Focus. Recycling mattresses: from the pilot to industry
Recently taken over by Secondly in Santes (Nord), the Ecoval Environment site, a dismantling and processing unit for used mattresses in Flaviac (Ardèche), was created in 2009, based on a converted mattress manufacturing site. This initiative, which was a forerunner at the time, is supported by ADEME which is involved in technical and economic monitoring and is making it known.
This pioneering initiative in the Rhône-Alpes region was followed by two other used mattress dismantling and recycling units that came into being separately shortly afterwards in Paris and in northern France.
Nationally, the legislative context changed in 2010/2011 with the two laws from the Grenelle environmental round table. Recovery and recycling of used furniture has come to be seen as a major challenge, insofar as a million tons is buried and not recovered every year!
On the basis of this regulation, distributors and manufacturers created Éco-mobilier in late 2011 to take care of collecting and recycling used furniture from the general public. The objective defined by the government is to reduce the amount of used furniture sent to landfill by at least 20%: 45% of collected furniture waste to be recycled and reused, and 80% recovered as materials and for energy by the end of 2017. To organize the collection and recycling of mattresses on a larger scale, Eco-mobilier launched a tender in 2013. For the preparation of bedding, the three existing sites then become partners of Eco-mobilier. To these were added the new site of one of the operators already contracted, which opened in 2014, in the west, and four new dismantling units coming onto line. In total, seven bedding dismantling units now cover the French territory.
What are the prospects for the sector today? Fabien Cambon, technical director of Éco-mobilier
"In 2015, approximately 6,700 tonnes of mattresses were sent towards these centres to be recovered and recycled. “Since used furniture collection solutions have been deployed by Éco-mobilier throughout the country starting in 2013, the increase in the number of recovered mattress has made it necessary to develop additional outlets to absorb the volumes of secondary raw materials produced".
"Last July, the Ecoval Environment site in Flaviac was taken over by Secondly. The company also operates the dismantling unit located in the North. The Flaviac site has the distinction of dealing with the entire value chain from the dismantling of used mattresses to the production of cellular products made from secondary raw materials deriving from these dismantling operations. The whole process begins with a cleaning stage for incoming used mattresses. The recycled materials leaving the plant can be sent to different business sectors such as the motor or building industry, as insulators or padding for example. New uses for these recycled raw materials need to be found.
To do this, R&D activities are being conducted by Éco-mobilier together with the various stakeholders (clusters, research laboratories, industrial groups specialized in the management and recycling of waste, etc.) throughout France. In addition, identification and promotion of initiatives are equally important for the expansion of the sector and the emergence of new solutions".
For more information:
>> Consult the eco-mobilier.fr site
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Source: ECLAIRA - Newsletter Number 5 / December 2016
Newsletter edited by CIRIDD with support from Région Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes
