Suez’s hazardous waste branch, known as IWS for Industrial Waste Solutions, inaugurated its new operational support center in Givors (Rhône) on Wednesday, September 4. The French group invested 1.5 million euros in the acquisition and rehabilitation of a former EDF training center in this city located at the crossroads of two of the most important industrial valleys in France, the Gier Valley and the Rhône Valley, commonly known as the Chemistry Valley.
«We are bringing together here several services that were dispersed, and we are repatriating our support services that were in Saint-Priest. (Rhône) so that they are in direct contact with the field“, sums up Philippe Leblanc, CEO of Suez IWS, who intends to make this platform a “showcase site of solutions (from Suez IWS) on a European scale“. Givors now hosts the industrial management and logistics services as well as research and innovation of the branch. The workforce increases from 70 to 170 employees.
1.2 million tonnes of waste treated each year
Suez IWS processes 1.2 million tonnes of hazardous waste annually. Givors is home to one of the largest platforms for sorting, grouping and shipping this gaseous, liquid and solid waste, 90% of which comes from industrial sectors in France and Europe, particularly from neighbouring Italy.This platform specializes in complex containers, for example multi-membrane and multi-material containers.“, explains Philippe Leblanc.
The platform receives very small quantities, such as used bottles from a high school chemistry lab, or larger quantities such as batches from manufacturers.We separate the materials and, depending on their composition, they are packaged and sent for recovery to our processing centers.“, continues Philippe Leblanc.
Suez IWS, which employs a thousand people, generates 300 million euros in sales per year. This branch operates 22 sites in France. Non-recyclable final waste is incinerated at the neighboring sites of Roussillon and Pont-de-Claix (Isère). Those that enter into the composition of recovered fuels are transformed in Hersin (Pas-de-Calais), Frontignan (Hérault) and Oriolles (Charente).
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
