ECO-FRIENDLY
FRENCH MANUFACTURING

Proven environmental responsibility

A leader in opticals with almost 750 employees working in manufacturing and logistics, we are striving to minimise our environmental footprint in several areas.
This initiative is a key focus at our semi-finished lens production site in Sézanne and our prescription laboratory in Provins.

Both sites are ISO 14001 certified, an international certification that demonstrates efforts to continuously improve environmental performance by minimising the impact of business operations.

Did you know ?

Current manufacturing standards use around four litres of water to produce one single lens. At BBGR’s factory in Sézanne, a bacteriological water recycling system has resulted in water consumption closer to 1.8 litres per lens. BBGR is aware of its responsibilities and is committed to cleaner manufacturing and less waste.

Concrete actions that reduce

our environmental footprint every day

In Provins, all the water collected (waste and industrial) passes through an on-site purification plant and then discharged into the natural environment following treatment, in accordance with current standards.

Water quality is checked daily, despite regulations only requiring checks every three months.

Looking forward, BBGR has set itself the goal of achieving less than 4 litres per lens at its Provins factory, by optimising processes for coating, centrifuging industrial water used in coating and filtering then reusing industrial and waste water (LOSMA project ongoing since 2016).

At our 2 sites, 100% of waste products are incinerated by a local provider and used to produce local energy. In Provins, this is made possible thanks to actions taken upstream :
  • Separation of hazardous (sludge from purification station) and non-hazardous (cardboard, paper, plastic) waste
  • Separation, compacting and resale of cardboard
  • Separation and resale of metal
In Sézanne :
  • Annual plastic waste reduced by 11 tonnes through the adoption of ‘all-cardboard’ packaging for semi-finished lenses
  • Repurposing of 50% of waste (recycling and recovery for materials/energy)
Looking forward, BBGR has set itself the goal of reducing the volume of waste by compacting the shavings generated by lens machining (LOSMA project ongoing since 2016).

Each year, BBGR’s logistics teams measure the transport-related CO2 emissions to find ways to minimise the company’s carbon footprint.

By optimising journeys and upgrading the vehicle fleet — with fuel combustion vehicles being replaced by electric vehicles in Provins since 2014 — BBGR has achieved a 17% reduction in its emissions (1,459 kg of CO2 emitted between 2014 and 2015).