Partena Professional recognized as an "eco-dynamic company"

The Brussels-Capital Region has recognized Partena Professional as an "eco-dynamic company" for its head office in the Rue des Chartreux in Brussels. Partena Professional immediately receives 2 stars (on a scale of 3) for its efforts!

In October 2018, Partena Professional set up a Green Team to raise awareness about the green dimension in our daily lives, for example by encouraging employees to adopt sustainable mobility practices. The Green Team's objective was to obtain the label of "eco-dynamic company" for its head office in Brussels. In collaboration with our Facilities team, the Green Team members compiled a file to obtain this label.

Reduced energy impact: also in our other agencies

This label encourages companies to reduce their energy impact. Its purpose is not to reward "eco services", nor to assess the ecological impact of our core business, but to analyse and evaluate the way in which the company organizes itself on a daily basis, how we carry out our activities. The Brussels-Capital Region awards the label, which we have obtained for our head office in Rue des Chartreux, where more than half of our staff work. However, this did not stop us from applying, where possible, the good practices in our other agencies as well.

Good practices

The label is based on adopting good practices which are divided into 8 categories from a list of more than 400 good practices, in addition to the legal obligations and compulsory good practices.

Some examples of good practices adopted at Partena Professional:

Purchase category: 

In terms of sustainable food purchasing, we offer:

  • in season vegetables from Belgian producers in our company canteen;
  • MSC or ASC certified fish in our company canteen
  • vegetarian meals at events.

We have also implemented good practices for our suppliers and our procurement of goods.

  • We favour suppliers who have received recognition for their good environmental practices or their environmental management.
  • We centralize the purchase of goods.
  • We follow a consumption forecast procedure.
  • We use recycled paper weighing no more than 80mg/m².
  • Our computers and printers are Energy Star certified.
  • Only shared printers are available to staff.
  • Printers are defaulted to print double-sided in black and white.

Waste category:

  • We try to repair our IT equipment before replacing it. If repairing is not possible, we donate it to Oxfam for a second life.
  • Our water fountains work with reusable containers (up to 80 times).
  • At events, we only offer drinks in glass bottles and do not use disposable tableware.
  • We sort conventional waste such as PMD (plastics, cans and tins, drink cartons) or paper and cardboard.
  • We sort the organic waste from our canteen, polystyrene, wood, etc. The company that collects our waste has it recycled as much as possible.

Water category:

  • We have installed flood detectors as well as submeters to monitor our water usage.
  • All taps are equipped with flow restrictors.
  • All toilets come fitted with a dual flush system.

Energy category:

  • We are equipped with a Centralized Technical Management (CTM) system consisting of 1,400 measurement points. The regulation is based on a timetable, but also on the outside temperature and the occupancy of the building, which enables us to reduce our fuel consumption.
  • We also prevent the building from overheating by means of exterior and interior blinds, and all windows are double-glazed.
  • We limit heat loss at the entrance of the building; there is always a double door creating an airlock.
  • Our roof has also been insulated, as well as  part of the façade.
  • All air conditioning and heating pipes are insulated.
  • Our lifts have a standby mode to reduce electricity consumption.
  • All our refrigerators are category A++ (minimum).

Green Spaces category:

  • We encourage the development of biodiversity: when renovating our terrace, we created a strip of honey-producing plants to attract wildlife.
  • Our green spaces are maintained using only ecological products.

Mobility category:

  • We regularly raise awareness among our employees about mobility: eco-driving for employees who use a car, news about travel applications and season tickets for public transport.
  • There are several electric car charging stations.
  • We also provide secure covered bike parking and showers and changing rooms on our premises .
  • Our cycling colleagues receive an allowance for the kilometres they cycle.
  • We encourage teleworking in order to limit the travel of our colleagues and colleagues who walk to work are entitled to an allowance.
  • For employees who come to work by public transport, we apply the third party payer rule, which means that the employer pays 100% of the season tickets.

Take a look at our multimodal access plan. (Dutch, French)

 

 

Organisation category:

We maintain good relations with our neighbours and engage in proactive dialogue.

Continuous improvement

This label has enabled us to draw up an inventory of our good practices but also to identify our potential areas for improvement. We are very proud of the 2 stars we have been awarded already but we will continue to improve, because sustainability is at the heart of our social responsibility. We value the recognition of our suppliers for their good environmental practices, so we felt it was important to show our customers that we too make every effort to take these aspects into account when organizing our activities.

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