Published on September 21, 2024 at 4:29 p.m. / Modified on September 21, 2024 at 6:27 p.m.
“Here we have wood coming in, there we have wood going out, and for that we have invested 5 million francs,” laughs Marc Ehrlich, president of the family group Retripa, as he presents his recycling site under the Valais sun. “That’s the magic of the circular economy. Receiving waste to transform it into a valuable raw material. This wood, cleaned of its impurities, glue, paint, metals, and dusted using a new method, is then intended for district heating,” he explains.
This Friday in September, he invited Vaud and Valais politicians as well as potential customers to inaugurate his brand new Massongex platform. He hopes to process 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of wood per year there. To do this, the company collects, for a fee, wood waste – railway sleepers, pallets, traffic signs, construction site barriers and others – from municipalities and businesses in the region. It roughly sorts them, passes them through a first shredder, then a second that refines the wood chips. A third machine removes the metals and scrap metal with magnets. Then a sieve dusts them off. “We offer added value: the wood we offer will optimize the industrial process of district heating. You won’t find that quality anywhere else,” guarantees the president.
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