Translations Best practice in French version Best practice in English version

BAUDELET ENVIRONNEMENT transforms wastes, even final wastes, into eco-products

4. Environment

Green design

Context

Located in the Blaringhem "Eco Park" (northern France), the family-run Baudelet Environnement Group is specialized in reusing and treating non-hazardous wastes, ferrous scrap and metals, in addition to the clean-up of polluted sites. Thanks to its innovation unit, the Group has developed a circular economy: its own energy production, combined with eco-product creation.

Objectives

- "Close the loop" of waste treatment through in-house use of eco-products generated from waste reuse/transformation
- Instruct the general public in the treatment process for wastes, even for "final" wastes.

APPROACH

Processes for reusable wastes:
- aluminum wastes à re-melted aluminum ingots
- plastic bottles à plastic PET tubes
- raw wood waste à concentrated wood briquettes since February 2011, subsequent to buyout of the Autrement Bois firm.

In response to the impacts produced by non-recyclable wastes:
Baudelet Environnement has decided to also take advantage of the impacts from its Non-Hazardous Waste Storage Facility, where non-recyclable final wastes are stored, i.e.:

 - BIOGAS has been reused for its energy value since 1990, which ensures the company pays the lowest possible General Tax Rate on Polluting Activities. The fermentation of organic matter from wastes triggers the creation of a gas containing in large part methane, i.e. biogas. Baudelet Environnement possesses a network of installed pipelines and wells designed to recover biogas. Instead of destroying this gas using flare towers, the company has initiated a biogas recovery and reuse process; the gas is being used to produce electricity, which then gets resold to the ERDF network grid by operating 2 lean-burn gas generators (2.12 MW). This recovered biogas is also introduced to raise the temperature of the aluminum smelter furnaces, as well as to feed the leachate evapo-concentrator, thereby keeping natural gas use to a minimum. The Baudelet Environnement Group is targeting a 93% reuse rate (vs. 90% currently), which is well above regulatory requirements.

-LEACHATES (for which no dumpsite is available), derived from rainwater having percolated through stored wastes, has been transformed into windshield washer fluid since 2010. Collected, pumped and then treated, nearly 60,000 m3 of leachates are processed annually. A portion of the demineralized water generated is discharged into the natural environment, with another portion feeding the aluminum smelter; since 2010, the company has been producing a natural and 100% biodegradable windshield washer fluid for use in employees' personal cars as well as the company's fleet. As of 2011, this product has been sold basically at cost price in the company's 6 retail outlets. Objective: enhance the image of recycling.

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

- Internal reuse of eco-products stemming from the company's own activities

- Reduction in energy-related expenses through using a renewable energy source

- Sale of eco-products derived from waste reuse (e.g. 450 tons of wood briquettes sold / year)

- Reduced tax paid on polluting activities (€15 / ton instead of the base rate of €100 / ton)

- A company image conveying innovation and expertise

Benefits

- 90% reuse rate on all extracted biogas

- Best biogas recovery rate in Europe: only 2% loss

- Reuse of 4,000 tons of wood per year

- Annual internal production of 18,000 MW-h of electricity

- 10,000 liters of treated water, recycled into 100% biodegradable windshield washer liquid, i.e. approx. 2,000 5-liter jugs

- Carbon footprint: Emissions released due to Group activities down 13%

- The recycling activity has yielded a savings of 170,000 CO2-equivalent tons in 2009 and 281,000 CO2-equivalent tons in 2011.

Workforce
227 (2011)
Turnover
110 M€ (2011)
Country
France

BAUDELET ENVIRONNEMENT

Lieu Dit "Les Prairies"
59173 BLARINGHEM

www.baudelet-environnement.fr

Contact

Caroline POISSONNIER, Responsable Communication - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mise à jour le 28/06/2016

Creative Commons Attribution This work by Réseau Alliances – World Forum Lille is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.