We do a practical job that is useful for people and the environment, David – Total Waste Management Operations Manager

How did you get into the waste management sector?

I did a work-study engineering program, but it wasn't related to the environment at all. For three years, I worked on communication systems in aircraft. In aeronautics, standards are very strict because safety is paramount. This rigor shaped me. At the end of my work-study program in 2009, I was offered a permanent contract, but I didn't want to stay in the Paris region. I had an opportunity to join Séché Environnement, at a waste storage center in Vienne. It was a six-month fixed-term contract, and here I am: sixteen years later, I'm still with the Group! What did you like about this sector? We do work that is of real interest to the population. We offer waste sorting, recovery, and treatment solutions that have a direct impact on people's daily lives and on protecting the environment. It's concrete, it's useful. It's also a sector that evolves with regulations. We are constantly adapting, we are proactive, we innovate... Frankly, we never get bored.

How have you progressed within the Group?

At Séché Environnement, when you prove yourself, you quickly progress to different roles and different subsidiaries. I started as QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment) manager at a waste storage center. After six months, I moved to Operations. At this type of site, you have to be a multitasker: you manage operations, management control, logistics, transportation... It's a great learning experience. Over the course of ten years, I progressed from QHSE manager to operations assistant and then operations manager. But at the same time, the Group entrusted me with other assignments: I helped an incineration plant obtain ISO 14001 certification, which we achieved in three months—a real sprint! I also took responsibility for a healthcare waste treatment site in Poitiers. I was juggling three sites at once. Then I was offered the chance to manage a hazardous waste sorting platform in Rennes for five years. It was a "Seveso" site, the highest level of regulatory requirements. And last year, a new opportunity arose: the Global Offer.

What exactly is the Global Offer?

It's very different from what I was doing before. Before, I worked at the Group's treatment centers. Now I work directly with industrial clients.
We have two options. The first is Delegated Management: in this case, our staff manages everything related to waste at the industrial site: internal collection, sorting, administration, treatment channels, and transport to our centers.
The second option is the Global Offer itself: the client manages their own waste on site, but we provide them with treatment solutions. We manage contract renewals and regulatory changes, and we set up primary and backup channels. For an industrial company, a waste disposal problem can lead to a halt in production. It is a critical process. Can you give us a concrete example? We work for a large refinery. Every seven years, it has to be shut down for three months for maintenance. This phase generates large volumes of solid and liquid waste. Our team of around ten people supports the operations: it provides skips and tanks and organizes all the logistics for disposing of this waste in strict accordance with the schedule. If we fall behind, the facility cannot restart. The expected quality of service is extremely demanding. It's the kind of challenge that makes this job so exciting.

What is your daily routine like today?

I am based in Rennes and manage seven clients in Delegated Management and around ten in Global Services, covering an area stretching from Brittany to Normandy and the Centre region. I spend two to three days a week traveling to visit my clients.
My daily routine is primarily management-related: visiting my teams in the field, managing safety and operations. But it also involves a lot of customer relations: you have to be available, responsive and reassuring. For example, at this refinery, I have an operations meeting every Thursday with an action plan that we follow rigorously.

What motivates you in this position?

The diversity, without a doubt! From petrochemicals to eyeglass lenses to medicines, each customer has their own specificities and issues. I'm learning so many new things. And I love the human interaction. Whether it's with my teams or with customers, that's what really gets me up in the morning. What do you think characterizes Séché Environnement?

Being part of a group like Séché Environnement is an immense asset. We can handle all types of waste—solid, liquid, gaseous, hazardous, non-hazardous. There are also the Séché Urgences Interventions teams, who can respond to emergencies in the event of an accident. We rely heavily on these internal skills.
And then it's a family business. Everyone knows each other; you're not just one person among many. That makes all the difference in terms of career development: in fact, in sixteen years, I've had five different jobs and discovered all the different waste management sectors. It's this agility that makes the difference.