Service Sector – Your Hidden Sustainable Impact

Service Sector – Your Hidden Sustainable Impact – “6 Minutes to Understand” with Pierre Léonard. Midoricast: Podcast #234

Many people still believe that sustainable development is only about factories, machinery, or visible emissions. Yet in the service sector, the environmental and economic impact is often much greater than expected… and above all, much more hidden.

In this episode of “6 Minutes to Understand”, Pierre Léonard highlights three blind spots of the tertiary sector: procurement leaks, operational drifts, and waste — visible or intangible. And it is precisely in these blind spots that the most powerful levers for action can be found.

€6,000, €10,000, sometimes €80,000 a year — these are real, measured, and accessible amounts for service organisations of all sizes.

The essential message?

You have a sustainable impact — often invisible, and revealing it can transform the way you work, your costs, your margins… and your commitments. A short, clear and very concrete episode — and likely one of the most useful for service-sector organisations.

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For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or experiencing hearing difficulties, we provide a full transcript at the end of the article.
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Useful links for this episode:

• Pierre Léonard’s Linktree
• Circular Economy Fresco
• Website of The Podcast Factory Org ASBL-VZW
• Join the KAYA coalition

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Our podcasts are accessible to everyone!

Alongside the voicemail, each episode includes complete sequencing and a full transcript, enabling access for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
With the Google Translate plugin in Chrome, episodes can be accessed in any language! We also offer a video format with subtitles.

Why this series?

We support organisations applying real, measurable ESG practices. Pierre trains and guides them through this transition. Our approaches differ, but complement each other: we encourage, he accompanies.

This choice also raises a real challenge: where do we draw the line?

Some companies mentioned in this series are not aligned with our current criteria, and we would refuse any collaboration with them until they begin a concrete transition. But that is exactly where Pierre intervenes: his role is to initiate that transformation.

This podcast does not aim to judge, but to inspire. The goal? To encourage rather than discourage, to accompany rather than exclude.

Let’s move together towards a circular, sustainable and inclusive economy. Listen, reflect, take action… in 6 minutes.

Listen to this podcast on the service sector and its hidden sustainable impact via our YouTube channel (and please subscribe!) :

French: Full transcript available as subtitles in five languages: French, Dutch, German, English and Spanish.
Dutch: De volledige transcriptie is beschikbaar als ondertiteling in vijf talen.
German: Die vollständige Transkription ist als Untertitel in fünf Sprachen verfügbar.
English: Full transcript available as video subtitles in five languages.
Spanish: La transcripción completa está disponible como subtítulos en cinco idiomas.

Episode sequencing: Service sector & hidden sustainable impact

• [00:00:02] Introduction
• [00:00:14] Presentation of the topic for the service sector
• [00:00:35] Illustration with examples
• [00:01:30] The three hidden leaks of the tertiary sector
• [00:01:45] Leak 1: disorganised procurement
• [00:02:14] Leak 2: non-optimised operations
• [00:02:33] Leak 3: digital waste & carbon footprint
• [00:03:04] Predictive maintenance under the radar?
• [00:03:27] Service sector: Mobility & IT
• [00:03:43] Step 1: identify
• [00:04:04] Step 2: optimise
• [00:04:23] Step 3: valorise
• [00:05:00] Cumulative effect
• [00:05:14] 80% success
• [00:05:28] Conclusion and announcement of the next topic
• [00:05:42] Voicemail
• [00:05:51] Mentions & sponsors

Full transcript

[00:00:00] Jingle Intro: Your are listening to “The Podcast Factory Org”.

[00:00:02] Michel: Welcome to another episode of “Midoricast”, your podcast on positive initiatives in favor of the environment and transition. Today we’re in a section of “6 minutes pour comprendre”, with my friend Pierre Leonard, whom I’m delighted to see again. Pierre, the floor is yours.

[00:00:14] Pierre Léonard: Thank you, Michel, and hello everyone. So, welcome to our new “6 minutes to understand” section. Today we’re going to dispel a common misconception: that sustainable development is only for industry. Ladies and Gentlemen, who worked in the departments and listened to me. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[00:00:35] Pierre Léonard: I recently spoke to you about law firms, those great consumers of paper, who are astonished to discover that they can save thousands of euros a year just by intelligently dematerializing their processes and optimizing their amortization. Because that too is part of the circular economy and sustainable development. But don’t think that lawyers are the only ones concerned. We could also mention, for example, digital transformation consultancies. You know, these companies that live in the cloud and already think about being green all the time, we’ve seen that this isn’t entirely true. But the main thing is that, by analyzing their activity, we can very, very quickly identify a potential annual saving of €10,000 for a structure of fifteen people. And this figure is not exceptional, even for small structures.

