While the holidays are in full swing, as the gifts accumulate and the dishes follow each other at the table, the waste, pile. As we know, the celebrations of end of years are generating a lot of waste. With 6.7 million trees sold per year in France and a budget of € 129 euros per person spent on meals, the challenge is for those who come after. All the small things “green” are often neglected at this period, and the rules of the sort tend to be less respected. “During the holidays, we buy what we don’t have the habit of consuming: disposable tablecloths, plastic tableware, oyster and we are a little helpless, not knowing always how to sort the waste-there”, says one to the Ademe (Agency of Environment and mastering of Energy). And while the French drop in alertness at this time, the garbage collectors must face the challenge of increased management of all these wastes.
“The Christmas season, this is the apocalypse”
“The feasts of Christmas, this is the apocalypse, it is a real disaster! The trash cans are overflowing so there are many waste next to the bins, the boxes are huge, pieces of plastic and scraps of paper fall to the ground,” said Christophe Clerfeuille, president of the Collective of collectors Ripeur. And to add: “the worst is when it rains, everything sticks to the ground, it is very difficult for us to pick up”. Among the solutions for correcting behavior little green, the president of the association calls for strengthening the punitive system. “To create awareness, it is necessary to comply with the system of fines, which was not well applied everywhere”. In fact, the garbage collectors are not in the obligation to collect the waste on the floor. And according to the fine system designed to regulate the behaviours for inciviques, any person who throws his garbage and other waste on the public highway, outside the locations provided for this purpose, shall be punished including a fine of 450 euros, while the fact of not respecting the hours and days of refuse collection shall be punished by a fine of 180 euros.
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The goal is to achieve a recycling rate of 75%
But if the measures to correct the bad behavior downstream should be strengthened after the president of the collective Ripeur, it is more upstream that the real change must take place. “The French are not the sort who throw their waste anywhere and who do we not meet are often those who are not aware of the need to sort or how it should be done, they don’t, because they don’t know”, leading Christophe Clerfeuille. This is a view shared by the other scavengers of the group, which also advocate better communication and more information to raise awareness. For example, in France, the recycling rate of waste is 68% currently, while the goal would be to reach 75% by 2022, according to the Ademe. “France is lagging behind in terms of waste management compared to other european countries, our objectives are not achieved and it still has potential”, says one to the Agency. And for good reason, bad habits and the absence of some reflexes remain realities, deeply entrenched in French.
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“It is important not to file the fir trees at the bottom of the home itself, but in parks or in garbage dump”
Outreach and education
For an improvement of the daily lives of garbage collectors and a better management of waste, Ademe urge the French to remain vigilant and to inquire upstream. To do this, many tools are at their disposal. This is particularly the case of a platform that identifies 384 products referenced, all attached to a small sheet for recycling the same. For the firs, far too little is recycled, “it must not drop down at home, but drop them in parks or in garbage dump”, alert the Ademe. As for the food, the establishment suggests to recover the food scraps to reduce waste. Because of the large amount of unused food thrown away during the holiday season contributes heavily to make up the annual statistics. As a reminder, each year in France, approximately 30 kg of food yet supplies are thrown away per person.
Finally, ecological awareness, collective is all about awareness. “The best solution is of course education,” stresses the president of the collective Ripeur. And it is in this context that a campaign of learning are conducted by the town halls of the communes. In Roubaix, for example, city a pioneer in waste reduction, various workshops “zero waste” are organized with the approach of Christmas to learn how to manage their trash and to waste less. The city has set a goal to encourage all families to reduce by two their production of waste. Remains to be seen whether the results will come and if the example will be followed elsewhere.
