Committed to the environment!

The Grenelle 2 act (law n° 2010-788 of 12 July 2010, article 75) requires state-owned companies with more than 250 employees to conduct a carbon report. This mandatory report comprises greenhouse gas emissions induced by energy consumption.
We were pioneers in this field: we began conducting a comprehensive carbon assessment of our businesses as early as 2006. Thanks to this report, we are able to measure our carbon footprint and to identify and set priorities for actions aiming to reduce our emissions. 
More

In France, transport is the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. It is for this reason that each of us, through our behaviour, can help fight climate change.
The information that we provide on CO2 emissions allows each passenger to calculate the carbon impact of their itinerary.

With the Bus 2025 plan, we have committed ourselves to converting all of our 25 bus depots to electricity and biogas by 2025. Our goal is to become a global reference in terms of public transport, with a network that is energy efficient, low carbon, attractive, and accessible for persons with reduced mobility.

This is a major technological feat and an ecological challenge!

Since 2014, the first hybrid buses are already circulating on our Ile-de-France network, and we began testing the first standard electric buses in 2015.

Read more on our Bus2025 plan

We are also engaged in eco-design and eco-specification procedures for all of our infrastructure projects, buildings, rolling stock, and information systems. Our stations and industrial sites are designed so as to minimise their environmental impact, during both construction and operations.

Our tramway maintenance and garage sites exemplify the eco-design procedures that we have implemented for the construction of our industrial buildings:

• All our tramway maintenance and garage sites inaugurated in the Ile-de-France region since 2007 are equipped with wash water recycling systems that optimise the use of water resources. In the T2 and T3b tramway maintenance and garage sites, for example, we have installed low energy consumption ventilation and heating systems (ground source heat pumps and heat exchangers).

• On the T3 maintenance site, 900 m² of photovoltaic solar panels were installed to generate electricity for the site.

• The T8 tram maintenance and garage site, inaugurated in May 2014, also fits within this eco-responsible approach. The site has thermal insulation, a wastewater recycling system, a 1600 m² green roof to better absorb rainwater, 144 solar panels, and a geothermal system to help reduce the site’s energy consumption.

• Some of our treatment stations are equipped with a recycling system that enables us to preserve drinking water resources and to reuse recycled waste water.

Through our energy/climate action plan, we strive to promote renewable energy sources and to enhance the value of recovered energy.

We have installed a system of geothermal loops in the diaphragm walls of two metro stations as part of the North M14 line extension (in the future Mairie de Saint-Ouen and Porte de Clichy stations). This unique system consists of tubes installed in the reinforcing cages of the diaphragm walls to enable the circulation of a heat transfer fluid, creating an energy vector between the underground tunnel and ground-level buildings. A heat pump is used to facilitate heat exchange.

The system will cover all of the two stations’ heating and air conditioning needs. At the Mairie de Saint-Ouen station, it could also cover 40% of the energy needs of an 80-unit residential building.

Since 2016, all of our RER and metro stations have been equipped with LEDs. Altogether, we replaced 250,000 lightbulbs with LEDS, and the energy consumption of passenger areas has been halved. This is more than the public lighting needs of Los Angeles: we are the world’s first large-scale network to be fully equipped with LEDs!

We are striving to reduce our water consumption, while ensuring that the wastewater we discard into the sewage system meets quality standards.

The majority of our industrial sites are equipped with industrial wastewater treatment plants. We use these systems to treat wastewater before it is discarded into the sewage system. Quality controls are regularly conducted on our industrial wastewater.

New equipment is also being installed to generate major savings:

• Wastewater treatment plants enable us to recycle the wash water used to wash rolling stock. Since 2012, all of our new maintenance and garage sites are equipped with an autonomous wastewater recycling system for washing tramways;

• Certain bus maintenance centres collect rainwater for the purpose of washing buses;

• Sites are also equipped with flow reducers (push button faucets, dual-flush toilets, etc.).

