Schneider’s plant in Puente la Reina has replaced most of its single-use plastic with recycled cardboard and paper. The Navarra facility manufactures the new Odace range, the group’s first worldwide to be free of single-use plastics across all its products.
The plant employs more than 325 people and manufactures sockets, switches, push buttons and other electrical fittings for homes and offices. Most of these products now leave the factory in recycled bags or boxes, explained plant director Adrián Castillo Santolaya during an institutional visit by Mikel Irujo, Regional Minister for Industry and Ecological and Digital Transition.
Odace: a range designed in Navarra for the whole group
Launched last October, the new Odace range includes more than 300 products and accounts for 60–80% of the plant’s total output. It is aimed at the French market and features, among other innovations, a floating system that adapts to any wall.
“The new Odace is Schneider’s first range worldwide to be free of single-use plastics across all its products,” said Castillo.
The launch has also brought a transformation of the production lines in terms of automation and digitalisation. The range was designed and developed at the plant’s own R&D centre, which serves the entire group and employs 60 people.
A key production hub for the group
Every week, 15 lorries leave Puente la Reina for other plants in the group. For the past three years, the factory has also hosted an on-site team from Tasubinsa, a Navarra-based social employment organisation, with 8 to 12 people depending on demand, who carry out small assembly tasks.
The visit was also attended by Garbiñe Basterra, Director General for Energy and Digital Transition, Business R&D&I and Entrepreneurship, and Itziar Imaz, Mayor of Puente la Reina.
Source: Diario de Navarra