Our responsible purchasing

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A dynamic serving the regions

We make over €6bn in purchases every year. This amount obliges us, as a public ordering party, to be responsible at several levels: social (solidarity purchases, integration and CSR criteria in the invitations to tender), local (use of small and medium size businesses, direct and induced local employment) and environmental (circular economy, decarbonisation). 

Our CSR objectives: to buy safer, solidarity-based and green

The SNCF Group's objectives in terms of responsible purchasing are ambitious: to buy safer, to buy with solidarity in mind, to buy green. As such, it takes account of the objectives of sustainable development in their economic, social and environmental dimensions. The Group has a duty to play a part in the ecological transition by driving forward a strong decarbonisation drive and systematically incorporating CSR requirements into the expression of its needs. That's why we at SNCF Réseau have been deploying a CSR purchasing roadmap for several years now that is fully in line with this dynamic. 

The vigilance plan

Law no. 2017-399 of 27 March 2017 on the duty of vigilance of parent companies and ordering party companies requires large companies to draw up and implement a vigilance plan to prevent serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the health and safety of individuals and the environment, caused directly by the activities of the company or by its subcontractors. This law has applied to the SNCF Group since 1 January 2022.

What does "responsible purchasing" mean for SNCF Réseau?

To be exemplary in our purchasing: evaluate our suppliers, choosing them for their environmental, social and ethical behaviour.  

To play a part in the local economy: purchasing from small and medium size businesses, creating wealth for the regions.  

To promote integration: encouraging people to return to work, supporting protected sector and social and solidarity economy stakeholders.  

To make a success of our ecological transition: by decarbonising our value chain, promoting eco-design and the circular economy, and encouraging our suppliers in their efforts to innovate. 

In 2024, our responsible purchasing represented a total of almost €36m. A new focus has been added with the decarbonisation of our purchasing. By getting everyone involved, we are going to reduce our CO2 emissions. It's a way of having a positive impact on society, in addition to our initiatives to promote integration, the local economy and environmental protection.

Author : Valérie Giraudon, Purchasing Director, SNCF Réseau

Key figures for 2024

  • 18%

    of our turnover comes from very small businesses and small and medium size businesses

  • €25m

    of indirect solidarity purchases via the integration clause in our contracts

  • €11m

    of direct purchases from social and solidarity companies

  • 780,000

    hours of social integration completed

More responsible purchasing on our worksites

Through more responsible purchasing, we are working to reduce our CO2 emissions on our worksites.

A low-carbon asphalt mix in Vénissieux

The Colas/Perrier consortium has proposed a special asphalt mix for the Vénissieux (Rhône) combined transport platform. This material makes it possible to reduce the thickness of platform base and foundation layers by 25% compared with conventional products such as dense-graded bitumous material. The result: a 13% improvement in purchasing performance and a 30% reduction in the site's carbon footprint compared with dense-graded bitumous material. 

Wood concrete in Meximieux

To build the substation in Meximieux (Ain), we used an innovative material made from water, crushed wood chips from local sawmills and a mineral binder to ensure strength and durability. This wood concrete, produced by CCB Greentech, contains 80% wood, enabling buildings constructed using this technique to obtain the "bio-sourced building" label. The works were 1.54% more expensive, but saved 11% in CO2 emissions! 

An eco-designed rail bridge in La Roche-sur-Yon

As part of the La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) road bypass, we installed an eco-designed 800-tonne rail bridge. This structure enables the road to cross the railway line that links Les Sables d'Olonne to Tours. The works took place between May 2023 and January 2024. The reinforced concrete gantry and its side walls, installed by Bouygues TPRF, reduced the carbon footprint of this operation by 40% and its cost by 20%. 

A proactive policy in favour of solidarity purchases

Since 2014, we have been committed to a proactive solidarity purchasing policy. We therefore buy, on the one hand, from the protected and adapted employment sector, which enables people with disabilities to work in specially adapted conditions. Secondly, we deal with the integration for economic activity sector, which brings together structures that enable people who are facing the most difficulties in terms of finding work to return to work. We also take solidarity-based action to promote employment through social and professional integration by running integration projects.  

Finally, we add social integration clauses into rail works and service contracts to promote equal opportunities in sensitive areas and the integration of people who are facing difficulties finding work. 

Systems adapted to contracts

Concrete action on the ground

We are committed to promoting professional integration in all our regions. 

Promoting professional integration in Occitanie

In Occitanie, in 2022, we signed a three-year framework agreement with the cooperative and participative company Douctouyre (a protected and adapted employment sector company) worth over €700,000. The contract covers tree felling, clearing, embankment cutting and the removal of undergrowth from engineering structures, i.e. all the services required to control vegetation on railway rights of way in this area, which covers several départements. This contract is an operational success, with quality works carried out at a competitive cost and increased professionalism on the part of staff on integration schemes.  

A job thanks to the Eole project

In the Île-de-France region, since the start of the Eole project (RER E extension) worksite, we have been committed to an ambitious approach to professional integration. It requires companies to reserve, over the duration of the contract, a minimum of 7% of the hours worked on sites for people on work integration schemes, or face penalties. In 2022, the Eole project achieved 1,273,750 hours worked on integration schemes. 1,228 beneficiaries were able to find a job thanks to this project. 

Eco-grazing to control vegetation

In some regions, eco-grazing is emerging as an effective and responsible alternative. Imagine goats and sheep working on the edges of tracks, sidings and paths, replacing weedkillers and noisy machinery. The result? Less risks for our teams, controlled costs, and a boost to the local economy because we work with Very Small Businesses (VSBs). But this project didn't happen overnight: we had to convince the shepherds, guide them through the procedures and resolve the issue of removable fencing, which was deemed too costly and time-consuming. One of the solutions envisaged: suggest these fences ourselves and design them using trees felled on our sites or invasive plants. And eco-grazing is proving popular: in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées and elsewhere, the results are there! At Lannemezan, in the Pyrenees, the Rove goats have weeded 18 hectares in three years. A success that inspires and proves that ecology and performance can go hand in hand! 

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