The business of some Group companies is to produce materials, for example quarry operations. Their main challenges are therefore to develop alternatives to primary materials by deploying recycled materials and developing recycling facilities.
| Actions taken | Performance indicators | |
|---|---|---|
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Supply of recycled materials |
Actions taken
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Performance indicators
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To limit the use of natural resources, more recycled materials must be available. VINCI companies work to increase the share of recycled materials used in their construction processes or included in their specifications as programme managers. They also deploy materials recycling solutions, by developing their own recycling sites, improving their techniques to provide larger amounts of recycled materials and working on the environmental benefits of these solutions for their customers.
Recycling materials has been a priority at Eurovia for the past 20 years, which is reflected in ambitious targets for 2030: 80% of sites operating in the circular economy, 25% of asphalt mix made with reclaimed asphalt pavement at worksites, and a twofold increase in the production of recycled materials (compared with 10 million tonnes produced in 2019). This issue has garnered increasing interest from customers in the development of innovative products and processes that use smaller amounts of natural resources and energy. The production of recycled materials involves eight categories of waste management services: public works, earthworks, building materials, asphalt mix, industrial waste, rail works, dredged sediments and clinkers. In 2021, Eurovia stepped up its action in the construction materials recycling market, reaching 14 million tonnes of recycled materials produced at 130 sites as part of its Granulat+ programme. This circular economy initiative brings together the largest network of facilities for treating mineral waste from the construction and manufacturing industries in France. Granulat+ labelled sites are equipped with dedicated waste collection, sorting and recycling facilities to recover mineral waste from construction and manufacturing operations, enabling them to serve as materials recycling hubs for their region. Each Granulat+ site sorts the waste it collects, and optimises recycling and recovery, while guaranteeing full traceability. Eurovia currently aims to improve the treatment of recycled materials so that they can be used for more diverse purposes. Progress in recycling techniques should eventually pave the way towards “perpetual quarries”, which would operate without virgin mineral deposits.
14 Mt
of recycled aggregate mix out of VINCI Construction’s total annual production in 2021
VINCI Construction France’s subsidiary Extract is also active in waste recovery, specifically in soil and sediment waste. In 2021, a former military site used as an army fuel depot in La Courneuve outside Paris was remediated. The 40,000 cu. metres of soil treated using in situ bioremediation will be reused in the development of subsequent installations. The Bruyères-sur-Oise facility north of Paris processes 400,000 tonnes of soil and sediment per year. Also in 2021, a new filter press plate installed in the materials clean-up workshop has increased dehydration performance for fine particulate matter by more than 50%.
When acting as programme managers, VINCI’s concession companies are also involved in promoting recycled materials by including materials recycling requirements in their programme specifications. At VINCI Autoroutes, pavement renovation contracts include targets to maximise reuse of asphalt mix generated by worksites as new asphalt mix.
| World | France | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2020 | 2021/2020 Change | 2021 | 2020 | 2021/2020 Change | |
| Percentage of asphalt mix made with reclaimed asphalt pavement | 20.0 | 19.0 | +5.3% | 20.0 | 19.0 | +5.3% |
| Production of recycled material (in millions of tonnes) | 14.0 | 12.0 | +16.7% | 8,5 | 8,0 | +6.3% |
| Total recycled material as a percentage of total aggregate production | 15.0 | 14.0 | +7.1% | 17.5 | 17.0 | +2.9% |
Operations in some geographical areas where Eurovia is active, such as the United States and Germany, have already met and exceeded the target of making 25% of asphalt mix with reclaimed asphalt pavement at worksites. Other regions are setting up recycling plants, and in 2021 the first plant of this kind was installed in French Polynesia, which aims to make 35% of its asphalt mix from reclaimed asphalt pavement.
Eurovia continually develops innovative solutions. In 2015, Eurovia built a solution to recover up to 100% of materials from old road surfaces for reuse in new pavement. To reach that target, the next-generation TRX 100% continuous mobile asphalt plant was eco-designed, and a new approach to the formulation methodology was developed to guarantee asphalt mix quality. This approach involves collecting 100% of the pavement milled to prevent waste, while limiting the use of natural aggregates and bitumen. In 2021, this solution was implemented on the A89 renovation site (VINCI Autoroutes), where 70% of recycled mix was used.
In addition to recycling materials, VINCI Immobilier is working to develop the concept of land recycling and pledges to dedicate more than 50% of its revenue to these efforts by 2030 (see “Overview of the main commitments by business line”, page 204). This commitment is demonstrated through actions in the areas of soil remediation, resource conservation and the avoidance of soil sealing. This is VINCI Immobilier’s way of contributing to creating the city of tomorrow, renovated over the city of today. Land recycling refers to developing property on obsolete land that has been restored and repurposed because it no longer serves its previous purpose or the buildings on it have fallen into disrepair. The notion of recycling applies when activity has stopped or is planned to discontinue in the near future. Examples of land to be redeveloped include abandoned industrial facilities, dilapidated housing, polluted land, and obsolete office complexes or shopping areas.
