Environment and sustainable development

Today more than ever before, sustainable development is everyone’s business, private citizens and companies alike. That’s why Lesieur supports and implements eco-friendly initiatives.

For Lesieur, the food oil sector leader in France, protecting the environment is something that concerns every stage of the production process, from farm to fork.

Partnership with the agricultural industry

Thanks to its close links with the French oil-seed industry, Lesieur fosters an integrated approach, from the seed crop to the bottle, in order to simultaneously guarantee the quality of raw materials and protection of the environment.
In this way, Lesieur has been able to create a sector with the help of rapeseed producers to offer "Canola Flower", guaranteed to have been produced in France.
These producers are committed to a policy respecting the "5 golden rules" of the environment charter drawn up by Cetiom (Centre technique interprofessionnel des Oléagineux Métropolitains – Interprofessional technical centre for metropolitan oil-seed crops), supporting a set of good farming practices (early sowing to encourage natural nitrogen uptake by plants, restriction of crop treatments and rationalisation of fertilisers, etc.).

Industrial production and the environment

Several major projects linked to the environment have been implemented in the group in recent years.
For example, refined oil production sites saw the amount of water they use halved between 1990 and 2005.
In terms of packaging, the Vitrolles factory (13) was awarded ISO 14001 certification in 2002, relative to the implementation of an environmental management system and its evaluation (international recognition).
All the group’s establishments are also committed to a waste management policy, reflected by the introduction of selective recycling (cardboard boxes, plastics, filtration materials, etc.).

Eco-design of packaging

Reducing the weight of packaging (bottles, caps, boxes) and choosing less polluting materials are a constant objective for development teams.
For example, in just a few years, the weight of plastic (PET) bottles has been cut by 25%.
At Lesieur today, every development project for a new product undergoes an assessment of its Sustainable Development dimension.

Improved logistics to reduce the impact of road transport

It’s well known that transport contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases (CO2).
Working in partnership with manufacturers and distributors, Lesieur tests solutions designed to optimise truck loading and pool logistics resources.
These projects must help reduce the number of delivery trucks and shorten journeys, with the aim of cutting CO2 emissions.