Nice-based Sclavo moves into dismantling pleasure boats in Fréjus

Approved by the sector's eco-organisation, the family-owned waste management company is bringing into service this spring a facility dedicated to end-of-life boats, next to its Éco Pôle in the Var.

What is to be done with a sailing boat or motor launch that can no longer be used? On the French Riviera, a land of ports and pleasure boating, the question is becoming an industrial one. Sclavo Environnement, the Nice-based waste collection and treatment specialist, took delivery this spring in Fréjus of a facility dedicated to dismantling pleasure boats, according to the trade website Boat Industry.

The company is approved by APER, the eco-organisation responsible since 2019 for the end-of-life stream for pleasure boats. Hulls are dismantled there and the materials sorted, then sent for recycling or recovery. The group has already processed large vessels at its Éco Pôle in Fréjus, including a 24-metre boat fully dismantled on behalf of APER.

The project extends the presence in the Var of a group that has remained family-owned. The business was founded in Nice in 1918 by Antoine Sclavo; today it is run by SAS Groupe Sclavo, registered in Nice in 2004 and chaired by Jean-Marc Sclavo, the founder's grandson, with his brother Michel as chief executive. In 2013 the group invested €6m to build its Écopôle in Fréjus, L'Usine Nouvelle reported at the time.

Development is in the hands of the next generation. Frédéric Sclavo, the group's development director, is leading the company's diversification and represents it at business events in the region, such as the Entreprenariales fair in Nice.

In addition to Fréjus, the group operates a waste disposal centre for professionals in Nice and another in La Roquette-sur-Siagne. Its activities cover construction waste, industrial waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous, and now a nautical stream set to grow as the pleasure-boat fleet ages.