Verallia launches a site-territory environmental integration program with its Seville plant in Spain and Cognac factory in France
The concept of this program is to help regenerate local ecosystems by planting endemic species and creating “corridors” of biodiversity while better integrating the Verallia sites into the local landscape by reducing visual pollution.
In Seville, the available green spaces have been redesigned to increase the site’s plant biodiversity to better integrate it into the local landscape: olive tree plantations, fragrant beds, local plants and shrubs, withdrawal and recycling of synthetic grass to regenerate the soil. “The employees transformed a space reserved for them into an olive grove that they planted as a family on October 10. This friendly moment was also an opportunity to raise awareness among our teams and their families about preserving the environment and biodiversity,” explains Susana Lobato Valle, the site’s HR Manager. Birds of prey cages will also be installed to keep potential rodents away while reintroducing biodiversity.
With one furnace and 150 employees manufacturing up to one million bottles a day, the Seville plant serves the markets of spirits, olives and oils, sodas and sauces.
In Cognac, several projects were proposed to local teams to redesign the green spaces surrounding the entrance, the refectory, the commercial offices and the warehouse areas. Creating a fruit forest capable of accommodating lunch breaks was one of the proposals. On the occasion of EHS Day, the site’s employees voted for their favorite project, which will be deployed by spring 2020. “The Cognac factory is in the heart of a superb region. The green space potential of our site just needed to be magnified. We focused on the places most frequented by our teams and customers and we involved employees in the choice of projects that reconcile aesthetics, quality of life at work and environmental impact,” explains Karine Noiraudeau, HR Manager of the site.
With its three furnaces and 350 employees manufacturing up to 2 million bottles a day, Verallia’s Cognac site mainly meets the demand of three markets: still wines, some sparkling wines, and cognacs and spirits.
This industrial site integration program designed by Verallia and PUR Projet is also accompanied by a carbon offset program supporting reforestation and agroforestry projects in Latin America (Peru, Honduras, Colombia and Brazil), for which Verallia has signed up for an initial five-year period and which will offset, on an annual basis, 1% of the Group’s total CO2 emissions* and plant more than 100,000 trees. This project also promotes the socio-economic development of communities while preserving local ecosystems.
*This carbon offsetting of 1% of CO2 emissions complements but does not replace the objective of reducing Verallia’s CO2 emissions by 1% per year. This compensation is based on the purchase of ex-ante carbon credits validated by third-party auditors accredited by the Verified Carbon Standard / Gold Standard. The official withdrawal of carbon credits from the official Markit register is planned between 2020 and 2030. The volume offset in 2019 corresponds to 1% of the direct and indirect carbon footprint in 2018.