Reducing, sorting and transforming our waste: a daily challenge
Discover how the Societe Generale’s Real Estate Division is contributing, around the world, to reduce and transform waste.
The Societe Generale Real Estate Division is involved in the various aspects of CSR in order to contribute to the Group’s sustainability challenges. As well as reducing carbon emissions associated with the energy consumed in our buildings, actions are also deployed to reduce waste, boost the circular economy, ensure we use water sensibly, etc.
The circular economy is a production and consumption model that consists in extending products’ life cycles and producing as little waste as possible. In practice, it involves sharing, reusing, repairing, renovating and recycling existing products and materials for as long as possible.
No plastic
Both in France and abroad, Societe Generale is taking action every day to reduce real estate waste to a minimum. Indeed, numerous measures have been deployed in French central buildings’ corporate catering facilities, such as the elimination of single-use plastic, the axing of plastic bottles and pots, and the use of reusable containers. Similarly, during the inauguration of the Studio building in Warsaw, staff were given glass bottles to eliminate plastic or paper cups.
Reusing and recycling
For the waves of staff relocations in Paris central buildings, Societe Generale now use cardboard boxes that can be reused up to 20 times. Furthermore, the bank also undertook a responsible approach to furniture and waste removal when Societe Generale China teams moved into the Shanghai Tower.
Sorting and composting
The Societe Generale Real Estate Division is also ensuring better waste recycling; additional sorting is carried out by agents – mostly from adapted or sheltered sector companies – to differentiate between the various materials during waste sorting in the Val de Fontenay buildings, as well as in the Granite, Basalte and Alicante-Chassagne Towers in La Défense. Furthermore, a local sorting and recycling solution for waste from our building sites has been put in place in the Alicante-Chassagne Towers in La Défense. This dedicated sorting centre henceforth allows Societe Generale to monitor, to obtain data and to challenge its partners. Likewise, to reduce event-related waste, the bank now offers a personalised event badge recycling service.
Lastly, ordinary industrial waste is entirely incinerated, a process that enables energy to be produced that is used for the urban heating network. All the organic waste from the central buildings’ catering facilities is transformed into compost in processing centres located less than 15 km from the buildings to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with their collection and transport to a minimum.
First tangible results
Thanks to everyone’s commitment, the results are clear to see!
- A reduction of almost 31% in waste per occupant between 2021 and 2023, i.e. almost 155 fewer tons of waste in our central buildings in 2023,
- A recycling rate up by 10% in a year to 40% in 2023,
- 278 kg of event badges recycled in 2022,
- 181 tons of biowaste collected in 2023, enabling 30 tons of compost to be created.