2008 Registration Document - Rexel

Emissions per item on the basis of the perimeter(in tons of carbon equivalent)90,00080,00070,00060,00050,00040,00030,00020,00010,0000InternalemissionInternal fuel and electricityTransportPackaging materialsPackaging life-endAddedemission5.3.5.3 Noise and olfactory pollutionCarboneinventoryThe Rexel Group’s activities do not generate any olfactorypollution.Regarding the noise, most sites of the Rexel Group (officesand warehouses) are located in industrial areas and thereforedo not create nuisance for the residential neighbourhood.5.3.5.4 Impacts of final productson the environmentIn many countries, the Rexel Group has implemented aprocess for the recovery of certain products and thuscontributes to reducing the environmental impact of suchproducts (see paragraph 5.3.4.2 above).5.3.6 Assessment and conformityprocessThe main regulations likely to have an impact on the RexelGroup’s activities are set out in chapter 5 of this Documentde Référence:− European directive 2002/96/CE of January 27, 2003concerning the management of Electric and ElectronicEquipment Waste (the “WEEE” directive);− European directive 2002/95/CE of January 27, 2003called the “RoHS” directive (Restriction of HazardousSubstances) which restricts the use of certain substancesin electric and electronic equipment;− European regulation 1907/2006 of December 18, 2006,known as REACH (Registration, Evaluation Authorizationand Restriction of Chemicals) with the objective ofrestricting the use of certain substances in the EuropeanUnion in order to protect the environment and health. Thisregulation especially requires that end-users of productsbe provided with adequate safety information.The Rexel Group may also be subject to specificenvironmental regulations in the different countries whereit operates. For example:− A number of the Rexel Group’s facilities (in particular,logistical centers) are subject to local legislationconcerning classified installations for environmentalprotection (Installations Classées pour la Protectionde l’Environnement (ICPE)). In this regard, these sitesmay be subject to a declaration or authorization foroperation from the administrative authorities based onthe relevant business activity, on its size and level ofdanger or inconveniencies that it presents. If applicable,the renewals of these declarations or administrativeauthorizations are subject to a strict follow-up locally.− The Rexel Group entities may be subject to localrestrictive regulations concerning asbestos, health andsafety and the handling of waste or hazardous materials.Materials containing asbestos have been identified incertain buildings. An action plan has been implementedso as to conform with applicable laws and regulations.As a vast majority of the premises occupied by the Groupare leased, Rexel seeks to be granted by the owner(who, subject to any particular clause of the leases, isliable for any presence of asbestos in the buildings) anywarranty and/or study for declaration of conformity and/orcompliance.5.3.7 Organization and trainingin environment managementExistence of internal services and environmentmanagementThe type of organization chosen for the implementation ofthe environmental policy is suitable for Rexel’s businessactivity, i.e., the distribution of non-toxic and non-hazardousproducts. Rexel aims at integrating environmental aspectsinto its daily activities.At Group level, the Sustainable Development Management,which is part of the Finance Department, rolls out theoperational strategy determined and approved by theExecutive Committee in connection with a network ofcorrespondents in each country. The Rexel Group’s threeenvironmental strategy objectives are:− distribute shared knowledge of sustainable developmentamong all employees and ensure compliance with internalrules and legal obligations;− survey the concrete actions taken by Rexel in this fieldand promote new initiatives; and− promote this approach and its strategic relevance,both in terms of sustainable growth and of competitiveadvantage.At the Rexel Group, the risk management linked to theenvironment is based on methods, tools and proceduresaiming at identifying, quantifying and reducing significantREXEL 2008 | PAGE 63