In Camarès, the Colbert spinning mill recycles Lacaune sheep wool into mulch for plantations

The machines from the Colbert spinning mill in Camarès were purchased in Cholet, dismantled and then reassembled in Camarès. Midi Libre – F.MAYET

The production tool runs with two employees. Midi Libre – F.M

The spinning machines are rustic but allow you to adapt the width and thickness of the wool mulch. Midi Libre – F.M

La laine de brebis lacaune arrive nettoyée à la filature Colbert de Camarès. Midi Libre – F.M

Premier volet d'une série de cinq article sur des entreprises dynamiques et innovantes situées dans le Sud Aveyron.

The vast concrete and sheet metal hangar, slightly set back in a street in Camarès, does not look like much. However, since the spring of 2022, a quite remarkable entrepreneurial initiative has been woven there. The Colbert spinning mill transforms Lacaune sheep wool, the same milk from which Roquefort is made, into insulating products for attics and mulch for plantations. A true (re)birth. "More than ten years ago Jean-Pierre Romiguier, creator of the Shepherd's Bag, was sad to see our sheep's wool end up as waste or, at best, be exported to China for zero euros" remembers Jean-Philippe Lignon, general director of the spinning mill and main linchpin of the project.

Support from the Grands Causses PNR

The health crisis has put a stop to this transit. "I met Jean-Pierre at that time." Coming from the automobile industry , originally from Camarès, Jean-Philippe Lignon then sought to end his career "with a project that had a bit of meaning."Supported by the association of sheep milk producers of Roquefort (1,400 breeders spread across Aveyron, Lozère, Tarn and Hérault), a bank (Crédit Agricole) entered the capital) and financial support from the Occitanie region the adventure is taking shape. "We created two jobs, bought machines in Cholet which we dismantled, transported and reassembled here in Camarès."

“The project of manufacturing for textiles”

"The machines are already purchased… " Jean-Philippe Lignon sketches part of the future of the Colbert spinning mill. "The association of sheep milk producers of Roquefort has purchased land located outside Camarès with the submission of a building permit, accepted, for a future production site for the textile of 1600 m2, double the current one. We are waiting to perpetuate the current structure in mulching and insulation before switching to wire and textiles. By mixing lacaune wool with merino we can obtain a very good quality product." An audit firm has confirmed the cautious strategy. "We already produce, and sell, mulch but, for insulation, we must go through a certification firm in order to be able to sell to building professionals.&quot ; Expensive certification – "the PNR is very involved " – as much as uncertain. "We hope for a response within the year."

Jean-Philippe Lignon doesn’t forget the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park. "He has supported us from the beginning and, without the PNR, today, we will not make it. We are accompanied almost daily." Recently, too, the City of Millau placed an order for mulch for vegetation as part of the redevelopment of a downtown street. "The Colbert spinning mill is a real local project supported by all local elected officials. Town halls like those of Rodez and Nîmes buy our sheep's wool mulch."

A herd of 700,000  Lacaune sheep on 4 department

Number question – and raw material – Jean-Pierre Lignon puts forward that of 700,000 Lacaune sheep. "Each gives, on average, 700 to 800 grams of wool per year. If, 60 years ago, this was considered income by breeders, today it looks more like waste. It is therefore up to us to have it cleaned before weaving, knowing that one tonne of raw wool yields 300 kilos ready to be transformed. There's a lot of trash."

Jean-Pierre Lignon highlights the chance to benefit "from a current craze for biosourced products. The mulch that we produce is aimed at individuals and professionals, from communities to nurserymen." The mulch for plants and plants from the Colbert spinning mill is also distributed nationally in garden centers by the company Sobac, located in La Loubière near Rodez. "It’has become our biggest customer with a sales force that we do not have ;we don't."

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