Pélichet to divert 200,000 tonnes from landfill with help of new CDE plant

Pélichet Albert SA, the public works contractor and aggregates producer based in western France, operates a circular economy business model with operations in demolition, groundworks, landfill and C&D waste recycling.

The almost century-old company, which was founded in 1921, has, over the past two decades, adapted its business to pay greater attention to recycled materials for use in the construction industry. This follows the introduction of local legislation in Le Pays de Gex which, in the early 1990s, halted the extraction of finite natural resources in the French region.

A former quarry, the company’s Chauvilly site, became the base of its recycling operations in 1998 and has processed C&D waste material sourced from Pélichet’s business activities ever since.

A new 160tph plant recently commissioned by leading wet processing equipment manufacturer CDE at the Chauvilly site will support Pélichet to divert up to 200,000 tonnes per year of inert construction and demolition waste from landfill, and with it enable Pélichet to expand its operations through additional revenue stemming from the production of higher value products.

CEO Jérôme Pélichet said, “More than a supplier, we wanted to find a partner to come on this journey with us; a company that would oversee the process, from design through to commissioning on site, and work in conjunction with us to fully understand our operation and our business objectives.”

Challenging feedstock
An abundant stockpile of heavily contaminated historic landfill material presented a challenge.

“We encountered the problem of quality,” Jérôme said, explaining of the company’s old plant and process before it commissioned a new CDE wet processing plant. “So, we took a different approach with the acquisition of this new installation,” he added. “It allows us to manufacture quality materials that better meet the demands of our clients.

“It was during a visit to the UK where we visited a C&D waste recycling operation utilising CDE plant that convinced us CDE was the right partner for this project.”

“We saw first-hand the challenging feed material CDE plant was capable of processing and extracting high-value aggregates from. We had access to similar grade material, but until that point didn’t have the technology to process it.”

The Pélichet plant mainly processes two types of feed material; firstly, excavated materials from its construction works and demolition operations, including 0-300mm clay-bound, silica-limestone material and, secondly, 0-40mm crushed C&D waste. The presence of plastics and other organic contaminants retained after processing was resulting in second rate products with lower value.

An innovator in cyclone technology, CDE has designed and delivered almost 2,000 projects globally since 1992 to increase the efficiency of materials washing operations. The solution is “based on the latest patented innovations from CDE,” explained Marc Sopransi.

“Each customer has their own unique challenges, be they geographic – or site limitations – or related to feed material. Every wet processing solution we commission is tailored to the customer. Of the near 2,000 projects CDE has commissioned worldwide, each plant would feature something unique to respond to the particular challenges of that site or project, and Pélichet is no different.”

In response, CDE presented the blueprint of a bespoke wet processing plant, including the R2500 primary scalping screen designed to handle heavy clay-bound gravel, rock and mineral ores and construction, demolition and excavation waste. The R2500 ensures the efficient delivery of difficult material to the wet processing plant.

It feeds the AggMax 251 modular scrubbing and classification system, engineered to maximise product yield from clay-bound feedstock.

CDE’s flagship EvoWash technology – a compact, modular sand washing system – integrates a high frequency dewatering screen, sump and hydrocyclones to provide unrivalled control of silt cut points and eliminate the loss of quality fines producing a range of high-quality sands.

Addressing the company’s desire to completely self-sufficient in terms of water supply, the plant design incorporates a full water management system which recovers and recirculates up to 95% of process water.

The system includes an AquaCycle thickener which uses a flocculant to separate clean water from the solid particles. The solid particles form a sludge which is dried further in the Filter Press, recovering more water for recirculation and creating a dry filter cake which can be used for pipe bedding and landfill capping.

Water supply to the system is fulfilled by a submerged rainwater storage tank located beneath the plant. It can store up to 2,600m³.

Sustainability and profitability
“Highly efficient water management has resulted in considerable cost savings for our operation,” Jérôme said. “The feedstock we process is challenging material and our old plant was returning recycled aggregates of a lower quality and value.

“The new plant commissioned by CDE is maximising profitability by extracting more value from our end product as a result of a more efficient process that returns higher quality recycled aggregates.

“We can step up the range of our materials, market them better and respond to the expectations of our customer.”

“There are economical benefits to the plant and, importantly, there are environmental benefits, too. What was formerly an unsellable product destined for landfill is being processed and recycled into valuable resources for the construction industry,” Jérôme added.

It is estimated the new plant will support Pélichet to divert up to 200,000 tonnes per year of C&D waste from landfill.