[00:01:30] Pierre Léonard: So why is it like this? Because of the three hidden leaks in the tertiary sector. In the commercial sector, we always find the same issues, what I call the three leaks: supply, operations and waste, including the carbon footprint.

[00:01:45] Pierre Léonard: The first leak is a somewhat disorganized supply. And I often think of that Belgian university that ordered its supplies on an ad hoc basis, often in a hurry, without negotiation. Resulting in a 40% cost overrun, the solution is to pool purchasing: firstly at plant level, and then at network level. Plan, negotiate, result 80.00 0 € saved per year on supplies alone.

[00:02:14] Pierre Léonard: Second leak: non-optimized operations. Offices overheated in winter and with open windows, over-air-conditioned in summer, IT equipment running H24, redundant subscriptions. The same firm I was thinking about earlier had three software programs doing the same thing. Potential savings €6,000 per year.

[00:02:33] Pierre Léonard: And thirdly, waste and the carbon footprint, which can also be considered as waste. And that’s where it gets interesting, because this firm was generating a ton of digital waste. Development discarded, abandoned, methodologies not reused, know-how left with the consultants. And by structuring a library of digital, reusable assets, the firm cut its development time in half. Created value €15,000 per year minimum. It’s not always where you think it is.

[00:03:04] Michel: It’s more vicious because there are lots of little details that fly under the radar. Example: airco maintenance, poorly done, airco overconsumption, pollution, costs. It’s the same for coffee machines, refrigerators and kitchens, where there’s a lot of equipment, and we don’t think about making sure it’s maintained – and maintained reasonably and regularly – we trust the supplier, perhaps sometimes wrongly. And there are also big savings to be made.

[00:03:27] Pierre Léonard: Exactly, that’s what we call predictive maintenance, and we’ll be talking about it, because it deserves its own episode, ahah. But that’s good, you’re teasing me. We also have the carbon footprint of non-optimized customer travel, oversized servers, unnecessary printing… In short, there’s a lot to look for.

[00:03:43] Pierre Léonard: So how do you make your diagnosis? Well, count three steps. You’ll start by identifying your leaky faucets. For one week. Track everything: every order, every energy bill, every trip, every printed document. You’re in for a surprise.

[00:04:04] Pierre Léonard: Then tighten the bolts. For supply, this means pooling, planning and negotiating. For the operational side, optimize your space, your equipment, your subscriptions and, above all, your leasing. This is where the notion of preventive maintenance comes in.

[00:04:23] Pierre Léonard: And lastly, to recycle your waste – and I’m putting waste in quotation marks, as usual, because I’m not just talking about coffee cups. What can be reused, shared or resold? Not only your old IT equipment, but also your furniture, for example, can be perfectly reconditioned. This is something that a French group called Manutan does very well, offering a whole range of reconditioned second-hand furniture. Win-win, the furniture gets a second life, and for you it’s less expensive. And they, of course, make money from it.

[00:05:00] Pierre Léonard: The beauty of all this is that these savings add up year after year, and what was initially a constraint will quickly become a competitive advantage as you can offer more competitive rates while maintaining better margins.

[00:05:14] Pierre Léonard: So yes, there’s a bit of organization and consultation involved, but in 80% of cases, it’s well worth the effort. So, are you ready to dig into your cupboards? Savings await you, and your accountant will love you for it.

[00:05:28] Pierre Léonard: Thanks for taking me through these “6 minutes to understand”, next time I’ll tell you how I got my back up, and why it changed everything in the way I work with companies. See you soon.

[00:05:42] Michel: See you soon for new adventures! And don’t forget, there’s Voicemail: leave a voicemail message with a question, a word of thanks or a comment, and we’ll listen to it and pass it on to Pierre Léonard, who can get back to you. Thank you for listening.

[00:05:51] Michel: This podcast project is an initiative created and proposed by the ASBL “The Podcast Factory Org”, with the sponsorship of “transforma bxl – Innovation Playground”, a coworking space in Evere. Since January 2025 and for five years, we have also been sponsored by “Plugin Company”, our preferred charging station and card operator. “The Podcast Factory Org” is proud to be a member of “KAYA” – Coalition des Écopreneur et Écopreneures and to collaborate with the “Love Health Center”. You can find all the episodes of all our podcasts on the “What’s Your Story point be” website. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel @thepodcastfactoryorg, where we offer the podcast in video format with subtitles in several languages.

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