Waste Management World
by Ben Messenger
Car maker aims for “Zero Waste” target from factories.
Environmental services firm, SUEZ and Groupe Renault have renewed a deal for the global management of waste from the car manufacturer’s two production plants in Tangier and Somaca (Casablanca), Morocco.
According to SUEZ, the goal of the three year contract is to help Renault improve its performance in Morocco. To achieve this new contract stipulates that SUEZ will collect and sort the waste (pallets, cardboard boxes, metals, process oils, packaging and plastics from production), then dispatch it to different facilities for material recycling or treatment.
For example, SUEZ said that the wood collected on the Tangier site will be crushed and used to produce energy from waste for the plant’s boilers. However, the company added that its services will stretch beyond the collection of waste from the production lines, to offer Renault engineering support and advice, proposals to achieve progress, and administrative formalities for the complete traceability of waste.
In 2015, Groupe Renault produced more than 288,000 vehicles in Morocco, up 26% on 2014, and it expects to ramp up to 340,000 vehicles per year. Thanks to this contract, SUEZ said that it is positioned as a ‘standard‐setter’ in the management of industrial waste in Morocco, with the ambition to achieve a ‘zero waste’ objective at Renault’s factories.
According to SUEZ the two firms have now worked to meet economic and environmental demands, develop the production of recycled materials and encourage reuse in the automotive sector for 20 years at more than 30 sites worldwide.
In both companies’ home country of France, as well as in Morocco, the SUEZ said that it is also one of Renault’s major partners in its drive to reduce hazardous and unsorted waste by 20%.
“Our plant in Tangier, Morocco is the first factory in the world that produces zero CO2 emissions and zero industrial wastewater. Through our partnership with SUEZ, we are consolidating our environmental initiatives,” commented Marc Nassif, managing director of the Groupe Renault in Morocco.
Marie‐Ange Debon, group senior executive VP of SUEZ, in charge of the International Division added: “As Morocco prepares to host the COP22, this waste recovery system shows how industrial manufacturers are committed and key players in the sustainable management of resources and the fight against global warming.”
