BIOLANDES STRENGTHENS ITS COMMITMENT!
Since its establishment in 1980, Biolandes has placed environmental preservation and respect for people at the core of its decisions. Beyond the measures and processes already in place and compliance with regulatory standards, Biolandes is continuing its efforts and has decided to strengthen its sustainable involvement by creating an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) team at its Le Sen site at the beginning of 2024.
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) encompasses all the actions a company implements to ensure its economic viability while making a positive impact on society and adopting environmentally responsible practices.
The CSR team is responsible for implementing the Group's CSR strategy, both nationally and internationally, in consultation with all internal and external stakeholders.
Its main missions are therefore:
• To identify the social and environmental impacts of the various activities;
• To implement policies and actions to reduce these impacts;
• To measure the company's environmental and social performance.
As examples, Biolandes has implemented the following actions:
• Sustainable agricultural practices: organic-certified farms (crop rotation, natural fertilisers...); mechanical weeding; hedge planting; off-season crops; buffer zones and reforestation.
• Energy savings: Production plants powered by biomass energy through the combustion of industrial by-products or green waste derived from distillation operations; continuous distillation processes reducing energy losses; installation of photovoltaic panels to ensure the electrical supply to the various buildings on the sites.
• Circular economy model and waste management: range of "By" products made from the processing of brewers' grains, production of composts and fertilisers, and transformation into amendments for local farmers (Valréas site);
• Support for local communities: development projects in Madagascar and the Comoros through the FFL development funds (construction of schools and healthcare facilities, improvement of road access, refurbishment of communal buildings, installation of lighting and sanitation facilities).
• Schéma d’économie circulaire et gestion des déchets : gamme de produits “By” issus du retraitement des drêches, fabrication de terreaux et de fertilisants et transformation en amendements à destination des agriculteurs locaux (site de Valréas) ;
• Soutien aux communautés locales : projets de développement à Madagascar et aux Comores via les fonds de développement FFL (construction d’écoles et d’établissements de santé, amélioration des accès routiers, réfection de bâtiments à usage commun, installation d’éclairages et de sanitaires).
To continue the deployment of our CSR strategy and its formalisation, the following actions were undertaken in 2024:
• A CSR diagnosis based on the ISO 26000 standard, allowing an assessment of Biolandes' CSR practices and those of its farms;
• Measurement of the carbon footprint (scopes 1 to 3), starting with the carbon balance of Biolandes and its farms;
• Biodiversity assessments across all subsidiaries;
• The implementation of a reporting software for non-financial data;
• Preparatory work for the sustainability report as part of the European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive);
• The creation of an annual awareness programme on CSR issues to engage all employees.
Our Group has always been committed to a sustainable development approach, and our aim today is to formalise and prioritise our CSR actions by engaging all of our stakeholders.
