Not two but three trash cans. And if, soon, the French were to start sorting even more? In some cities, this is already the case with the collection of plant waste. As in the 22 municipalities of Tours metropolis (Indre-et-Loire). Within the 22 communes of the agglomeration, each inhabitant of a suburban district has an additional 240-litre container. It’s obviously green and maybe out once a week, with a few exceptions.
“The system was launched ten years ago before being extended in 2018-2019, explains Benoist Pierre, one of the vice-presidents of the agglomeration. It really responded to a demand and today we collect around 27,000 tonnes of bio-waste, out of an annual total of 150,000 tonnes. This system is really appreciated. »
Could it soon be duplicated in the Strasbourg Eurometropolis? “It is not a solution envisaged”, answers Fabienne Baas, the vice-president in charge of the subject. “We are more in the process of reducing waste by encouraging composting, for example. And all this would have a cost with an additional levy… No, really, we don’t think about it at all, our network of recycling centers works very well and we offer other solutions. »
Dumpsters once a month
Once a month, the 21 municipalities of the 33 of the Eurometropolis which have less than 10,000 inhabitants have access to a dumpster reserved for plants. “It works from April to November and people are very happy with it,” says Sandrine Gauthier, head of the waste collection and recovery department. “We have very few requests for green waste collections, so things must be going well! We, in addition to composting, we rather accompany the individual on mulching, crushing, mulching. I think giving him an extra bin would be an easy way for him to put everything in. »
An argument disputed by Benoist Pierre, in Tours. “I repeat, if we put it in place, it was because there was a need. And today, this collection makes it possible to better reprocess the plants. With anaerobic digestion, grinding, etc. All at constant cost since we just removed a gray bin collection [le tout-venant] in place. That’s why it’s hard to say exactly how much it costs. »
The territory is also different in the two agglomerations. More extensive in Indre-et-Loire when the Eurometropolis is much more populated: around 500,000 inhabitants against 300,000. The most numerous generate, each year, “215,000 tons of waste all together”. By going to the recycling centre, going to the dumpsters and sorting through their two bins.