As a manufacturing company that has been in business for almost 100 years, Socomec attaches particular importance to the concept of sustainability. Protecting people and the environment is deeply embedded in our company's DNA. Our business operations are conducted in an environmentally responsible manner to prevent further pollution and to avoid aggravating ongoing climate change.
Energy efficiency and reduction of environmental impacts
Socomec's environmental policy aims to promote energy efficiency in its field of activity by reducing our customers' energy bills, diversifying our offering in the renewable energy sector and equipping our production and commercial sites with solar power facilities.
In addition, our policy aims to minimize our environmental impact and carbon footprint in the following ways:
- through ISO 14001 certification for our production sites,
- by optimising energy consumption in our manufacturing sites and sales offices,
- through rigorous management of our industrial and office waste,
- by taking into account the life cycle of our products.
Socomec is working towards ISO 14001 certification for all our industrial sites. Objective: to define and maintain strong environmental governance in order to improve their environmental performance. Sites are audited annually and are required to assess their environmental risks and implement a strategy to address them. To date, 6 production sites have been certified. Our French UPS production site in Huttenheim is also ISO 50001 certified for its energy management.
Energy efficient buildings
Socomec is committed to building a low-carbon economy: the Group favours high energy performance buildings, renewable energies and all initiatives that contribute to energy savings. All new buildings are energy efficient. They comply with the criteria for limiting energy consumption. Different types of technology are used to benefit from renewable energy. Socomec is also working on the upgrading of its old buildings so that they too meet these environmental criteria.
Socomec has also installed meters in its buildings to measure consumption in real time, adapting it accordingly and thus contributing to reducing overall energy consumption.
The Group has also installed products from its "power monitoring" range on its French sites: these analyse energy consumption and monitor the electrical parameters relating to energy quality. This industrial prototyping will help to better design future applications dedicated to the optimisation, availability and safety of electrical energy.
Promoting soft mobility
Since 2019, Socomec has made four electrically assisted bicycles available to reduce its CO2 emissions and facilitate inter-site travel for its employees in Alsace. This initiative enables employees to save time in travelling and to engage in physical activity that is easily accessible.
Our employees have so far travelled 1,175 kilometres.
In addition, Socomec has implemented a policy of promoting hybrid vehicles for employees who have a company car and provides training in eco-driving for the sales staff who travel the most.
Collection and sorting of hazardous industrial waste
Industrial waste is collected, sorted and recycled where possible.
Socomec has implemented a "waste procedure" defining the rules to be respected in the management and monitoring of all waste from its production and storage, to its removal for treatment and disposal.
For many years now, our employees have been made aware of the need to sort waste and the associated storage rules.
Since May 2019, Socomec has been recycling bio-waste from its head office restaurant into energy and fertiliser with the help of its local service provider Agrivalor. In one year, almost 14.4 tons of biowaste were collected/recovered and produced 2160 m³ of biogas which in turn generated 9 MWh of bio-energy and 13 tons of natural fertilizer.