NEOPOST_REGISTRATION_DOCUMENT_2017

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Corporate social responsibility

Social, societal and environmental information

2016 Green Supply Chain Award. This award recognizes • companies which make sustainability one of their strategic priorities and which work tirelessly to obtain quantifiable environmental results for their own operations and supply chain… But the award also recognizes providers of supply chain solutions and services that assist customers in conducting quantifiable sustainable development activities. Organizing the remanufacturing of products Remanufacturing is a new step in the Group’s environmental strategy, which is part of a broader circular economy policy. This is an industrial process in which a product is recovered in the field (product at end of contract, demo, swap) then inspected, disassembled, cleaned and updated in terms of functionality (hardware and software). Worn-out parts are replaced with new parts or are themselves remanufactured. Once re-assembled, the machine is tested and packaged. Remanufactured products are thus equivalent to new products in terms of functionalities and reliability. They are placed back on the market, with the same warranty as new products. 47,903 units (franking machines, folder/inserters and accessories) were remanufactured in 2016. This year, 47,781 products out of the 57,092 units collected were remanufactured before being put on the market again.

machine results in an environmental gain of up to potentially 37% versus a brand new machine in terms of greenhouse gases (GHG) generated throughout the lifecycle. Beyond the environmental impacts and raw materials savings, product remanufacturing is part of a virtuous approach. Such an approach particularly means workers are kept in employment in the Group’s production facilities, but also better controls the quality of its machine fleet products in customers’ premises. Since 2014, twenty direct jobs were notably kept on the Lude industrial site in addition to six indirect jobs at local subcontractors. Recovering and recycling waste The most challenging waste categories for the Group are waste produced by its industrial activities, by maintenance activities at client sites, and waste generated by marketing its products and consumables. Waste from services (administration and sales) is not significant and, in most cases the Group has no control over how that waste is processed. In 2017, waste generated by distribution companies (NIOs) and by maintenance operations at client sites have been excluded from the reporting scope. For industrial activities, non-hazardous waste remained stable compared to last year (+0.1%). 90.4% of the volume of this waste was sent to recovery channels so that it could be recycled in the form of raw materials (81.8%) or for energy recovery (8.6%). The rest of this waste (9.6%) was sent to the technical landfill center. Hazardous waste rose 10.2% in 2017. This mainly consists of waste generated from painting processes at the Neopost Technologie Limited and Neopost Technologies BV production sites as well as from the emptying of the hydrocarbon separator and the collection of cutting oils during the machining of parts on the NTL site.

Equipment reuse

47,781 Remanufactured products in 2017

A recent study (2014) on remanufacturing products in the Group’s franking machine range measured the impact of remanufacturing on the rollout of such products in customers’ premises. The study, which was conducted by independent circular economy specialists, shows that a remanufactured

Waste related to industrial activities

Unit

31 January 2018 (a)

31 January 2017

Non-hazardous industrial waste

Tonnes

1,293.8

1,294.1

Hazardous industrial waste

Tonnes

17.3

15.7

TOTAL

Tonnes

1,311.1

1,309.8

% of waste recovered

%

90.4%

99.3%

The data relate to all companies involved in industrial activities: NISA, NTSA, NTL, NTBV, NISL Memphis. (a)

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REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2017 / NEOPOST