The Rector Lesage group obtains the Committed CSR label from AFNOR

This distinction lends credibility and rewards the group's strong commitment to its Corporate Social Responsibility approach, which began in 2021, under the impetus of the new generation of shareholders and management.

At the instigation of the shareholders, the group's management created a CSR Steering Committee at the end of 2020, entrusting it with the mission of defining the 4 founding pillars of the group's CSR approach:

• decarbonize products and activities,
• limit its impact on the environment and preserve biodiversity,
• ensure safety and well-being at work,
• maintain its territorial roots.

In order to better structure it and give it credibility, Rector has created a CSR Department and has decided to engage in the "AFNOR CSR Committed" labeling process, which is based on the ISO 26000 standard, the current CSR standard. .

To prepare for the AFNOR labeling audit in June 2022, Rector Lesage was accompanied by CERIB to compile all the documentation and write his first CSR report.

"Label Committed to CSR" from AFNOR, an assessment of Rector's level of progress on all of its CSR areas

AFNOR's “Committed CSR label” is structured around 5 resource indicators (vision and governance, implementation, HR, production methods and territorial anchoring) and 3 results indicators (environmental, economic and social). Through each of them, the 4 axes of Rector's CSR approach were explored and assessed at the group's headquarters and at 3 production sites (Mulhouse, Couëron and Ravel) including interviews with around thirty employees. and external stakeholders (suppliers, customers, shareholders, etc.).

Concrete initiatives to make CSR a corporate project

Rector's CSR strategy is deployed on the basis of a continuous improvement approach. It also implies a vast program of appropriation of it and of the objectives which result from it with the managers then with the collaborators.

The actions already undertaken by the group on the 4 axes of the approach have made it possible to achieve the confirmed level of the AFNOR Committed CSR Label. Among these are:

Decarbonize products and activities

A priority axis of the group's CSR strategy, it aims to market ranges of low-carbon products, to develop and promote more virtuous construction methods and to reduce CO2 emissions directly linked to its activities.

Rector's priority was therefore to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete by replacing clinker with blast furnace slag, using recycled steel instead of primary steel and optimizing energy in the production phase. . This is how Rector developed its range of low carbon RSOFT pre-slabs and double walls. Another line of thought consisted in designing a floor solution that allows more sobriety on the scale of the building and therefore a reduction in the carbon index of the building per floor area. The Caméléo slab floor system, which eliminates linear meters of load-bearing walls and beams while promoting the integration of light facades such as wooden facade panels, is the perfect example. Offering more modularity, this solution will also make it easier and more sober to modify the use of the building after its first phase of life.

Regarding its activities, Rector has launched a vast program to renovate the energy regulation systems of its ovens. By allowing real-time control of the performance of each resistor and each heating zone of the production equipment, it is possible to better control its electrical efficiency. Rector has thus noted a reduction of up to 50% in nominal power on the ovens of the sites concerned. At the same time, the group plans to install 80 m000 of photovoltaic panels on 2 of its production sites, which will enable it to cover nearly 5% of its electricity consumption without increasing the impermeable surfaces.

Limit its impact on the environment and preserve biodiversity

A lever for action to improve the environmental performance of its activity is to source as many recycled materials as possible (vs. virgin materials), thus reducing the pressure on natural resources. For example, 100% of plastic interjoists and 90% of passive steels used in the manufacture of reinforced concrete are of recycled origin, as is 100% of Box cardboard packaging.

Beyond the settling basins with which 100% of French Rector sites are equipped, the company has defined an ambitious “water” policy aimed in particular at reducing water consumption and the production of effluents. In this context, 86% of sites already recycle concrete machine washing water.

Ensuring safety and well-being at work

In addition to the actions already undertaken for more than two years, Rector has set up three days of telework per week for teleworkable positions and on a voluntary basis. For employees who cannot benefit from it, an additional day off is allocated to them in compensation. At the same time, Rector continued its actions to reduce the difficulty of operators' tasks (halving the weight of certain tools used to check the quality of concrete, for example).

Maintaining its territorial roots

In addition to its industrial sites located as close as possible to its suppliers of aggregates and cement promoting short circuits, Rector carries out sponsorship actions contributing to the attractiveness of the territory. Thus, Rector has just signed an agreement with the National Rehabilitation Center of Mulhouse which allows people who have suffered an accident to train for a new profession. Among the training courses offered, one is dedicated to learning the software used by Rector's Design Offices, which will host trainees.

“Obtaining the AFNOR CSR Commitment label at the confirmed level is not an end in itself. Rector acts with humility and determination. We do not count and must not stop there” concludes Cécile Roland, new CSR Director of Rector.

Reflecting the group's desire to place CSR at the heart of its strategy, Cécile Roland arrived in February 2022 to structure and formalize the company's CSR policy until its operational implementation. This approach aims to make the company more sustainable and responsible while preparing to meet the challenges of the new CSRD directive. This will make it compulsory, by 2030, for all companies - with the exception of micro-enterprises - to deploy a CSR strategy and declare their performance in this area.