What motivates our employees above all is a love of the forest, wood and its transformation.

Monnet-Sève Sougy has defined 4 areas of development to bolster its action in the French timber industry, to ensure the management of softwood species, and to offer increasingly environmentally-friendly perspectives:

• 1/ Contribute to good forest management in France: France has the 4th largest forest in Europe. Forests cover 31% of mainland France, i.e. 16.9 million hectares = 2,700 million m3 (stand volume) of available wood. The softwood lumber industry represents 6.7 million m3 / year. French forests are managed according to the forest code, which is a key element of the forestry policy. It defines the rules for managing, operating and protecting French forests. This is the context in which our forestry teams work; they are genuine nature lovers who contribute to the sustainable management of forests. They take into account this heritage, looking after it for future generations. In France, natural growth is positive, which means that the size of the forest increases every year. Only 50% of this increase is harvested. 2/ Develop the efficiency of the timber forestry industry: we must continually optimize and improve the recovery rate, provide tools to enable almost all of the wood to be used and produce as many planks as possible for use in all stages of construction according to different recommendations (roof framework, structures, vegetable garden boxes, etc.).

>Be part of the circular economy. All of our “waste” from the first and second transformation operations, that we call “byproducts”, is recycled in a virtuous circle. We are proud to say that 100% of the wood removed from the forests is used, including co-products such as sawdust, chips, bark. Everything is recovered, nothing is wasted. This is a circular economy model in which every byproduct is recycled and reintegrated into the industry in different forms and for new uses: energy wood, particle boards, landscaping applications, pulp for paper, cardboard, etc.

• 4/ Maximize wood construction as a means of fighting global warming. For every 1m3 of wood in a building, 1 tonne of carbon gases (CO2) is captured, which is good for the planet and for future generations. The pedigree of wood has long been established, and Monnet-Sève Sougy now proposes modern timber products, with proven properties of durability, structural resistance, robustness, transformed by sawing, drying and planing.

To illustrate its environmental commitments, Monnet-Sève Sougy is proud to share this picture of the transportation of our "by-products". River transportation between Villefranche Sur Saône and Tarascon of 2,000 tonnes of wood chips to be turned into pulp. In this example, the wood chips are 100% recycled and the river transport method saves 80 x 550km round trips by HGV, i.e. a total of 44,000km: more than the circumference of our planet!!

Wood products trap carbon

1. Photosynthesis enables trees to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in their roots, trunks, branches and the soil.
2. The use of wood products extends this carbon storage and prevents greenhouse gas emissions by replacing materials that require more energy.
3. The forest timber industry is the primary carbon sink in France today..
4. The industry as a whole is committed to fighting climate change..

Key figures :

1m3 of wood = 1 tonne CO2 absorbed

A construction with a wood structure uses:

• 9 times less energy than concrete, 
• 17 times less energy than steel,
• and 48 times less energy than aluminum.

• Wood is a renewable material that originates from a sustainably managed natural resource, used according to a circular economy approach. French forests are an abundant and available resource because the wood harvested corresponds to less than the annual biological growth. Furthermore, the forestry industry byproducts, even from the first transformation operation, are 100% recycled and find important new uses as raw materials for the production of pulp for paper and particle boards. A large proportion is also used as fuel, either directly (bark), or after simple preparation, such as wood chips or pellets (sawdust).

• Building with Bois de France timber is a way of attenuating climate change: wood contains carbon that is captured from the atmosphere by the photosynthesis process and trapped during tree growth; this carbon remains stored in the material throughout the life of the wood product, even when used for construction purposes. The carbon trapped in the wood is not present as CO2 in the atmosphere throughout this long period and therefore does not contribute to global warming. Furthermore, the greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) related to the life-cycle of wood products are lower than those of other products that wood can replace (steel, concrete, etc.). This is known as the substitution effect.

• Building with Bois de France timber contributes to local economic development. The French wood and forestry industry is a pillar of France’s green growth, playing an essential role in the climate, ecological and energy transition. It represents more than 400,000 jobs in France, many of which are located in rural areas, since the forests obviously cannot be relocated.

• Wood is an effective and efficient material that is available in large quantities in France..
  • Environmental performance offering very good thermal insulation and a very low carbon footprint throughout the entire life-cycle.
  • Aesthetic performance, highly prized by users.
  • Fire resistance: although wood is not incombustible, it does offer good resistance to fire. It burns slowly, maintaining its mechanical properties longer than other materials, which means longer interventions are possible.
  • Earthquake resistance, thanks to its light weight and energy-dissipation capacity.

• Building with Bois de France timber means a quick, clean construction site: local procurement circuits, aside from their environmental benefits, mean that the material can be delivered very quickly to the construction site. Wood construction systems are quick to implement and, being a dry process that does not require water, are sober and cause very little nuisance in urban environments. Shorter construction times with less waste (waste that is also easily recyclable), fewer truck trips, less dust, less noise. These advantages guarantee a higher level of acceptance from local residents.

• Wood also offers strategic advantages in terms of architecture. The light weight of wood is ideal for the following situations:
  • Raising building roofs
  • Local land configuration requiring foundations: fragile ground (quarry), "bridge” buildings above motorways or bypass roads.
  • Finally, wood is particularly well-suited to modular, adaptable constructions, because wood buildings are relatively easy to renovate and dismantle.