Grandjouan Onyx

Grandjouan is a French company of cleansing.

Beginnings

All begins in 1867, when the town of Nantes decides to entrust the cleaning of its streets at a private company. François Grandjouan, truck-driver-warehouseman of ships with Nantes, obtains the market in partnership with its three sons: Paul, Jules and Francis. The first installations necessary to this new activity will be hay Hangars and holds, installed starting from 1869 with Bridge-Rousseau, with the locality “the Head of the Mounds”. The old hotel of the “Two Buttons”, located on the site, accommodates the offices then.

The “repugnation”, as one calls it at the time, mobilizes 60 “Men-tombeliers”, 110 sweeping women, 110 Chevaux and 50 Tombereau X (cars of load which can be discharged while rocking backwards). The personnel works up to 14 hours per day to ensure the cleanliness of the city: sweeping of the public places, collecting of the wandering dogs and hiding of the animals died on the public highway, disinfection of the urinals, cleaning of the rails of the Tram, removal of the Manure… the sorting of the household refuse, called “Sludge”, makes it possible to carry out a product used on left bank of the Loire to lubricate the Vignes.

The arrival of the tractor with three wheels

With the passing of years, the work conditions and the techniques improve. In 1909, day's work is lowered to 10 a.m., the wages increase and the personnel profits from a medical department in the event of disease or accident. In 1920, new materials are designed for the collection and the reprocessing of the refuse. The Chariots drawn by the Chevaux obtain removable lid buckets which are emptied using cranes with vapor in parks of organic manures. The latter allow an accelerated fermentation of the household refuse. The Tracteur with three wheels comes to replace the Chevaux in 1934.

The activity develops. Starting from 1953, Grandjouan sells also its services of collection and cleaning at private companies. Several specialized antennas are established with Nantes, Saint-Herblain, Guérande, the historic site of Pont Rousseau being limited to the reception of the Center Nantes Public services.

Today

Today, Grandjouan Onyx is a subsidiary company of the group Veolia Environnement (ex Vivendi Environnemnt) which operates on the Brittany and the Pays of the Loire. The company manages 13 units of composting, 10 units of energy valorization, 12 sorting offices, 15 centers of technical hiding and 135 déchetteries. It employs approximately: 1900 people.

With the arrival of the New Nantes Private clinics, which open this summer on the space of the Confluence, the company leaves its historic site. June 11th, 2006, the offices and hangars were emptied. The activity was transferred to Saint-Herblain, in the industrial park of the Loire. The new buildings, built for the occasion on 2200 m ² also gather other services: departmental management and its four commercial agencies, collection in door with door and voluntary contribution of the Nantes agglomeration and the east of the department, the activity of cleaning and activity DMS (special household waste) when with the activity industry (NMI) it has its own site. The site gathers 250 people. The regional seat remains, established to him on the island Beaulieu with Nantes.

Anecdote

In the Years 1930, a pejorative limiting expression made say to the mothers girls who did not learn well at the school: “Continuous like that and you will be typist at Grandjouan”… what wanted to say “If you sufficiently do not work at the school the only trade which you will be able to exert will be that of sweeper of street”.

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