Avoiding waste while creating jobs locally is the concept of the circular economy. In the country of Morlaix, a company of nine employees made this bet, using a know-how unknown in France but already a century old in Canada.
Paper transformed into cellulose wadding, this is the activity of the company Cellaouate created in 2010, near Morlaix in Saint-Martin-des-Champs, in Finistère. Heaps of old newspapers, paper, are thus crushed, the fiber exploded then mixed with mineral salts, to obtain a wadding with multiple properties for construction. Excellent thermal and sound insulation, it is also non-flammable.
A recycling sector with multiple interests
At a time when 45% of newsprint is still buried or incinerated, this recycling sector of the circular economy has many interests. From the transformation of waste, it has made it possible to create nine jobs locally, while producing an ecological material for housing. “Making one ton of glass wool requires 12,000 kWh of electricity, 350 liters of water and generates 3.5 tons of waste and 1.6 tons of greenhouse gases, while producing one ton of cotton wool cellulose makes it possible to recycle 900 kg of waste and consumes 90 times less electricity”explains Patrick Créac’h, president and co-founder of Cellaouate.
Esat ‘les Genêts d’or’, the main supplier
But this industry has another advantage. It is mainly supplied by Des “Genêts d’or”, a work-based assistance establishment specializing in the recovery of used paper, located in Landivisiau not far from there. Les Genêt d’Ors employ 18 disabled people to sort the products. Every year Cellaouate buys 200,000 euros worth of old newspapers from this establishment and more than 500 Breton associations. A real financial windfall for an entire local “socio-economic network”.
A report to be found in the program “hd – The hour of the debate” this Saturday at 11 a.m. on our antenna, devoted to the social and solidarity economy.
The report in Saint Martin des Champs and Landivisiau (29) by Karine Cevaër and Pascal Cossé
The report in Saint Martin des Champs and Landivisiau (29) by Karine Cevaër and Pascal Cossé – Interviews: Jean-Pol Caroff, general manager of Cellaouate – Luc Raoul, director of ESAT “les Genêts d’Or”
Interviews :
– Jean-Pol Caroff, CEO of Cellaouate
– Luc Raoul, director of ESAT “Les Genêts d’Or”
