Wood pellets made in Toulonjac

Alexandre Llanes is a happy man. Admittedly, he doesn’t sleep much at night, but his project, which has matured for several months, is gradually taking shape in the field of Toulonjac. “We are above all. We wanted to recover wood waste, which is often unused, and produce renewable energy. I did a lot of digging, a lot of digging, and we decided to build a granulator here from broken pallets. It will be the 6th in France” assigns to the business manager, calls “An exciting innovation for the area and a circular economy project focused on using recycled raw materials to create renewable energy.”

Very specific know-how

October 2020. Originally from the Hautes-Pyrénées, Alexandre Llanes wants to take over a waste recovery and recovery business, “my initial training Carrié, a company specializing in the recycling of scrap metal and non-ferrous metals for more than forty years in Toulonjac (two successive generations), is looking for a buyer. A boon for the young chef company Idoine Recyclage will create: “The idea, in all humility, was to continue what was done on the site. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel: the team in place had significant experience and I just wanted to modernize the company internally and add my personal touch. We revived all this and gained a bit of fame locally, which allowed us to start projects.” Alexander, who never hides the idea of ​​diversifying into other sectors of activity in the field of waste recycling, “explains.by building a new model “.”I was already thinking about pellets ” he continues, and especially to these “large amount of wood, unused broken pallets “going to the landfill,”a true aberration “or who crossed Europe to create plywood panels.”We have an amount of waste with an interesting energy potential, the solution was knowing how to use it, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and thereby limiting the consumption of resources. “Most of the French factories producing pellets get their raw materials from large industrial sawmills. Alexandre and his team,”collect firewood from local businesses “: “This sawdust is wet; then it must be dried and half of the raw material is lost. Suddenly, a single solution was found: to use this broken, dry wood, without bark, to make pellets, which are available in abundance in the sector. It’s a win-win since businesses have to pay to dispose of their waste. We will get rid of them for free.” After approaching Olivier Macone, a pioneering entrepreneur in the production of pellets, the project was able to see the light of day. : “ It started a unit producing pellets from pallets about fifteen years ago. First he removed the casts. He could not do this because it requires very specific know-how. You need to find the right dosage, temperature, humidity and pressure to apply. Thanks to perseverance, he achieved his goals and has since developed several factories in the Paca region and Aude (five in total). Therefore, we will be the sixth company in France to use this process, and the Greater Villefrancois area will be part of it. I am proud of it.”

The Toulonjacois site will also be a bit “ laboratory “because Alexandre plans to replicate this solution in two other companies he owns specializing in recycling.

First pellet sale in January

Currently, the Idoine Recycling team consists of five employees. “Very soon, we will have 7 people, two of them dedicated to granulation and one in the industrial process. He will train, he will pass… The ultimate goal is to have more than ten employees. Knowing that we strive to be a company where all teams are involved and have internal perspectives. We rely on talented people to drive the company forward.” adds the business manager who does not hide it “Investment is very important for the implementation of the project.” “We are allocating 1 million euros, which is not small. We will have about twenty machines (grinding, cleaning, granulation, sieving, cooling and bagging) that will be returned during December. We have about a month. On-site assembly and commissioning at the end of the year, must be done before producing pellets for the first sale from next January. The existing building (600 m2) will be completely dedicated to granulation: “In fact, we are creating local industrial know-how, it is a carbon-free energy project, it cannot be transferred and all the raw materials used will come from the area (around 50-100 km).

1500-2000 tons per year

Alexandre Llanes assures him that the pellet produced will be “ very good quality “.” Since there is no shell, we already know that its calorific value will be higher than the usual standards. “, It will obviously meet several international standards and the site will be labeled Recy + : “ Everything is 100% recycled. We tick all the boxes. Even the paper in the bags is recycled. it becomes an obsession “production planning business manager smiles”1,500 to 2,000 tons of pellets per year (i.e. use of 75,000 pallets)“a product to be”it is slightly cheaper than the pellet made by the classical method “.”We will sell by the bag or by the ton on site “Anxious with his team to embark on this new adventure, Alexandre continues:”In fact, while working for environmental protection, we do not shy away from innovations in rural areas.. We will produce locally, so we want to sell locally. That doesn’t mean we don’t sell it to distributors. But one thing is for sure, it will be guaranteed Made in Aveyron. “.

The energy of the future

As Europe is not yet self-sufficient in pellets, and due to increased demand, prices have risen rapidly recently (a 15 kg bag that could be found there for less than €5 a year can now be closer to €14). It is no stranger to the fact that the electricity required for the production of pellets is expensive. And as “every euro spent should count “, Alexandre plans to switch to photovoltaics in the medium term”and form pellets from the sun“.”In any case, we will never exceed 5,000 tons per year. “Another goal in a year or two is to offer local governments and private managers”turnkey heating supplier “and so let them”moving to a carbon-free energy world “.”We will invest in boiler houses. The aim is to supply them with the pellets produced here, and then provide maintenance and operation. They will pay only for the energy consumed. Thanks to this, we will allow them to reduce their annual energy bill by 15% compared to gas and diesel.