Seven of Paprec's best truck and machine drivers collected the keys to brand new vehicles at Lorient La Base on Saturday 7 November, in a ceremony that brought the waste management group's shop floor together with its IMOCA sailing programme.
Known within the company as the "Castors d'Or" ("Golden Beavers", after Paprec's mascot), the award is the group's way of recognising its most deserving staff each year. This time the presentation was held at the Team Paprec base in Lorient rather than a conventional venue, giving staff a chance to meet Yoann Richomme, skipper of the future IMOCA Paprec.
It is the most prestigious category in the Paprec honours system, and the hardest to win. Of the group's 20,000 employees, only 3,000 are drivers, and just seven of them walked away with the keys to brand new machines on the day.
Representatives from the group's vehicle-building partners, including Renault Trucks, Peugeot, Caterpillar and Volvo, watched the winners collect vehicles finished in black livery with gold lettering marking them as "best driver or best machine operator 2026". They keep that title, and the vehicle, for the rest of their careers.
Thibault Petithuguenin, Paprec's Director of Patronage and Sponsorship, explained the thinking behind holding the ceremony at the sailing team's workshop. "Handing over our vehicles to our award-winning drivers at the Team Paprec workshop makes sense: both represent the French excellence that matters so much to my family and to our company," he said. "Our drivers are ambassadors for the brand. They are in daily contact with customers and must embody the group's values: excellence, kindness and professionalism."
Afterwards, staff and their families were given exclusive access to Multiplast, where the future IMOCA Paprec is taking shape on the production line. For many it was their first look at the boat, and the visit turned what might have been a simple prize-giving into a staff reunion of sorts, with employees mixing with the sailing team and families wandering the yard.
Team Manager Romain Ménard welcomed the chance to bring the two worlds together. "It's always a pleasure to show the Paprec teams our world and the behind-the-scenes of our project, there are a lot of parallels between our two activities," he said. "It contributes to their daily involvement and to their support, which is so valuable to us during races."
