INFO THE DEPECHE. The largest sorting center in France will be established in Bessières in 2025

From 2025, the inhabitants of Haute-Garonne will be better off recycling their waste. This is thanks to a huge investment of 53 million euros committed by the Decoset Consortium which deals with the collection and treatment of waste on behalf of 152 Municipalities representing more than one million inhabitants. The union has just chosen the industrialist Paprec to design, build and manage a 10,000 m super sorting center for six years² capable of processing 70,000 tonnes annually, making it the largest in France. Installed in Bessières, in the north of the department, it will replace the two current obsolete sorting centers (one in Toulouse managed by the management and one already present in Bessière and managed by Suez) which together can only sort 45,000 tonnes per year.

98% of treated waste will be recycled

Insufficient capacity in the face of the constant increase in the population of the urban area and the extension of the sorting instructions. Since 1^um last January, families can now place all packaging in the yellow bin. The new site will implement the most modern technologies to recycle 98% of incoming waste thanks to the massive use of automation. The machines will sort by size, by weight, by shape thanks to different hoppers that act a bit like sieves.

Optical selection will also be added with a laser capable of differentiating the different types of plastic (light or dark PET, milk bottle, Tetra Pak brick, etc.) that are not recycled in the same sectors for reuse. Finally, a human phase provided by sorters around eleven sorting tables will finalize the final phase.

About twenty jobs are planned

Therefore, the 52 employees of the two current sorting centers will be fully taken over by Paprec, while the total workforce of the future sorting center will reach 72 people. Twenty new hires are therefore expected. “With this new sorting center that is 32^th that we will manage in France, we will increase our presence in the urban area of ​​Toulouse where we already employ 220 people, particularly in our regional headquarters” says Stéphane Leterrier, deputy general manager of Paprec.

This family group is not unknown since it is a leader in separate collection and treats one million tonnes a year, which is the recycled waste of one in four French people.

Work to start at the end of 2023

The planning permission for the future establishment has already been submitted to the town hall of Bessières and is currently under examination. The program foresees a start of works in December 2023 . The first tests under the control of Decoset will take place in February 2025. The effective entry into service is scheduled for July 2025. “We are delighted to have been selected by Decoset and we will be candidates for the future public service delegation for the energy recovery units of Toulouse and Bessières” announces Stéphane Leterrier, referring to the waste incinerators of Setmi in Mirail and Econotre in Bessières.