Energy savings: our CSR best practices in action

Many hands make light work

A whopping 300 lights were replaced for a total investment of EUR35,000. The switch to LED was made in the cellar, the bottle storage facility and the dry materials” (corks, labels, etc.) stores.

The actual idea to implement a waste and emission reduction programme came about following an audit carried out by a consultant as part of an initiative by ADEME entitled “Helping SMEs win at all costs”. Overall, our electrical output of 47 kW was slashed to a significantly lower 11 kW.

The work was a team effort which involved our QSE manager Audrey Chaufournier:

“This project dovetailed in every respect with our Sustainable Development programme because it has a positive impact on all three pillars of our CSR policy: environmental, social and economic. It means we will be able to save 91,000KWh and nearly EUR8,000 a year, while drastically improving working conditions for our staff.”

Sébastien Borel – Industrial Maintenance Manager – who is in charge of the installation told us:

“This was a really interesting proposal to put together. It’s so satisfying to have the support of the senior management with regard to this investment and see results with such positive figures.”

Further energy and water saving investments

All bottling line systems have been automated which means the operations teams have perfect control over the amount of water consumed.

“We harness the energy produced during the production cycle to preheat the cold water thereby reducing our electricity consumption. In the past three years, we have complemented this by replacing an air compressor, which has been combined with an energy recovery system. We now have the capacity to pre-heat 8,000 litres of water a day. It comes in at 15°C and rises up to 75°C thanks to recycled energy. The boiler only has to heat up the water to the 90°C required in the production process.” explains Sébastien.

“We have also invested in systems for recovering energy from water.”adds Sébastien.

In all, the investment has resulted in slashing the consumption of electricity for heating water used on the bottling lines, and cost-cuttings ranging from EUR2,700 to EUR8,000 a year.

Next steps

Regarding electricity, the final step will be to bring the offices in line.

Then Sébastien is already thinking ahead to recover energy from the air-conditioning system. “Some of our systems will soon need replacing. They generate energy which is released into the air and wasted. We are going to explore this area, where there are potentially huge energy savings.”

Gabriel Meffre winery is also planning actions related to waste management as well as the manufacture of more lightweight bottles (which has an impact on transport and therefore greenhouse gas emissions).

Audrey adds enthusiastically: “In the end, the LED project, which initially only seemed to serve an environmental purpose, had a bearing on CSR matters and positively impacted more than one area of our everyday working practices. And that’s where the interest in our strategy lies: taking a “comprehensive” approach!”