Dijon Métropole’s new sorting center : a challenge successfully met by Elcimaï Environnement

Dijon Métropole’s new sorting center was inaugurated today. To meet the challenge of modernizing the facility and ensure optimal technical, economic, and environmental performance, Dijon Métropole chose to renew its partnership with Elcimaï Environnement.

Against a national backdrop of efforts to improve the performance of packaging sorting—particularly for plastics—Dijon Métropole, one of France’s most committed local authorities to ecological transition, led a regional study on sorting operations in 2018 covering 92 % of the population of the Côte-d’Or.

This study highlighted the aging of current facilities and the benefits of building a new sorting center in Dijon to make it an essential sorting facility in Burgundy. The goal : to have a facility capable of sorting 35,000 tons per year, adapted to the Extended Recycling Guidelines.

To meet the challenge of modernizing an operational site and ensure optimal technical, economic, and environmental performance, Dijon Métropole selected Elcimaï Environnement to provide project management assistance.

The current facility, which had reached the end of its service life, had already been built by Elcimaï Environnement in 2007. For this new project, the task was to support the local authority from the planning and consultation phases—aimed at selecting the consortium awarded the design-build contract—through to monitoring the first year of operation, including oversight of studies and construction work. Dijon Métropole chose to renew its trust in Elcimaï Environnement due to the company’s expertise in waste treatment and its more than 30 years of experience working with local authorities.

The new PELLENC ST sorting line during its launch phase in October 2023.

From a technical standpoint, the existing building where the process was previously carried out was retained for storage purposes, while a second building was constructed on the same site to house the sorting line. This change required careful consideration of space optimization and entailed minimizing downtime for the facilities as much as possible.

Elcimaï Environnement also contributed its legal expertise by proposing a unique arrangement—still relatively uncommon—linking the metropolitan area and the intermunicipal communities in an agreement that strengthens their relationships and streamlines the management of their waste.

“Our teams rose to the challenge, meeting the deadlines and exceptionally minimizing facility downtime,” said Jean-Christophe Darne, Deputy General Manager of Elcimaï Environnement, at the inauguration. “The project is innovative both technically and legally. It is a state-of-the-art facility that allows Dijon Métropole to remain a pioneer in waste management and the ecological transition.”

After five years of studies and construction, the very first ton was delivered last month, allowing Neos and Pellenc ST to make the final adjustments to the sorting line, and Suez to get up to speed to ensure its operation.

Construction site for the new building, November 2022.

Transfer docks, August 2023.