Gone is the garbage truck that passes in the early morning to pick up the garbage deposited in the wheelie bins. In the Dordogne, a new waste management system has been gradually implemented since 2016. “For a two-person household, for example, there are 26 sixty-litre openings authorized per year, explains Florence Moreau, general secretary of the SMD3, the union in charge of waste management in the department. Beyond this volume, the deposit is charged 5.22 euros.
Residents unlock the terminal with a badge which entitles them to limited openings while the recycling bins for glass and packaging remain freely accessible. The objective is to halve (between 2010 and 2025) the volume of waste produced by the inhabitants in this department where landfilling is expensive, in accordance with the Energy Transition law of 2016.
The SMD3 explains that in a bag of household waste, there are on average two thirds of the waste that could be elsewhere (compostable or recyclable), which corresponds to the average observed at the national level.
Some individuals very dissatisfied
Some like Florence Poumarede, foster family for three disabled elderly people and founder of the association of those dissatisfied with waste collection in the Dordogne don’t find their way there and put their garbage cans at the foot of the terminals. “I returned my card. In fifteen days I reached my quota and for everything else, it would be openings at 5.20 euros, ”she justifies, pointing out that there are 200 host families like her in the Dordogne. On these cases, the SMD3 responds that it “continues to work with deputies and senators on additional openings, specifies Isabelle Moreau. It is envisaged, for example, that unused ski passes can be put in a database next year”.
Until now, the household waste collection tax (TOM) was based on built land, ie a single person in a large house producing little waste could pay a fairly high tax. With this new system, for all waste management, the annual average per household is 245 euros on average. “Depending on the number of people, we pay the same amount no matter where we are, argues Isabelle Moreau. Some for whom it will be more expensive are speaking out, but there are also those for whom it is going down”.
With its 12,000 members and some 1,000 members, the association regrets that some, in the countryside, “tend towards zero waste” but are not encouraged to do so because they have to pay a subscription, whatever it is. arrived. “We don’t just want to grumble but we don’t want to be penalized,” concludes Florence Poumarede. Voluntary glass and cardboard is fine, but you have to go door to door for household waste with a return of wheeled bins and no more than 200 to 300 meters from homes. »
Declining volumes of waste collected
In certain territories such as Belvès, which is touristy, and Montpon, which is rather rural, a numerical comparison was carried out by the SMD3 between July 2020 and January 2022 and it is eloquent. During this period, in Belvès, the volume of household waste per inhabitant and per year fell from 264 kg per inhabitant to 158 kg. “We take into account the deposits at the foot of the terminals, specifies Isabelle Moreau, anticipating a criticism of the association. The production of waste by tourists is also included. »
In the rural area of Montpon, the volume of household waste fell from 180 kg per inhabitant and per year in 2019 to 114 kg, at the end of 2022. At the same time, the SMD3 puts forward a virtuous reflex to lighten its bin: increased sorting. Result: in the Belvès sector, the volume of packaging and paper sorted has increased from 51 kg to 80 kg The SMD 3 notes that 5 to 8% of the household waste collected is at the foot of the terminals, a figure in line with the national average . It has no visibility on “wild” deposits, in nature.
Rather favorable campsites, hotels and restaurants
With four million overnight stays, the 200 campsites in the Dordogne are the leading hosts in this tourist department and major producers of waste. “The cost increase is more pronounced for small motorhomes there is a threshold effect when you have to rent containers, whereas before it was quite artisanal”, points out Stéphane Mottier, president of the union of campsites of the Dordogne. Some think about a small participation requested from campers to help them cope.
If the professionals could contact the private Suez, they found satisfactory support from the public union, such as rigid bags for sorting according to the number of locations, collective composters and communication aid.
“There are a lot of restaurateurs in town who won’t be able to compost for lack of space and it will be put in the black bag, so it will generate a lot of royalties, it’s a real problem between those who are in town and the countryside”, points out Jean-Luc Bousquet, president of the union of trades and industries of the hotel and catering trade in Dordogne. Collective composting solutions are, for example, being studied.
From this summer, a mobile application will allow motorhome owners, for example, to open terminals and pay with a smartphone. It will first be a solution for non-residents before being extended to Périgourdins. The effects of this new, rather radical waste policy should be closely monitored by the other departments and intermunicipal authorities.