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Covivio joins forces with start-up SmartBack to ensure the reuse of old furniture from the Holiday Inn Le Touquet hotel
As part of the renovation of the Holiday Inn hotel in Le Touquet, Covivio entrusted SmartBack, a specialist in the refurbishment of furniture and equipment, with the logistical management and refurbishment of the hotel's furniture and equipment prior to its closure for renovation. This partnership is in line with Covivio's CSR ambitions, particularly its Nature strategy, and has yielded highly positive results: 100% of the equipment was reused (resold to staff and local businesses, donated to charities), representing 88 tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided.
Covivio’s mission is to prioritise an approach focused on sustainability and reuse in each of its redevelopment projects, including in the hotel sector. To achieve this, Covivio works with specialist companies, such as its first partnership with SmartBack for its hotel in Le Touquet, which is currently undergoing redevelopment.
As an expert in reverse logistics, SmartBack offers a turnkey solution that minimises the financial and environmental impact of businesses and brands. For this project, the SmartBack teams proposed a recovery solution for more than 2,500 items – equivalent to 38 tonnes of furniture – including furniture and bedding from 88 rooms, equipment from common areas and outdoor spaces, and the hotel’s technical equipment.
A result with a significant environmental and social impact for the construction site
Thanks to this innovative partnership, each piece has been given a new lease of life:
- One third of the furniture was sold to professional buyers and hotel employees. The proceeds from the sale were then donated to Les
Hôtels Solidaires, a partner of the Covivio Foundation. - The remaining two-thirds were donated to local charities (Emmaüs, Foyer International d’Accueil et de Culture – FIAC, Artois Tenois Récupération Emploi – ATRE, Il était deux fois) to support social reuse and professional integration.
This exemplary operation prevented the emission of 88 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (equivalent to more than 12,000 return trips between Paris and Berlin by high-speed train) and the disposal of 35 skips of furniture, while generating a strong social impact: nearly 50 people contributed to the project, including more than 30 on integration programmes. The donations are now being used to furnish social housing, intergenerational housing and community shops, within a short supply chain, less than 200 km from the site.
« For all our projects, we carry out extensive preparatory work to optimise the reuse and recycling of materials and equipment on site. These initiatives are fully in line with Covivio’s Nature Strategy, which integrates sustainability and the circular economy into every stage of our projects, reducing our environmental footprint while maximising the value of existing resources »
Vincent Floquet, Deputy Technical Director at Covivio
« SmartBack has done a remarkable job in proposing reuse solutions and ensuring the removal of furniture, which has enabled us to meet the construction start date. We are very satisfied with this first partnership, which has fully met our reuse objectives. We intend to replicate this initiative in future projects »
Sébastien Villedieu, Project Manager at Covivio
« When SmartBack presented its activities and its goal of reusing 80% of all hotel elements, the Covivio teams were immediately receptive and enthusiastic about the idea. The project management process went very smoothly, with everyone being highly responsive. It was a pleasure to work with such professional teams who share similar reuse ambitions to ours. »
Olympe Chabert, co-founder of SmartBack
«We would like to extend our warmest thanks to the Holiday Inn hotel and SmartBack for donating furniture in excellent condition to our association. […] This generous gesture will directly improve the reception conditions and comfort of the people we support on a daily basis. This type of solidarity initiative is invaluable to our organisation: it makes a concrete contribution to improving the quality of life of our residents and lightens the financial burden on the association in terms of purchasing furniture for our accommodation. This action shows that it is possible to create bonds of solidarity between local actors and social structures.»
Head of FIAC (Foyer International d’Accueil et de Culture), the beneficiary association