Waste reduction and management at BNP Paribas Real Estate

Waste management is a real CSR* issue for companies. The ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) estimates that each worker produces an average of 120 to 140 kilograms of waste in the workplace each year**.

"As a committed real estate player, BNP Paribas Real Estate is working to limit its impact on the environment through more responsible consumption and better recovery of the waste produced," explains Catherine Papillon, Head of CSR at BNP Paribas Real Estate.

So what are the best practices and actions to be implemented to limit the environmental impact of the office? Focus on some of the initiatives that have been implemented and approved.

At the company's headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, numerous collection points have been set up to recover and recycle batteries, printer cartridges and electronic waste.

 And for two years now, BNP Paribas Real Estate has been using the services of Newcy, the first turnkey CSR solution for reusable cups for companies. Whereas before, the cups we used for our coffee breaks, whether plastic or cardboard, were thrown away after a single use, the Newcy solution allows us to reuse the same cup throughout the day. In the evening, at the end of the use, each employee can deposit his cup in one of the collectors provided for this purpose.  Newcy then takes care of collecting, washing and exchanging the cups for clean ones.

This is a virtuous loop with two benefits, the first being an environmental benefit because each cup, instead of being used only once, has a life span of 12 years, which greatly reduces waste consumption. The second benefit is social and human, as Newcy subcontracts the collection and washing of the used cups to companies that employ people in social reintegration.

Since the launch of this solution at BNP Paribas Real Estate, 671,648 disposable cups have not been used in our company thanks to the commitment of all employees. On the scale of all Newcy's clients, 17 million disposable cups have been saved from the bin, which represents 850,000 litres less water wasted and 185,000 kilograms of CO2 avoided.

Since the Covid-19 health crisis, surgical masks have rapidly become a part of our daily lives, with a disastrous impact on the environment. With 3 to 4 masks used per day and per person in a company, the amount of waste generated is significant. To limit this pollution, BNP Paribas Real Estate has installed surgical mask collectors in the lobby of its headquarters and in its branches. Made of cardboard and lined with a plastic bag that makes them completely airtight, these containers offered by Lyreco can hold 300 to 500 FFP2 and FFP3 surgical masks.

Once the containers are filled, Lyreco takes care of their removal. The company then decontaminates the masks and recycles the material with recycling partners. The polypropene in the (usually) blue part of the masks is used to make new recycled plastic products, the metal nose bar is returned to the metal industry and the elastics are incinerated for use in public heating in hospitals.

It is estimated that BNP Paribas Real Estate France employees use an average of 250-300,000 masks per month. Although it is often said that the best waste is the waste that does not exist, there is no other choice but to use the masks to fight the Covid-19 epidemic. Lyreco's solution saves them from incineration, revalorises them and thus limits their pollution impact.

The reduction of our waste also involves our plate. And company catering is not spared from food waste. The Too Good To Go solution has been helping to reduce waste within the walls of BNP Paribas Real Estate for almost a year now, by offering employees the opportunity to buy meal baskets made up of the day's unsold food.

*Corporate Social Responsibility **Source: practical guide to eco-responsibility in the office by ADEME