Environment

Roularta Media Group has been striving for years to use the best available and most efficient techniques in its production process. The various measures that are taken with regard to eco-investments are concentrated mainly in the print shop environment at the head office in Roeselare.

Energy

Energy in the production environment

In 2016, Roularta Media Group was the only graphics company to become party to the Flemish Government’s Energy Policy Covenant (EBO) 2015-2020. The EBO is the successor to the energy benchmark and audit covenant. In the framework of the EBO, in addition to an energy plan and the associated reporting, an energy management system must also be put in place. In the context of organising this energy management system, it was decided to start the process for an ISO 50001 certification. This certificate was obtained in the autumn of 2019. It also extends the scope from the print shop activities to the entire Roeselare site. Thus all employees at this site are involved in the project.

Energy in office environments

In recent years, good results in the area of energy efficiency have been realised through the introduction of diverse measures in the office environments.

Some examples:
• At the Brussels Media Centre site in Haren, 832 275 watt peak solar panels were installed.
• On the Roeselare site, 1,138 330 watt peak solar panels were installed on the roof of the production halls.

Water

Water is an important and costly raw material in the world and in the production process. The aim thus is to be as economical as possible with its use. In recent years, various interventions took place in the production process, as a result of which the consumption of mains water declined systematically.

The cooling installation was converted to reuse a part of the cooling water in the production environment. This has allowed us to save more than 7,000 m3 of water per year.

Packaging

Each company producing a certain volume of packaging waste is obliged to submit a threeyearly prevention plan to the Interregional Packaging Commission. Companies can submit their own plan or register via a sector federation. In 2019, Roularta once again subscribed to the Febelgra/Fedustria sector plan. Specific points of attention are regularly addressed, resulting in substantial accomplishments with respect to ecology.

Mobility

Mobility is becoming increasingly important in business. This aspect also deserves our eco-attention.

Initiatives supporting bicycling, carpooling and free train use are offered to personnel and promoted by the company. In recent years, Roularta Media Group started a Blue-bike bicycle sharing service. In the context of the flexible remuneration plan introduced at Roularta Media Group in 2019, some 50 company bicycles were selected, a significant proportion of which were electric. These company bicycles include theft and damage insurance as well as a voucher for maintenance up to a certain amount (valid for the term of the lease).

We also aim for an eco-efficient purchasing policy with regard to our vehicle fleet. This has resulted in a constant decrease in average CO2 emissions from our company cars. Since 2014, CO2 emissions have remained more or less stable. Since 2018 Roularta Media Group included petrol-hybrid vehicles in the selection of company cars.

Companies and Biodiversity Green Deal

Roularta Media Group has subscribed to the Companies and Biodiversity Green Deal. This is an initiative of among others the Flemish Government (the Department of Environment, and the Nature and Forest Agency), Natuurpunt and Corridor. The Companies and Biodiversity Green Deal aims to increase biodiversity in business parks and strengthen support for this. Attention to biodiversity can bring many benefits to the company, employees, customers, stakeholders, etc. With the Green Deal, Roularta wants to further stimulate biodiversity at its sites by implementing a number of biodiversity projects over the coming years. These include the further planting of trees and berry-bearing shrubs, installing nesting boxes, beehives, insect hotels, etc.