Each year, we collect nearly 7 million m3 of groundwater, also known as pit water. Depending on the configuration, groundwater is channelled into the sewage network, released into the natural environment (canals of Paris, the Seine) or reused internally to wash rolling stock or to water the grass-covered platforms of tramway T3b.

Our goal: reduce the use of drinking water by searching for alternatives (non-potable water, groundwater, etc.).

Today, 100% of our non-hazardous waste (metals, wood, etc.) and 97% of our hazardous waste (oils, solvents) is recycled.

Waste produced by third-party sites (paper, cardboard, cans, bottles, ink cartridges, batteries, electrical and electronics waste recycling, computer hardware, etc.) are sorted and recycled. Pilot projects have also been launched, such as the gradual introduction of a specific recycling system for beverage cups at our industrial sites. In 2014, we also set up a recycling station for biowastes in two company restaurants.

The Corporate Governance Committee (CRE) in charge of food services for the company also follows sustainable development procedures that limit the impact of its food services activity on the environment. In 2016, RATP and CRE signed a general operating charter that integrated sustainable development requirements.

The energy consumption of our non-industrial services buildings was reduced by 24% between 2007 and 2014. Our head office – our largest services site, with an office space surface area of 56,000 m² – underwent an energy retrofit that focused mainly on the technical systems, lighting, and management modes. In April 2015, the building received HQE Certification for buildings in use.

To limit the environmental impact of our industrial activity, projects, and infrastructure construction sites, we follow an exemplary environmental policy.

We have pledged to obtain ISO 14001 certification for all our industrial sites that have an impact on the environment. Deploying this system means:

• Respecting legislation;

• Estimating and minimising the environmental impact of our processes;

• Evaluating the environmental risk of our businesses and preventing pollution;

• Implementing the most environmentally-friendly practices.

Implementation of this environmental management system is accompanied by regular training and awareness programmes for all of our staff.

Our goal? 100% of our industrial sites will be ISO 14001 certified by 2020!

Public transport is an integral part of the urban circular economy system. As a major player in the sustainable city, we have implemented procedures to reduce the consumption of resources and to explore possible synergies between various local players.

An example? When we replaced our field staff’s uniforms in late 2014, we set up a collection and recycling system for old uniforms. The programme affected 27,000 staff members. We managed the uniform collection system and joined forces with Le Relais (Emmaüs France) to recycle the old uniforms. This initiative reduced waste, strengthened ties with the social welfare sector, and helped foster a uniform recycling chain in France. This is a major environmental feat because in France, only 15% of textile waste is recycled. Through this operation, we collected 26 tonnes of waste textiles, 87% of which was recycled.

In 2015, RATP participated in the Circular Economy Convention organised by the City of Paris. That same year, we tested a demonstration of urban agriculture at our head office. Set up for a 5-year test period, this demonstration is the first initiative conducted in partnership with AgroParisTech, the Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences. The goal? To create 3 hectares of green roof and 1 hectare of urban agriculture by 2020.

As part of our new Corporate Social Responsibility policy, RATP also defined a circular economy action plan.

To respond to the challenges of an intelligent, sustainable city, RATP and the City of Paris worked together in 2016 to compile and sign a partnership agreement for the creation of “circular economy” business districts. This pilot project, known as “Quartier des deux rives” (Two Riverbanks District), will take shape in the heart of Paris’ 12th and 13th arrondissements, between Gare de Lyon and Gare d’Austerlitz. The aim is to generate synergies and develop “circular economy loops” between local players.

We constantly monitor and analyse the air that circulates in our underground rail networks. Our measurements show satisfactory thermohygrometric conditions, yet with high levels of metallic particles, emitted primarily by our rolling stock’s mechanical braking systems. To improve air quality, we focus our efforts on improving air renewal in our spaces and reducing particles emitted by mechanical braking.

More

To reduce noise pollution and vibrations, we maintain an ongoing dialogue with stakeholders and conduct a series of actions that range from reducing noise pollution at the source through preventing measures to implementing corrective solutions. Our goal: eliminate all noisy hot spots by 2020!

More

With this in mind, we have conducted a study on high-frequency electromagnetic fields and the health effects that may be associated with them.