In Cenon, the waste incinerator takes on color

LFor a long time, the people of Cenon called it “the pipe in Bonnac”, a reference to the first name René, elected for 48 years as mayor of Cenon, including twenty-seven as mayor, from 1968 to 1995. It was a year before he accessed the mayor's chair, after the death of René Cassagne, that a huge oil boiler was built to supply the Hauts de Garonne heat network, today serving 14 000 homes and public facilities.

Fossil energy was abandoned in 1985 for a household waste incinerator (127,430 tonnes processed in 2023), an energy recovery unit whose operation Bordeaux Métropole delegated to Valbom, a subsidiary of Veolia, until December 31, 2027. During For years, the fumes emanating from the factory have been the subject of debate, which has now been resolved: equipment maintained, but focus on the treatment of rejections. “Since 2023, we have been the UVE in France at the lowest level of the European thresholds,” says Thibaut Dejardin, director of the Béglais and Cenonnais centers at Valbom.

Call for projects

The fact remains that the site, bringing together the two incineration ovens and the exchanger with the heat network managed by Hauts de Garonne Énergies, was logically nothing attractive, remaining little known to its neighbors, the inhabitants of Marègue and of May 8, 1945. A first step was taken in June 2022, with the development of the Rêvé participatory garden, of 2,500 square meters, within the UVE, entrusted to the Cenon association Germaine Vieille, an amazing collective which raises awareness of natural gardening , reuse, recovery of organic materials and promotion of biodiversity.

“The factory enhances energy, energy must enhance the factory”

Second stage of this image enhancement: a graphic identity and an artistic signal for this “totem” on the edge of the ring road, near Artigues and Cenon. Bordeaux Métropole launches a call for projects, and the Craneuses are chosen. Margot Hincker and Christine Guillot, two graphic designer and illustrator friends could play it off given their joyful style of colors, but they “Cranne” because it is just the name of the hamlet of Donzac, where the Girondines are neighbors. “The factory enhances energy, energy must enhance the factory,” they summarize.

Rope rope technicians at 52 meters

“Only” 3,000 square meters will be painted, the visible parts all around the factory: several buildings and of course the three faces of the oblong chimney which dominates the whole, using four tonnes of paint signed Unikalo in Mérignac. Since October, the rope access technicians from MS Access and Adrénaline have been perched up to 52 meters high to customize the “Bonnac pipe”. “Two out of three rope access technicians are women,” emphasize the Craneuses. The Metropolis is investing 1.1 million euros in this makeover.

The work will be completed in spring 2025. The icing on the smoking cake: two sides of the fireplace will be covered with phosphorescent paint, with a guaranteed effect at night. To further develop ownership of the site, participatory workshops by the Cranneuses, with residents in the RêVé garden, but also students from the nearby Michelet school, whose work on the factory will be displayed on a wall in the courtyard.