28 pupils discover the WESSLING France laboratories in Lyon

18 Mar 2022

As part of the Discovery Day organised by the Franco-German Youth Organisation (OFAJ), WESSLING allowed 28 pupils from the Pierre Béghin high school (Moirans) to visit the laboratories at its Lyon site. They discovered the existence of environmental laboratories, the different activities of the company but also the world of business in general. A look back at this afternoon of discovery.

Students listen carefully to Sabrina SLIMANI, head of the environmental laboratory in Lyon

For the past 7 years, WESSLING France has participated in the Discovery Day organised by the OFAJ. In fact, the company opens its doors to a class of high school students for half a day. "With this initiative, we enable young people to discover our professions, which are little known but crucial in the context of regulatory control of environmental standards. Moreover, whether they are interested in science or not, they broaden their general culture by visiting our laboratories and discovering the world of business", explains Elisabeth Jouffray, Human Resources Director at WESSLING France.

The course of the half-day session

On their arrival at WESSLING, the students discovered the history of the family business during a presentation partially conducted in German. Dressed in gowns and masks, the teenagers then visited the waste analysis and environmental laboratories (water, air and soil), and the WESSLING GreenLab to better understand and visualize the company's activities.

The last stage of the visit was dedicated to the presentation of the analysis carried out on packaging products, cosmetics and everyday objects, in order to give a more concrete idea of the challenges facing the company, which has German roots.

At the end of this last workshop, time was short before the return to the school by bus. The students of this second year class then ate a snack offered by WESSLING on the new terrace of the site.

Marilyn DEL NET in the WESSLING GreenLab

What did the students learn?

To our question "What did you learn today?" asked during the tea party, Marilyn DEL NET answers without hesitation: "that pollution can potentially be found everywhere: even in the packaging of our pizzas!" before adding: "I was fascinated by the biodegradability tests carried out in the WESSLING GreenLab. What also struck me was the large number of women in the labs at WESSLING and how well everyone gets along. This made me feel at ease very quickly this afternoon!