The modernised facility, operated by TrivalLoire, Suez’s dedicated subsidiary, processes around 45,000 tonnes of household packaging waste each year on behalf of Saint-Étienne Métropole, serving a population of almost 670,000.
The 2023 refurbishment represented a €33 million investment by the local authority.
Pellenc ST has supplied equipment to the site since 2002, and the company said it was selected once again to provide the technology for the upgraded plant.
The facility is now equipped with 13 Mistral+ CONNECT optical sorters, enabling it to recover 13 material fractions, including five grades of fibre, four plastic streams, food cartons, aluminium and steel.
A key part of the upgrade is the integration of Pellenc ST’s CNS BRAIN artificial intelligence technology.
Developed using deep-learning neural networks trained on millions of images, the system analyses the shape, size and visual characteristics of materials alongside near-infrared and visible-light sensors to improve sorting accuracy.
According to Pellenc ST, the technology can increase the purity of sorted materials by up to 2%.
Yves Defour, Director of the Firminy sorting centre, said: “At Firminy, we have been working with Pellenc ST since 2002.
“The combination of all these technologies improves yield, performance, and purity across every category of recoverable material.”
Three of the optical sorters dedicated to clear PET recovery have been fitted with Pellenc ST’s CNS BRAIN PET module, while two units processing mixed PE and PP packaging use a dedicated AI model developed for those materials.
The technology has been trained to identify bottles even when labels or contamination partially obscure the material.
Romain Galia, After-Sales Technician at Pellenc ST, added: “We trained the AI on thousands of bottle images, including dirty bottles or those with labels that obstruct material identification, ensuring they can still be accurately recognised.”
Pellenc ST said the AI modules can be deployed via software updates without requiring additional cameras, production stoppages or specialist maintenance.
The upgrade also includes automated grapple cranes and additional sorting technologies, including TURBOSORTER and TOP SPEED, which Pellenc ST explained improve throughput and the stability of lightweight materials moving along the sorting line.
Pellenc ST said it will continue working with Suez to optimise the plant using operational data collected through its SMART&SHARE software platform.
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