• management of operational sites: internally, the Group applies the principles of the circular economy to its own operations in order to reduce its environmental footprint (for example, to limit its use of natural resources and its production of waste). Circularity in customer flows GEODIS works closely with its customers on managing the life and second life of their products, i.e. their physical reinjection into an economic circuit. In Europe, the 2012/19/EU directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) requires manufacturers to recover and recycle all electrical and electronic appliances. Reverse logistics procedures have therefore become a legal obligation for manufacturers of electronic products. GEODIS, whose expertise also covers returns logistics, has several equipment reconditioning centers around the world. The Group uses a range of skills to recondition discarded, damaged or endof-life electronic products in order to increase their value and that of their components. This process enables the Group to recover 99% of the electronic waste of customers who give it to GEODIS to handle. Mid-life products sometimes just need to be inspected, cleaned and refurbished to be returned to circulation on the market. The operations performed also include repairs to prevent a defective product from moving to the next stages of the process (recycling, refurbishment), thereby increasing its life cycle. Once a product has been recovered, repaired and reconditioned, it can be put back on the market. Even if the product cannot be repaired, it contains valuable parts and components: spare parts can be reused by the production and repair departments, and such materials as gold, aluminum and copper can be resold on specific markets. > The GEODIS cardboard shredder To reduce the footprint of its e-commerce shipments, GEODIS uses an embossing machine to turn one of its customers’ cardboard boxes into cushioning material for packaging. This technique was implemented in April 2021 in the Nespresso distribution centre in Mexico managed by GEODIS for orders placed online. This recovers half of the 496,000 coffee boxes thrown away each year and reduces the number of plastic filling supplies that need to be purchased, saving €30,000. In addition, the use of environmentally friendly packaging improves the customer’s image. This initiative won an award in the International category at the 2022 edition of the Tous SNCF awards. Circularity in the management of operational sites As far as its own operations are concerned, the Group produced 115,774 tonnes of waste in 2022, including 114,417 tonnes of nonhazardous waste (99%) and 1,357 tonnes of hazardous waste (1%). GEODIS is a service group; as such, its waste is directly related to the packaging of products assigned to it by its customers, and to their transportation. The three main types of non-hazardous waste produced by GEODIS are mixed waste, cardboard and wood. The Group’s goal is to ensure the recovery of this waste in regions where recycling infrastructures exist. Hazardous waste consists of WEEE, on the one hand, and on the other hand, of sludge (oil separators, mud separators) and batteries, which come mainly from vehicle washing facilities and maintenance workshops. Some hazardous waste may also result from the destruction of stocks at the request of customers. Hazardous waste is outsourced to external service providers for recovery or elimination through approved specialized channels. > The Green Analytic Tool platform supporting recycling in the United States GEODIS HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) teams in the United States have developed a business intelligence tool called the Green Analytic Tool. This platform is used to record and analyze the consumption of energy, water and natural gas of each GEODIS contract logistics site in the country, as well as the volumes of waste produced and the volumes recycled. These dashboards allow each site’s recycling performance, such as the recycling rate by type of waste and the revenue derived from this recovery, to be monitored. In some cases, this data is also shared with customers by means of product-specific dashboards. An internal certification program (Green Site Certification) has been developed to compare sites and reward the best performers. This also helps raise awareness of sustainability issues in the company’s teams. 45 2022 ACTIVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY REPORT EDITORIAL > PROFILE AND AMBITION > CSR POLICY > SOCIAL > ETHICS > TABLE OF INDICATORS > ENVIRONMENT
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzMxNTcx