04 Sustainability Statement Water and marine resources (E3) n the Group Water Program: l Led by the Water Expert Team (WET) of 20 water stakeholders and experts, the Group Water Program is identifying levers to reduce water withdrawals, possible synergies with energy-related initiatives, and organize the deployment of the identified levers and practices. l The Program, which is supported by the LEAN Water tools and methods, helps to track and update the Roadmap; n The water recycling and reuse study: l In 2023 and 2024, a study was conducted to identify the most effective water recycling and reuse technologies for four main types of activities involved in tire production. l It analyzed and categorized water flows with similar characteristics to find cases where effluent could be collectively and judiciously treated and recycled for reuse, and then defined the appropriate technologies. The findings are now being reviewed. Water consumption by the non-tire industrial operations is now consolidated at Group level. These sites, which account for less than 3% of the Group’s total consumption, will define their own water impact reduction roadmaps. 4.4.3.1.2. Examples of significant projects The following examples illustrate how levers were activated in 2024 to support the Group’s commitment to reducing water withdrawals. n Resende, Brazil: improving flow control systems to optimize management of water volumes passing through the metal cord baths, saving 27,500 cubic meters of water a year, or 7% of the plant’s annual water withdrawals; n Mexico City, Mexico: installing a hybrid finned heat exchanger system to upgrade the existing cooling tower. When completed in 2025, the project is expected to save 78,000 cubic meters of water a year, or around 30% of the plant’s current annual withdrawals (installation in progress); n Fort Wayne, United States: installing a reverse osmosis system to improve the quality of water used to top up cooling baths and cooling towers. The expected savings in 2025 stand at 49,000 cubic meters of water a year, or around 16% of the plant’s annual withdrawals; n Shanghai, China: abating Class I pollutants by recycling wastewater with normal-temperature rinsing. The system, comprising multi-stage filtration, vacuum evaporation and a crystal sludge filter press, reduces rinse water use by 95.2%. Around 3,000 cubic meters of water have been recovered since the system came on line in June 2024, corresponding to around 10% of the plant’s annual withdrawals; n Montceau-les-Mines, France: recovering and treating wastewater effluent for reuse in boilers, saving 70,000 cubic meters of water a year, or 43% of the plant’s annual water withdrawals. The improvements should start to appear in 2025. In 2024, several other projects were carried out in Europe to close open cooling circuits, resulting in the following savings: n Cuneo, Italy: 877,000 cubic meters of water a year, or 26% of the plant’s annual withdrawals; n Troyes, France: 52,000 cubic meters of water a year, or 13% of the plant’s annual withdrawals; n Olsztyn, Poland: 60,000 cubic meters of water a year, or 3% of the plant’s annual withdrawals. 4.4.3.1.3. Resources In 2024, Water Program projects required the commitment of capital spending, while the capital expenditure plan for the next five years has budgeted funds for other projects to continue deploying the Group's strategy in this area. These include actions to reduce, reuse and recycle water resources, especially in areas exposed to water risks. High water-stress sites are particularly addressed in the Water program and the Roadmap through two mechanisms: n weighting water withdrawals by a site’s water-stress coefficient. In this way, one cubic meter of water withdrawn from a high water-stress site impacts the metric as if the site had withdrawn 1.5 cubic meters; n applying an internal water price of €5 per cubic meter, to support water-saving projects. The price is multiplied by the project site’s water-stress coefficient, to give priority to capital investments in high water-stress areas. Michelin encourages its stakeholders – universities, research institutes and NGOs – to collaborate with other users of its water basins in practicing sustainable water management. The Group is helping to develop tools (i) to identify the main pressures exerted by business activities on biodiversity, including pressures on water resources (quantitative and qualitative impacts and dependencies across its value chain), and (ii) to share its experience with other companies. In particular, Michelin consulted the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) during the pilot SBTN Step 3 study conducted on three of its host watersheds in the United States, Romania and Thailand. 235 2024 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT_MICHELIN
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