Legacy of the industrial past of its ancestor (the “Sociétéminière et métallurgique de Peñarroya”), Recylex S.A. is in charge of the rehabilitation of the inactive site in L’Estaque (Marseille, France). All activities have ceased there since 2001.
With one of the most beautiful views of Marseille and the Mediterranean Sea, this site of approximately 83 hectares comprises 15.3 hectares of land to be rehabilitated (potentially constructible after rehabilitation) and 67.8 hectares classified as a “green zone” (where rehabilitation is not necessary but construction will not be possible in the future).
The rehabilitation technique, selected and developed in consultation with the competent authorities, involves the excavation of waste (dismantling of buildings, various deposits, polluted soils) and its final disposal on site in two landfills built on site in the “Vallon du Souffre” area.
The architecture and quality of the containment site is identical to a class 1 landfill and the project has been validated by the administration as well as by independent experts.
The volume of waste to be excavated and stored is estimated at 400,000 m3 at a waste depth of 20 meters. The total area of the two landfills will represent 20,000 m2, equivalent to three football pitches.To date, more than 245,000 m3 have already been processed.
In 2018, the Recylex work at L’Estaque was carried out as a part of a new contract signed in January with the VINCI Group, the French national leader for this type of project. Works focused on 2 projects:
– Extension of land fill no. 2 to a capacity of approximately 65,000 m3,
– Excavation and loading into landfill no. 2 of approximately 60,000 m3 of material.
The works carried out in the first half of 2018 concerned the landfill with the preparation of floors and walls to receive the mineralized sealing layer (clay) and waterproofing membranes. Indeed, on this layer of clay are rolled tight membranes and welded together.
The work carried out in the second half of 2018 concerned the dredging of a so-called “Terril 109” are a on which old lead-based slag had been stored since the Second World War. Around 60,000 m3 have already been extracted and stored in the newly constructed landfill.
During the last quarter of 2018, the southern part of Terril 109 was excavated and after dredging, the surface conditions of natural terrain appeared, revealing hollows and bumps of several meters.