In 2020, Valoregen arrived in the region with a promise: to build an innovative flexible plastics recycling plant in Damazan by investing several million euros and creating numerous jobs. The instigators of this crazy project, Thierry and Myriam Perez, did not lie. The dream went from paper to reality. Well established on the ValOrizon Ecoparc site, Valoregen has hired a whopping 53 people and has already delivered its first tonnes of recycled plastic granules. The realization of a crazy adventure, which is still in its beginnings.
Many obstacles
“The road to here has been particularly difficult,” confides Thierry Perez. We have patented technology and it is never easy to be a pioneer, especially in a sector as complex as waste. We wipe the casts. » The obstacles encountered, beyond the technical challenge, were numerous: covid crisis, inflation of materials, delays among machine manufacturers… The rapid and massive recruitment was not easy either. But unlike other industries, the problem hasn’t been finding candidates. “For around twenty production positions, we had more than 90 candidates. This is the advantage of being in a company with a future, meaningful and driven by strong values. The problem is that it is a new profession, requiring skills that no school provides. We had to train and support”, details Tiphanie Sealelli, as HR manager. Once the teams were ready in November 2023, the weather and leaks in the roof came to play spoilsport. “It may seem trivial, but small snags thrown on the rails of a train going at full speed can have serious consequences,” illustrates the CEO. In our case, this resulted in delays and therefore financial consequences. »
The first tonnes delivered
Now that the storm has finally passed, it’s time for the positive and in particular the first 600 tonnes produced and delivered. 600 more are already packaged and ready to go. The supply of raw materials is starting to be well structured. “We have a supply horn that goes from Montpellier to Nantes. We collect plastic films, mainly pallet wrapping, from independent waste managers, intermediaries or direct producers such as mass distribution players who organize sorting more and more efficiently., explains Frédérique Candiard, customer relations & Supply Chain director. A gradual ramp-up Valoregen relies on a hybrid process, combining mechanical recycling to produce pellets and so-called “advanced” (or chemical) recycling to create pyrolytic oil. These two types of products then make it possible to recreate new plastic packaging with a quality very close to the incoming material. Thus, instead of exporting mountains of waste to Asia for landfill or incineration, Valoregen opens up the prospect of a large number of life cycles. “At the moment, we are in a start-up phase because we could not launch everything at the same time. Only the mechanical production line is in operation with a dry washing station. Then will come wet washing and finally advanced recycling, the last stage of the rocket, for mid-2025”, reveals Bernard Sonilhac, the industrial director with very long experience in the automobile sector. This increase in power, both qualitative and quantitative, to reach the nominal capacity of 15,000 tonnes per year is excellent news for Valoregen’s main customer, the American petrochemical company DOW, which has already committed to purchasing 75% of the damazanese production. This revolution also constitutes real progress in a world which takes this environmental issue more and more seriously.
