Thanks to the support of Elcimaï Environnement, the Torcy 2.0 sorting center (71) is already proving its worth.
After eight months of construction, the Torcy 2.0 sorting center (71) is already proving its worth. The modernization of the site, primarily of the sorting process, now makes it possible to sort all selectively collected waste from Saône-et-Loire, part of southern Côte-d’Or, and part of northern Rhône, totaling 30,000 tons of waste per year.
Consortium of public intermunicipal cooperation bodies and waste management associations in eastern Saône-et-Loire and southern Côte-d’Or
SMET 71 (Joint Association for the Study and Treatment of Household Waste) brings together public intermunicipal cooperation bodies and associations in eastern Saône-et-Loire and southern Côte-d’Or. Its mission is to reduce, treat, and recover household waste on behalf of its member municipalities. Together with SYTRAIVAL (Joint Association for the Disposal, Treatment, and Recovery of Waste in Beaujolais Dombes) and SMEVOM of Charolais-Brionnais and Autunois—both of which also have jurisdiction over waste treatment—SMET 71 has engaged in joint planning to create a single sorting center for the Saône-et-Loire department.
This project, which is part of CITEO’s initiative to extend recycling guidelines to all packaging, emerged in particular from several regional studies conducted in Saône-et-Loire and its neighboring areas. These three local authorities have approved the restructuring of the historic Torcy waste treatment site to centralize the reception and processing of their members’ recyclable waste streams.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE, for the NEW RECYCLABLE HOUSEHOLD WASTE SORTING CENTER
Elcimaï Environnement supported the construction of this new household recyclable waste sorting center as part of a project management assistance (PMA) assignment. The scope of work involved assisting the joint procurement group throughout all project phases : from preliminary studies and consultations to select the contractor for the comprehensive contract (design, construction, and operation of the site), through monitoring the studies, construction, and commissioning of the center, up to monitoring the first year of operation.
Previously, waste from selective collection (packaging/paper) generated by the CUCM, other members of SMET 71, and SYTRAIVAL was sorted at several centers in the department and neighboring regions (notably Torcy, Chassieu, Ruffey-lès-Beaune, Lons-le-Saunier, and Digoin).
The site’s new configuration now enables the sorting of 30,000 tons of waste per year, generated by more than 680,000 residents.
“The range of skills involved was vast,” explains Ludovic Deschamps, project manager at Elcimaï Environnement. “We had to master all areas of expertise, namely technical process expertise, expertise in the various trades, construction, road and utility infrastructure, fire safety, and architecture, as well as legal, regulatory, and financial expertise.”
The teams at Elcimaï Environnement contributed to the implementation of optimized technical solutions, enabling adaptation not only to typical variations in future collection volumes but also to foreseeable changes in sorting guidelines and take-back conditions.
ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES DURING THE PROJECT
Environmental challenges—the original rationale for selective collection—were also addressed through solutions aimed at improving the capture rates of sorted materials and thus overall recycling rates, as well as an energy-efficient process (properly sized equipment, use of high-efficiency motors, etc.).
Finally, due to the high incidence of fires at sorting centers, special attention was paid to fire safety, with the implementation of significant detection and protection systems.
The first waste was sorted last September, with a gradual ramp-up allowing the site to operate at full capacity by the end of 2024. Elcimaï’s mission will continue throughout 2025 as part of the monitoring of the first year of operation.
It should also be noted that, as part of this extensive restructuring of the center, the Torcy site has been renamed TRICEA, a name that reflects the site’s use (TRI) as well as the name given to SMET 71’s other facility, the ECOCEA Sorting and Methanization Unit.
