JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #65 - May/June 2011 - 27

other components used by manufacturers, is not for the time being exploitable for material recycling. It is therefore reused in the cement industry as a substitute fuel. By way of example, 3 metric tons (MT) of granulate used as a fuel can replace the equivalent of 1 MT of oil or 2 MT of coal. It has a high heating value and can be used at the high temperatures required by this type of industry. In order to ensure that the processing chain is kept as short as possible, the granulate is recycled in units located in the Grenoble conurbation.
Final granulate = substitute fuel

A booming and sustainable industry
This innovative scrap ski equipment recycling business was therefore born at the end of 2005 and was up and running at the end of the winter of 20052006 on a pilot site: the La Plagne ski resort. The ski hire shops were invited to call upon Tri-Vallées in order to collect their scrapped equipment. The trial proved conclusive, with 6 MT of waste being collected in one week from approximately 20 shops. The cost of the campaign (logistics, collection and recycling) was covered half by the Communauté de Communes and half by the distributors. Buoyed up by this encouraging success, Tri-Vallées decided therefore to come up with a "turnkey" solution in order to propose a single price for all the

participating shops in the Tarentaise valley. An average price per pair of skis or boots collected was set at 2 euros. This price included the door-to-door collection of the equipment, its transportation to the processing centre, its comminution and its recycling. In addition, and in order to ensure traceability for the distributors, a destruction certificate was systematically issued, detailing the precise amounts collected, in order to justify stock removal in accounts. In parallel, having initiated the procedure and participated financially in the first campaign, the Communauté de Communes of the Aime canton withdrew in order to allow the professionals to assume the cost of processing their own waste. Since 2006, the quantities collected (in MT per year) by Tri-Vallées have never ceased to grow, as demonstrated by the following graph:

Scrap ski equipment collected and recycled by Tri-Vallées (MT per year)

the equipment from resurfacing on a parallel, competitive market. What is more, the doorto-door collection means that there is no need for hiring transportation or paying separate waste disposal fees, and the destruction certificates supplied obviate the need for a certified bailiff's report or inhouse destruction certificate. Lastly, recycling conveys an environmental image that ties in with the values attached to the mountain: it is always valuable for shops whose operation revolves around tourism in areas of natural beauty to be able to convey an image of respect for nature. Tri-Vallées has also signed a number of partnerships with rental chains and, in particular, with the market leader Skiset, thereby ensuring significant growth of the amounts collected. Media campaigns along with official acknowledgement of the business have also given a major

dozen MT of waste having to be consigned to landfill every year.

A territory being cautiously expanded
The recycling of ski equipment is of interest to mountain ranges other than the Alps, even though the latter do account for over 80% of the waste produced in France (estimated at 1,500 MT per year for ski waste produced by hire shops every year). Tri-Vallées, which currently operates in the departments of Savoie, HauteSavoie, Isère and Hautes-Alpes, is often asked about the feasibility of collecting waste in the Pyrenees, the Vosges, and even in Switzerland or Italy. Yet the company's goal is already to cover the local territory as best it can. They estimate that they are currently collecting a quarter of the waste produced in the four main departments. It is not a matter of collecting as much waste as possible, but of addressing a local issue with short recycling chains. The recycled waste covers no more than 100 km between the place of collection and the final outlet. Tri-Vallées would be more favourable to duplicating this recycling line in each mountain range rather than generating polluting and costly transportation for a waste product that is only a microniche when compared to the amounts of household waste or other packaging. This line of business represents barely 1% of the company’s revenues, with the rest coming from sorting, collection and processing activities for all kinds of waste (WEEE, ordinary industrial waste, bulky waste, etc.).
More information: www.tri-vallees.com

A response to real needs in the service of sustainable development
Several factors can explain the success of this recycling business for such typically Alpine waste. First of all, this campaign meets a real need for the ski rental shops. Comminution ensures destruction, thereby preventing

boost to collection. For example, the company was awarded the sustainable development Trophy for the Rhône-Alpes region in 2008. It is true that this line of industry perfectly combines the three pillars of a currently fashionable concept: it is an economically viable activity; it helps create jobs; and it prevents several

No65 May - June 2011 / jec composites magazine

Market

http://www.tri-vallees.com

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #65 - May/June 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #65 - May/June 2011