04.11.2016
Since September, we have welcomed three new members. We are pleased to present them here: a hearty welcome to all of them!
SNCF Réseau
CCB
Cabinet Merlin
SNCF Réseau is a French EPIC company which – since 1 January 2015 – has included all units responsible for managing the railway infrastructures. It is the single owner and operator of the railway network and brings together all the expertise and skills, which in the past had been dispersed between RFF, SNCF Intra and the Division of Railway Traffic Management (DCF). SNCF Réseau comprises 52,000 employees and manages 2,024 km of high-spped tracks. In 2019, the French railway system will be opened up to competition.
SNCF’s national railway network features 46 million wooden sleepers. It produces its own wooden sleepers on its industrial site in Bretenoux Biars (Midi-Pyrénées region), which is dedicated to creosote treatments (vacuum impregnation using the « Bethell A2 » process) and timber processing. The site processes 45,000 tons of timber each year: 85% oak and 15% tropical timber.
« We wanted to join ATIBT because we want to secure our sourcing of tropical timber both qualitatively and quantitatively, as well as legally and sustainably. We wish to benefit from ATIBT’s knowledge regarding the players that are active in terms of sustainable forest management. And with the assistance of ATIBT (and LCB), we would like to establish a due diligence system. In addition, we would like to collaborate with ATIBT to expand the range of tropical timber species we use to make railway sleepers. Lastly, we are counting on ATIBT to help us communicate on the durability of tropical timber. »
Chemin de fer
Imprégnation du bois
Machine TECAUMA chargée du tri et du contrôle qualité des traverses
Located along the port of Brussels, the CCB company has been investing in timber impregnation autoclaves since its creation in 1908. The company continued to grow throughout the century until it was sold to the Lambert Group in 1986. CCB’s recognised expertise combined with the Lambert Group’s control of the timber industry enabled the group to quickly acquire a great deal of experience in the railroad sector. In 1997, the SNCB (Infrabel) bought a 51% equity stake in CCB; this was the beginning of a great partnership. Since the early 2000s, CCB has demonstrated a willingness to provide its clients with a broader product offer. It now provides timber (oak and exotic timber) rail sleepers and switch components and, more recently, concrete ones as well, in addition to a wide range of rail mounting hardware. CCB also recovers worn timber sleepers and reuses them via cogeneration. CCB is now one of Europe’s leading players in timber sleepers and sub-rail timber, and it exports to many European and African countries.
« CCB fully adheres to the values promoted by ATIBT and, as such, it wants to join its network. ATIBT indeed appears to be a network that consists of key players in the tropical timber industry that share the same ethical values. »
Launched in 1922, Cabinet Merlin is a consulting-engineering firm that specialises in infrastructures linked to the environment and sustainable development. Its main activity sectors include the production of energy from biomass, solid waste treatment and drinking water and purification infrastructures. For over ten years, Cabinet Merlin has been providing industrial players with support to complete projects linked to the production of energy from biomass in order to leverage their byproducts, fuel their industrial processes with energy and ensure long-term business profitability. Its engineering teams provide their clients with both expertise and guidance, enabling them to carry out projects of all sizes, as part of turn-key solutions or extended allotments. Cabinet Merlin operates in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
« Having discovered ATIBT following a collaboration with one of its members, we wish to participate in the local development of tropical timber through the production of renewable energies, within the context of sustainable management that delivers added value to producer countries. »
Centrale de cogénération biomasse BEC
(48 MWth / 15 MWel)
Centrale de cogénération biomasse VSG
(51 MWth / 17 MWel)
