31 März 2022

Laying of the foundation stone for Mo’UVE, the energy recovery unit in Montauban – contributing to the emergence of a low-carbon area

Household waste management Low-carbon energy supply Climate Circular economy

On 31 March, Brigitte Barèges, Chairperson of Sirtomad, the household waste treatment union for the municipalities of Greater Montauban and Terres des Confluences, laid the foundation stone for Mo’UVE, the area’s future energy recovery unit, in the presence of Joël Séché and Maxime Séché, Chairman and CEO of Séché Environnement respectively, as well as a number of local politicians and stakeholders. A major project for the area, the work undertaken on Mo’UVE to replace the existing plant will cover a significant proportion of the energy required for Montauban’s urban heating network in winter, while generating electricity in the summer.

Mo’UVE (an acronym for Montauban Energy Recovery Unit) is the result of an ambition shared by Séché Environnement and Sirtomad: to use waste to produce low-carbon, local energy as an alternative to fossil fuels.

On 31 March, surrounded by numerous Mo’UVE stakeholders and employees, Brigitte Barèges, Chairperson of Sirtomad, Joël Séché, Chairman of Séché Environnement, and Maxime Séché, CEO of Séché Environnement, officially launched the Mo’UVE construction site, with the unit scheduled to begin operation in the second half of 2023.

“This ambitious project allows us to continue our actions in support of the circular economy and to develop new industrial ecology solutions. With Mo’UVE, we will recover more heat from the combustion of waste, enabling us to expand our heating network, while also recovering more electricity. By completely overhauling the current plant, we will obtain significant volumes of thermal and electrical energy while deploying the best techniques for treating atmospheric emissions to achieve the best environmental performance. This confirms the ambitions of our Positive Energy Territory for Green Growth plan, promoting a new French energy and economic model.”

Brigitte Barèges, Chairperson of Sirtomad.

“For more than 20 years, Séché Environnement, along with our subsidiary DRIMM, has been contributing its expertise to the area in order to build a more sustainable world. By making waste one of the municipality’s energy resources, Mo’UVE will become a further example of the actions we are carrying out to develop industrial ecology solutions tailored as closely as possible to local needs and to contribute to reducing the area’s carbon-intensity.”

Maxime Séché, CEO of Séché Environnement.

Preparatory work already well advanced

Since 1 January 2021, when the waste treatment plant was taken over by the Séché Environnement teams as part of a public service delegation, a lot of the preparatory work has already been completed. The main operation involved preparation of the area that will house the future unit, as well as construction of a peripheral access road.

Following an initial phase of earthworks, a 40 m-long and 6.4 m-high retaining wall was built, prior to backfilling of the area. The plant’s deep foundations were installed, with more than 70 piles sunk to depths of up to 18 m, to ensure the stability of the slab on which the energy recovery unit will be built.

After pouring the slab, the next steps will be construction of the metal frame, then the furnace-boiler unit, a vital element in recovery of the thermal energy released during waste combustion. The smoke treatment system will also be perfected and incorporate the latest technologies to guarantee the best environmental performance.

Continuity of activity throughout the duration of the work

In a real technical challenge, the existing plant will continue to process waste throughout the modernisation work, which will be carried out in parallel. The site was also awarded triple certification in December 2021, for the environment (ISO 14001), energy (ISO 50001) and occupational health and safety (ISO 45001).

Séché Environnement in Tarn-et-Garonne

In Tarn-et-Garonne, and the Greater Montauban area in particular, Séché Environnement has been present since 2001 via its subsidiary DRIMM, located in the municipalities of Escatalens and Montech. DRIMM has been supporting Sirtomad for many years in its recovery of materials (two sorting centres), energy recovery (production of recovered solid fuel and electricity production), while providing solutions for the management of non-recyclable waste. Since 1 January 2021, Séché Environnement has been managing Mo’UVE under a 20-year public service concession agreement to operate and modernise the Sirtomad waste treatment facility. In total, Séché Environnement employs around 120 people in Tarn-et-Garonne.

SIRTOMAD

SIRTOMAD, a joint waste treatment union, brings together 31 municipalities from two inter-municipal authorities, Grand Montauban and Terres des Confluences, totalling more than 118,700 inhabitants from Tarn-et-Garonne. It transports and treats waste and reuses it through the production and distribution of by-products (energy, materials). For this purpose, the union directly manages two waste transfer points, an incineration plant, and a green waste composting platform. In addition to these areas of expertise, SIRTOMAD has been involved in a waste prevention programme since 2010. The target was achieved with a 10% reduction in waste. After winning the “Territoire Zéro Déchet, Zéro gaspillage” call for projects, SIRTOMAD is committed to continuing these actions (extension of plastic-sorting instructions, glass-sorting reward programme, biowaste recovery, development of reuse and repair, etc.). By 2025, the goal is to reduce household waste by 13%.

CONTACT

Constance DESCOTES, Director of Communications, +33 (0)1 53 21 53 53
Danielle ESCANO, Communication Manager South-West, +33 (0)6 14 18 66 52
SIRTOMAD, Communication department of the City and the Greater Montauban, +33 (0)5 63 22 12 97