Agro-food sector in Southern France

P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
R é g i o n a l e
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
A g e n c e
A g e n c e
R é g i o n a l e
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
ARPE Midi-Pyrénées
A regional agency, initiated in
1991
EKJA 5th anniversary conference
Public funded and not for profit
39 professionals
Sectorial approach :
The first regional French
environment agency to be certified
ISO 14001
Agro-food sector in Southern France
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
R é g i o n a l e
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
Environmental management in SMEs
A g e n c e
A g e n c e
R é g i o n a l e
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
Agro-food sector : second most important in the region
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
First project : EMASeasy
Learning by doing with very small enterprises :
Work with very small businesses (0 to 10 employees)
lacks efficiency in the long term
. Financing of actions
. Adequate technical solutions (experimenting)
. For follow up and long term action ? EMS !
Collective learning
sessions : 5
Individual coaching
through the EMS
process
“Impossible”… “Not interesting (in term of impacts, in
terms of time needed to implement the system)”
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
OUR GOAL : prove EMS
implementation is possible…
WITH
R é g i o n a l e
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
Æ Little knowledge of environmental issues, at
the beginning of the process
Æ Little bureaucracy
Æ Low certification costs : single certification
with shared audit time
AND THEREFORE
Æ Contribute to local and regional development
Æ Improve capacity of public Agency
Æ Find cost-effective models in order to transfer
to consultancy, to other sectors
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
A g e n c e
A g e n c e
R é g i o n a l e
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
GOALS of voluntary SMEs
At first Æ Be more cost effective
Æ Be “different”
Æ Manage a new site “the right way” from the
beginning
After a while
Æ Improve management : better internal
communication, better involvement of employees
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
1
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
R é g i o n a l e
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
Impacts and improvement
Based on 3 SMEs
A g e n c e
A g e n c e
R é g i o n a l e
Water consumption : -45% (2807 m3)
- “leaks-hunting”
- change in processes
- internal re-use
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
ISO 14001 and not EMAS
Special auditing process : Shared audit time and
individual certificate :
- Documentary audit shared
- On-site auditing : 3 to 5 hours
“more information gathered than if audited one at the
time” – “EMAS/ISOEasy is sufficient” says the auditor
For the SMEs :
- Interesting to have another look on their activity, on a
complete different angle
- Use of collective meetings : to exchange and learn about
the other’s solutions. Very appreciated by the SMEs, not
used of networking.
- Ability to talk about impacts of their activity even if it is
still difficult to make it a marketing difference
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
Lessons learned
For ARPE :
- Wanting Very SMEs made it hard to find volunteers. But
a condition to answer the question “Is EMS possible at any
size?”
R é g i o n a l e
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
Lessons learned
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
A g e n c e
A g e n c e
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
P o u r
- Sector specific, yes but not same products : “Foie gras”
and “Jambon de Lacaune” don’t sell at the same time,
therefore peaks of activity aren’t the same and it’s
sometimes hard to have meeting with everybody available
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
P o u r
Waste management :
- Non dangerous : increase of 15 tons of waste
recycled or used for energy purposes
- Dangerous : 9 kg ;-))! Correctly disposed of
- Change in packaging
- Project “free of charge” for the SME = little investment in
the project : some SMEs stopped in the process.
But : not under accreditation Æ not accepted by auditors
audit cost > 1500€/3yrs cycle…
R é g i o n a l e
Impacts and improvement
R é g i o n a l e
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
Certification
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
A g e n c e
A g e n c e
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
And maybe most importantly : All have increased their
activity
Energy consumption : 19,7 toe avoided
- close management of refrigeration and cooking
energy
- new equipment (change of location during EMS
implementing)
- light management
R é g i o n a l e
P o u r
P o u r
l ’ E n v i r o n n e m e n t
M i d i – P y r é n é e s
Building on this experience
- New project with EMASEasy, with other sectors going
fine, trying this time EMAS : capability of reporting and
evaluating public funds invested in EMS coaching
- Time for ARPE to build capacity in Midi-Pyrénées :
suur tänu !
L’environnement, nous sommes tous acteurs…
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