A waste sorting center with multiple benefits
At the heart of the circular economy, at the cutting edge of technology and performing socially.
A new enlarged and modernized sorting center will treat all waste from the Drôme and Ardèche departments in one single place from September 2021.
Benefiting from Veolia's know-how and funding from Societe Generale, the center will be able to recycle all plastic packaging, in accordance with the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act, to be complied with by 2022.
Nearly 26,000 tonnes of recyclable waste are received each year by the Sytrad sorting center in Portes-lès-Valence, a French commune located in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. A number that will increase to 40,000 tonnes in September 2021 thanks to the modernization of the center which will therefore treat the waste of all Drômois and 80% of Ardéchois, that is to say more than 730,000 people in total.
This project is the result of close collaboration between the three waste management unions of Drôme-Ardèche: Sytrad(which manages waste treatment for North Drôme and North Ardèche), the Portes de Provence union(which covers southern Drôme-Ardèche and northern Vaucluse) and the intermunicipal union for the waste collection and treatment of Basse Ardèche(Sictoba). While the operating contract for the Sytrad sorting center expired on April 30, 2020, the latter offered the two other unions to join it and make the center of Portes-lès-Valence the only sorting center for Drôme-Ardèche.
The three unions therefore chose to renew the concession agreement for the Sytrad sorting center with Veolia, already in charge of its operation. Veolia will carry out extension and modernization work and will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the new center, for a period of 8 years.
The project involves the investment of 23 million euros, entirely financed by Societe Generale. This project is the perfect illustration of Veolia’s ambition, one of the European recycling market’s leaders, which plans to multiply by five its plastic recycling activities and to reinvent the plastic market by integrating it into a circular economy approach.
The partnership with Societe Generale has made it possible to offer our clients a solution that meets the societal challenges of the territory while guaranteeing budget control, adds Hervé Peneau, director of Veolia’s Waste Recycling & Recovery activity for the Rhin Rhône region. A tool at the heart of the circular economy, at the cutting edge of technology and performing socially.
A waste sorting center with multiple benefits for its departments
This new sorting center is a key project for Drôme-Ardèche since it represents a significant improvement in terms of sustainability. Omnipresent in our daily life, the recycling of all plastic materials is a major challenge for our society. The modernization of the center will make it possible to sort out all the packaging, such as fruit trays, yogurt pots or plastic bags for example, which cannot be recycled at the Sytrad center in its current state. The new sorting center will thus be able to comply with the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act, which will extend sorting instructions to all household packaging by 2022.
In addition, around ten jobs should also be created thanks to this project.
Finally, a single sorting center for the entire territory will enable to have a single waste sorting instruction for the population of Drôme and Ardèche, which will simplify the lives of their 730,000 inhabitants.
This is the fifth time since 2016 that Societe Generale has supported Veolia in the waste management sector, demonstrating its solid experience and expertise in this area.
This success illustrates the bank's ability to provide effective structured financing solutions for projects with significant environmental and social impacts and contributing to the circular economy.