Laurence Stalmans
career stories
Laurence Stalmans has been working at Joris Ide for 3 years now. After her studies as a bio-engineer, she started with us as a production planner. After a year, she got the chance to further develop the sustainability policy at Joris Ide as a Planet Passionate representative.
How did you get into the Planet Passionate program?
After my first year I casually asked a colleague what exactly we did about sustainability at Joris Ide. I must have shown a lot of interest then, because a little while later he offered me the chance to become Planet Passionate representative for the Joris Ide Division. I accepted with great enthusiasm.
It gives me great satisfaction that I can do something at work that is so close to my own interests and passions. Also, in daily life I am someone who tries to live according to a Planet Passionate mindset. For example, I cycle 50 km to work every day. For me it is the little things that matter.
From production planner to eco-specialist. Was the transition difficult?
Actually, I am still in a bit of a transitional phase. At the moment I am taking over the work of a colleague on maternity leave. Once she is back, I hope to be able to focus 100% on the Planet Passionate project and other environment and sustainability initiatives.
I am really eager to put all my energy into the sustainability initiative. Meanwhile, I am also working on carrying out life cycle analyses of our products in order to draw up an Environmental Product Declarations (EPD).
What are our sustainable challenges for the coming years?
We are doing very well in the field of solar energy! Before 2020, we only had solar panels on 2 sites, but now we have 5 sites which generate solar energy. We are further expanding the project with 3 sites in France, and also in Poland and Romania the CAPEX was recently approved. The ultimate goal is to generate 20% of energy on-site by 2030.
We also have a big challenge ahead of us in terms of landfill. We work with a number of materials that are difficult to recycle, such as PIR foam and rock wool. It is not easy to find a good, sustainable solution for this. Fortunately, our steel can be 100% recycled!
How do you hope to contribute to that change?
As I mentioned, I am really excited about the Planet Passionate project. I hope that my enthusiasm will help draw more people into this story, so that the right decisions can be made and solutions to our biggest challenges can be actively worked on.
Of course, I am not alone in this. As a representative, I work together with an international Joris Ide team and the team at Kingspan. Thanks to my role within the Planet Passionate team, I got to know colleagues from other departments and other business units faster. As a result, my professional network has expanded enormously and that is a big plus.
To finish, what is your favourite work memory?
Last Christmas, a ‘decorate-your-office' campaign was organised. Together with my team, I really threw myself into the challenge. During lunch break, we transformed our office into a Christmas wonderland. We hung up lights, wrapped the cupboards in wrapping paper, made snowmen out of our fridges and you name it.
We also won the challenge. As a reward, the whole team went out for fondue and a night of bowling. Unfortunately, the coronavirus ruined those plans. But the whole team got treated to some delicious pizza.