Illange is open for business

ENVIRONMENTAL PRIORITY
Alain Rysman, Plant Manager, says: “Every arrangement has been made to protect the health of our colleagues, neighbours and the local environment. We are well below World Health Organization and European recommendations in every area of environmental impact and every best-available technology at our site meets the highest standards of sustainable best practice.”

100% RECYCLABLE WASTE
Rodrigue Durand, National Building Envelope Manager, says: “Our Rock Mineral Wool offers highly effective performance when it comes to acoustics, energy saving and fire safety. At the plant absolutely nothing is wasted — any residue is fed back into production — this material is 100% recyclable. We will be supplying Benelux, Italy and Germany but 50% of our material will go to France where there are ambitious national plans to reduce building energy use by 2030.”

LOCAL SUPPLIERS
Laure Robert, Logistics Manager, says: “There have been a lot of factory closures nearby so the creation of a new business is good news for the region. We also work closely with local companies, our pallet suppliers, for example, are less than an hour away. We also use local waterways to transit most of our raw materials.”

MOTIVATED COLLEAGUES
Catherine Naveau, Human Resources Manager, says: “We held interviews based on candidates’ motivation rather than their CV. Our youngest colleague is 19, our oldest is 57. We wanted to offer a real chance to people who had faced social problems or long-term unemployment. We have 123 jobs, but we are having an impact on many more people — such as families and service providers. We also have a mix of backgrounds, ages and experience. Almost 50% of the workforce is made up of women.”

SAFETY FIRST
Thomas Mehl, Health, Safety and Environment Manager, says: “Safety is everyone’s responsibility. This message must be reinforced through continuous improvement and the modelling of safe behaviour — never being afraid to challenge anything or anyone who is unsafe. Meanwhile in terms of Green Building Rating Scheme certification, we are working with OsmoZ which focuses on environmental health and being certified by HQE which examines issues such as waste.

The majority of our colleagues at Illange are from the local community.
 

Colleagues from across the business worked to train and support the local team.

Mapping out the future: Arnaud Schweitzer of environmental association AICINI with Lydia Laville, plant assistant and Illange resident.
 

ILLANGE IN NUMBERS

123 jobs created plus up to 400 indirect jobs

Region will benefit from €20 million annually

A year’s capacity is enough to insulate 25,000 buildings

€110 million site cost puts the plant in top 10 of investments in France.