Eiffage Foundation: recycled wood and metal furniture made by people excluded from the workplace near Soissons

The Bois de Deux Mains association was created in 2016, in response to an observation: wood is a material used in numerous fields but which is difficult to recycle and very often just buried. The Bois de Deux Mains association combines this environmental challenge with a social challenge: the Soissons area is particularly affected by problems linked to unemployment, deprivation and socio-professional exclusion.

The association runs a workshop (integration worksite and enterprise) that welcomes 22 people excluded from the workplace, who are employed in the collection of wood waste and the manufacture of recycled wood furniture. Some 35 active volunteers are contributing to the rapid development of the association, which has established itself as a local stakeholder helping to promote "better community living". The men and women who join the workshop are trained in various crafts, woodworking and sales techniques, and receive support for their access to employment and social integration efforts.

In order to internalise the manufacture of metal legs for furniture, the association is planning to set up its own welding workshop with a triple objective: train employees in job sectors that are experiencing manpower shortages in the Soissons area, set up a metal recycling circuit, control production costs and diversify offer by making wood and metal furniture. The Eiffage Foundation is helping to fund the purchase of equipment to develop this metal workshop.

Dominique Bonneau, who retired in November 2018, worked in the road materials technical studies centre, part of the technical department of the Eiffage Infrastructures division. He is sponsoring the project and plans to contribute to developing a transverse network between Eiffage Group business divisions, in order to create a wood and metal recovery circuit at Group worksites.

You can submit your project to the Eiffage Foundation online by clicking on: projets.solidaires.fondation.eiffage.com
We advise that you contact the Foundation beforehand to check if your project is eligible: tel. 0171591118