Groupe Renault - 2019 Universal Registration Document

02

ENVIRONMENT RENAULT: A RESPONSIBLE COMPANY

With a measured noise level of between 68 and 70.5 dBA according to the old measurement standard and less than 68 dBA according to the new standard, Renault electric vehicles meet the external noise limits applicable starting in 2026 ten years in advance, thus contributing to the reduction of ambient noise and the quality of life in urban areas. In addition, they produce a net improvement in users’ acoustic comfort: the noise inside an electric vehicle is approximately 10 dBA lower than that of an internal combustion engine vehicle. Water consumption and quality  EFPD8a   EFPD11a  D. Environmental objectives

At the international level, the standards applicable to external noise of vehicles are most often inspired by European standards and adopted a few years later. The vehicles marketed by Groupe Renault outside Europe, which have noise levels comparable to their European versions, therefore often anticipate locally applicable noise standards by several years.

Deadline Status as of year-end 2019

Objective set

Group

Reduce by 20% between 2013 and 2020 the Group’s external water supply per vehicle produced  (1) Reduce by 30% between 2016 and 2020 the quantity of toxic metals (METOX) in the liquid effluents of the Group’s plants  (2) per vehicle produced

2016

2020

-11% (compared to 2013) -10% (compared to 2016)

Manufacturing

2016

2020

Scope: all manufacturing sites and main Groupe Renault tertiary, logistics and engineering sites (reporting scope described in section 2.6.1.2), excluding RRG Commercial (1) Network and excluding AVTOVAZ, in which Groupe Renault acquired a majority stake in December 2016, and which is currently being integrated into the environmental reporting scope. Manufacturing sites in the consolidated scope excluding AVTOVAZ, see definition and calculation method in the methodology comments on liquid discharges in section (2) 2.6.1.2.

Preserving water resources is an ongoing concern for Renault, both to ensure long term supply and to reduce its impact on ecosystems. For this reason, the Group has set a goal of minimizing the impact of its activities on this precious resource through the implementation of the following five objectives: reduce water consumption at source P

Reducing industrial effluents Among measures used to meet its objectives of reducing water abstraction and the discharge of pollutants into the environment, Renault places a particularly strong emphasis on the recycling of industrial effluents: the wastewater generated by the manufacturing process is treated in a manner that allows this same water to be transformed into a resource of sufficient quality to be re-used in the same process. In the powertrain plants, the recycling of industrial effluents consists in separating the distillate (treated water) that can then be reintroduced into the process, from the concentrate (oily residue from evaporation) that will be directed to the appropriate waste treatment channel. In the body assembly plants, the recycling technology is more complex because the water used in the manufacturing process (surface treatment and electrocoating) must be of very high quality. The treated waste is subjected to a reverse osmosis process (a purification process using a membrane), then an evapo-concentration process (extreme concentration of waste through different evaporation stages), that enables the re-use of the majority of the water contained therein, in a purified form, within the industrial processes and minimizes the quantities of waste generated. The Tangiers body assembly plant in Morocco is equipped with the most advanced technologies available for recycling wastewater from the manufacturing process. Following the additional investments made in 2015 to increase the volume of industrial effluents recycled and thus keep pace with the increase in the site’s production rate, the volume of water saved amounted to nearly 280,000m 3 per year on average. The Tangiers site is the plant with the lowest external water abstraction ratio (at 1.1m 3 per vehicle produced in 2019) in accordance with the target assigned when it was founded. The performance obtained at Group level in 2019 enabled the external water abstraction rate to be reduced by 11% in relation to vehicles produced since 2013 (from 4.5 to 4.0 m 3 per vehicle).

WATER

as well as the quantities of wastewater through well-designed processes and optimized management. For example, vehicle surface treatment is one of the major causes of water consumption in an automotive plant. The cascade filling of baths (water from one bath is redirected to another that requires a lower level of purity, etc. ), stopping the rinse water flow between each body, and the presence of rinse manifolds between stages (which prevents the contamination of baths with impurities from the body) enable a reduction at source of the quantities of water used as well as the waste to be treated; reuse water where possible for the same use: cooling in a closed P circuit, increasing the lifespan of baths, etc. ; recycle water for other compatible uses, with or without P additional treatment. For example, the Sofasa plant (Colombia) recycles saline concentrates from reverse osmosis (purified) water to the flushing of toilets and the water curtains (air cleaners) of paint pits, which facilitates the reduction of the quantity of water consumed as well as that of waste discharged; minimize the impact of residual waste on the environment P through efficient and strictly controlled treatment processes; control the risk of accidental pollution of surface water by P installing the means needed to confine water from accidental spillages and that used for firefighting. Since late 2015, the Tangiers plant, designed not to discharge any industrial waste, has accordingly had a basin that enables it to confine any accidental pollution and avoid its discharge into the environment, and to purify rainwater drained on the site by decantation.

186 GROUPE RENAULT I UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2019

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