Nexans contributes to protecting of 3.7 hectares of cultivated forest in Colombia

Sep 11, 2021

Ecoscuelas, the initiative to build school classrooms for 120 children in Lebrija, Santander from recovered wooden spools.

The companies are looking to increase the collection, processing, and reuse of cable reels that Nexans Colombia uses by up to 30%.
Nexans and Bucarretes are pioneers in the creation and use of agroforestry reels.
The agroforestry reels enabled the Ecoescuelas project to be carried out, in which they planned to construct two school classrooms for 120 children in Lebrija, Santander.

The power cable industry frequently uses wooden reels of various diameters for winding, as they improve transportation, for example. However, recently, manufacturing these reels has posed a serious environmental threat as they tend to use natural wood for their construction.

To deal with the environmental deterioration that this practice has entailed, using more sustainable ecological practices such as agroforestry woods has been promoted recently. As such, agents such as Nexans and Bucarretes stand out in the market. They are pioneers in creating and using cable reels made ecologically and sustainably.

“ These practices are not alien to the organization's commitment to the environment, as well as to the community. On this occasion with Bucarretes, we made a strategic alliance through which we promote a circular economy and contribute to the design of spaces conducive to educating children in the community of Lebrija. As such, we're promoting the construction of a more sustainable and secure future for society as a whole, and thus contributing to our project of building a safer, more sustainable, renewable, decarbonized, and accessible energy future for all. ”

Nicolas de Guernon

CEO OF NEXANS IN COLOMBIA

Giovanny Patiño Ledesma is the general manager of Bucarretes, a company leading the way in creating and recovering wooden reels and pallets. He affirms that his organization's commitment to the sustainable production of these items emerged in 2020, when a new opportunity in Santander, Colombia allowed them to save 2,100 trees thanks to plantations of agroforestry systems with renewable timber species. The gains were due to the fact these resources were previously wasted because of poor drying processes. "Together with Nexans, resistance tests were carried out on this wood and subsequently we were able to incorporate it into the official reel production," says Patiño.

Upon realizing the procedure's potential, both companies set the goal that, by the end of 2021, 70% of the wooden reels used in their operations will be recycled.

The companies have set themselves sustainable objectives that go even further. They also hope to become active agents of social responsibility projects where lids and pallets are reused after having complete three usage cycles.

Ecoescuelas, a social initiative that was born from the reuse of agroforestry reels

The useful life of reels with agroforestry wood is finite. After use, they tend to lose consistency when in terms of providing grip and cohesion when transporting cables. However, they are still useful for other tasks such as construction and reinforcement of structures.

Based on the above, Nexans and Bucarretes created the Ecoescuelas initiative. This consisted in constructing two housing units that became school classrooms for the Llanadas Educational Institution, located in the municipality of Lebrija, 20 minutes from the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Whilst preserving the environment, the structures allow about 120 primary and preschool children to access new fully equipped spaces. The two new classrooms comprise a total area of 120m2, plus there's an extension that includes a 36m2 office for the principal.

“ We are very grateful to Nexans Colombia and Bucarretes for thinking about our children. The pandemic has brought with it many negative aspects, but also hearts willing to help us. We are optimistic about the returning to face-to-face classes with two classrooms equipped with all the comforts that contribute to caring for the environment. ”

Rodolfo Rojas

THE PRESIDENT OF THE LLANADAS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

The project was launched on August 18 and attended by the municipal mayor and several guests from Nexans and Bucarretes. "This is just the beginning of a joint strategy that seeks to avoid the felling of 3,000 trees equivalent to 3.7 hectares of cultivated forest in Colombia", concludes the CEO of Nexans in Colombia.