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Friday the 24th of January 2025
Bringing more than we consume: the principle of regenerative intent and the permaenterprise model
Taken over by Christophe Lemaire and his brother Bastien in 2020, Bastien Tissages Techniques is an SME that has been an expert in industrial agro-food technical fabrics for over 70 years, particularly for the dairy industry, cured meats, bakeries, and more recently, spirulina and the drying of aromatic plants. The company, which has 12 employees and is based in the North of France, is a part of the “Made in France” movement, is BCorp certified, and recognized as a mission-driven company.
How did you come to permaenterprise?
Christophe Lemaire: I came across the book La Permaentreprise by Sylvain Breuzard. It spoke to me immediately because I practice permaculture on a small scale in my garden. Permaenterprise is based on the three ethical principles of permaculture: taking care of people, preserving the planet, setting boundaries, and sharing wealth equitably. I instantly saw it as the economic model of the future to properly address the ecological transition.
What were the steps in your transformation?
The first step was to write the company’s purpose. This clarified our direction and helped us understand why we get up every morning. The next step was to define our strategic issues, and naturally, ecological challenges are part of them. At Bastien Tissages, we have 8 strategic issues, one of which focuses on reducing our impact and contributing to the local ecosystem by developing sustainable supply chains, specifically for us, hemp and soon nettles.
How does this translate into action?
If I focus on the ethical principle of preserving the environment, the first thing to do is generate as little waste as possible. The little waste we do produce is placed in recycling streams or, even better, in circularity streams to add more value.
We also switched to a functional economy model: in this case, we rent our fabrics instead of selling them, we recover them, and give them a second life through upcycling.
Additionally, we acquired 6 hectares of agricultural land nearby, where we planted hemp to increasingly work with natural materials rather than synthetic ones. Biosourced materials are living materials, and we must adapt to bring them onto our production lines, reintroducing skills that we had somewhat lost.
We aim to be a player in the relocalization of hemp because hemp is a natural fiber with zero waste: everything in hemp is used, from the fiber to make thread to the rest for manufacturing insulation. Hemp is also beneficial for the environment: it sequesters CO2 very well in the soil and doesn’t need implants. Moreover, by replanting hedges, we’ll bring back biodiversity. Ultimately, we’re giving back to nature more than we take from it. This is the principle of regenerative intent and permaenterprise!
We have already conducted two carbon audits, which showed that our environmental impact is 60 tons for our operation. Our 6 hectares of hemp allow us to capture 90 tons of CO2. Do the math, we’re even in the positive.
However, we continue to reduce our impact. We have a project to expand the factory that addresses climate challenges, as we won’t be consuming any energy, and additionally, it will be a robust factory capable of facing any eventualities.
This expansion project is fully aligned with the ecological transition. We will have a perma-factory serving the bioeconomy!
What motivates you to continually improve your processes towards more decarbonization?
Business owners today face many challenges. We’re talking about a "polycrisis." In this context, the permaenterprise model is like a rudder. We, as business owners, need to manage our companies with our brains but increasingly also with our hearts, because there is so much to do that it has to come from within. One must have convictions, or else we won’t succeed.
Go for it, create your desirable future: it feels so good, and we really need it!