey being extracted alongside the beekeepers. An in-house competition (organized as part of Sustainable Development Week) saw three of them each win a jar of honey with a home-made label. Employees at the subsidiary's two other branches, in Verquin (62) and Aubagne (13), were also able to take advantage of this opportunity.

“To help employees enjoy this calmer environment, we offered volunteers a new workshop based on recovery and reuse. Two benches made from pallet wood, four tables from site reels and three vertical vegetable gardens in wooden crates have been added to our outdoor spaces. The organic vegetables harvested (cherry tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, mint and lettuce) were made available to everyone on a self-service basis,” continued Samah Dos Santos.

At the same time, the startup Tchaomégot has installed a terminal for collecting cigarette butts next to the smoking area. The collected butts are used to manufacture insulating materials for the building industry, without the use of chemicals or water. The terminal has been in operation for six months and has already been the subject of initial reporting: the 15,120 cigarette butts collected were used to manufacture 4.3 kg of eco-designed insulation material. Bearing in mind that a single cigarette butt can contaminate 500 litres of water, this first collection saved 7,560 m3 of water (the equivalent of three swimming pools) and 53 kg of CO2 (or a Paris-Lille car journey).

“These initiatives won us the Biodiversity Challenge organized by the Division, at DR I2S level. Our aim now is to anchor these good practices in our branches and, hopefully, set an example for other entities in the Energy Systems Division and the Group as a whole”, said Samah Dos Santos.

The enthusiasm generated by the action taken is perfectly in line with the requirements of ISO 14 001 certification (certification ISO 14 001) which places a company's environmental performance at the heart of its management and organization. The adoption of these eco-responsible best practices contributes to collective awareness of local and global environmental issues.