Committed to Nature with the OFB

Urbanization is leading to the disappearance of permeable soils and wetlands, which are essential for the diversity of ecosystems. In fact, wetlands are a complementary ecological environment to woodlands, copses, meadows and orchards. It allows a diversification of flora and fauna. The presence of water allows various species to settle and develop.

In addition, wetlands play a role in water quality, purifying water, buffering and regularly releasing stored water. It also cools the air.

The wooded edge is a key space. At the edge of the forest, it acts as a transition zone between wooded and open areas, forming an ecological corridor. The edges must be as varied as possible to provide shelter and cover for a wide range of fauna.

The orchard is a special environment.  In its natural state, this type of vegetation does not exist. It’s a human creation. The planting of an orchard is conducive to the settlement of several bird species. As fruit trees age, they develop cavities that are used by various species such as chickadees, hoopoes and owls.

Some orchards also offer the opportunity to plant rare, local trees. 

An invasive alien plant species is a plant that is introduced into a new environment where it is not native, and which proliferates aggressively, causing ecological, economic or social damage. These plants may have been deliberately introduced for horticulture, agriculture or other uses, or may have arrived accidentally via international trade, transport or other human activities.

Once established in their new habitat, invasive alien plant species often have a competitive advantage over native species. They can spread rapidly, crowd out native vegetation, disrupt natural ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, alter natural nutrient and water cycles, disrupt ecosystem services and even threaten endangered species.

Controlling invasive alien plant species is a major challenge for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management in many parts of the world. Prevention, control and eradication measures are often necessary to limit their spread and minimize their harmful impact.

Limiting environmental impact

As part of the ISO 14001 certification, renewed in 2020, ECT, as part of a continuous improvement process, implements measures to limit the environmental impact of its activities.

All ECT sites in operation are ISO 14001 certified.

ISO 14001 certification 

Optimized site meshing.

The sites operated by ECT are of two types to optimize the transport of inert soil.

• A network of small-scale sites capable of receiving a few hundred thousand m3 of materials from local deposits. This network, which is gradually being rolled out throughout the Ile-de-France region, helps to reduce the time spent travelling by lorry, thereby contributing to a better carbon balance by reducing the production of greenhouse gases.
• large-scale sites, such as Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin (77), capable of handling several million m3 of materials, enabling us to respond to the large truck flows required for major earthmoving projects in the Ile-de-France region

We systematically canvass the companies in charge of the work, working with them to develop solutions that limit environmental impacts. choice of host sites and access routes to depot areas, with priority given to trunk roads in order to keep nuisance to a minimum.  residents.

Controlling dust and sludge production

In compliance with regulations on keeping the public highway clean and on dust dispersion, ECT undertakes, on all its development sites  to keep the site and public access roads clean for the duration of the development work. Depending on the size of the worksite, a “roudiluve”, a tank for washing the wheels of heavy goods vehicles, is installed at the site exit.

In dry periods, the runways and areas being backfilled are watered if necessary. The roads leading to the site are regularly cleaned by a sweeper.

Controlling noise pollution

In compliance with article R 48-5 of the French Public Health Code on the prevention of noise pollution, ECT takes all necessary steps to organize the operation of its development sites in order to limit annoying noise emissions, and ensures the regular maintenance of its equipment.

Water protection

Given the inert nature of the materials brought in, the development project poses no risk of pollution to surface and groundwater.
If necessary, a hydraulic study is carried out to direct and regulate runoff.

Find out more about environmental and social quality indicators for ECT projects

Invasive Alien Plant Species (IAS) are one of the five causes of biodiversity loss. As a company committed to the OFB, ECT has a triple objective:

• the reduction of their proliferation on its sites
• limiting their spread from customer sites
• the creation of a dedicated offer for the management of construction site soil impacted by EVEEs

ECT has created a booklet to help you identify, learn about, combat and eradicate these species. This guide provides recommendations for each invasive plant: 

• Japanese wild buckwheat
• The Butterfly Tree
• Giant Hogweed
• Galéga Officinal
• Ambrosia
• Himalayan Balsam
• The thorny apple
• The American Grape
• Herbs of the Pampa

 It is important for site managers to regularly monitor the presence of EVEEs and implement appropriate control measures to limit their spread and impact. Here are the 7 best practices: 

• INFORMING OUR CUSTOMERS
  and transporters of the risk of inputs into the soil and dissemination on our sites.
• MAPPING
  impacted areas to measure their evolution.
• EVALUATE
  the type of intervention to be carried out depending on the plants and their location on the site.
• WATCH
  regularly to identify the presence of invasive plants.
• DELIMIT
  to avoid them on foot or with construction equipment.
• COMMUNICATE
  on our practices and results, with internal and external feedback.
• LUTTER
  Neutralize invasive exotic plant species by carefully uprooting them or burying them at the bottom of a bin.
  Contain invasive exotic plant species by surrounding them with more competitive plants.
  Temporarily revegetate bare soil with ground cover seedlings to render it unattractive.