• 9,500 tons of waste were still waiting to be collected in recent days in the capital, forming sometimes imposing piles on every street corner.
  • Inevitably, the situation annoys many Parisians. But some voices are also being raised to invite us to draw all the lessons of this strike and what it shows us: the quantity of waste from our consumption patterns.
  • In this regard, each Ile-de-France resident generates 476 kg of household waste per year. And if volumes fell between 2000 and 2015, since then they have stagnated or even increased slightly. What for? Good question.

"Interesting, isn't it?" asks Noëlle, seeing us inspect the pile of garbage that piled up Wednesday night in front of her home, boulevard Berthier, in the 17th arrondissement of the capital. There were leftovers, cardboard packaging, plastic bottles, all often put pell-mell in garbage bags, without taking into account sorting instructions. A microwave was added to the pile, as well as a metal lamp that could have claimed a second life. "And then, you saw all these boxes? Noëlle lingers. I did not imagine that so many things were ordered today. »

"It's time for it to stop," says Denis, her husband, as the strike of Parisian garbage collectors against the pension reform begins this Friday its 19th day and has been extended until Monday at least. "It's becoming dangerous, not only health-wise, but also for traffic," he says. "It stinks too... And then the rats, they will have a great time, "says Nadine, met a few streets away in front of an equally imposing pile.

An educational slap on every street corner

These reactions hardly change from those that abound on social networks, each often pointing to his scapegoat, depending on whether he is for or against the pension reform: Anne Hidalgo or Emmanuel Macron. Flore Berlingen, author of several surveys on waste, would like this strike to push us further in introspection, by visually confronting us with the impacts of our consumption. "It's a bit like the perverse effect of today's relatively efficient waste collection in France," she says. As soon as they are produced, they disappear from our sight. It is then necessary to visit waste treatment facilities to realize the mountain that we generate daily. But they are often far from cities, and opportunities are scarce. »

Since March 5, therefore, the educational slap is on every street corner of the capital, where 9,500 tons were waiting to be picked up in recent hours. "I hadn't seen it that way," admits Jack, a Scot who has lived in Paris for two years and met Place de la Bourse. Indeed, these piles of garbage cans say a lot about our lifestyles. »



476 kg per year and per Ile-de-France resident

When asked how much waste a Frenchman produces on average each year, his answer, like those of the other Parisians he met, falls far short of the account. "150 kg?" he tries unconvinced. "100 kg?" tries Florence a little further. Much more. ADEME estimates that 39 million tonnes of household and similar waste* (DMA) are collected each year in France. That is 580 kg per year and per inhabitant. The Regional Waste Observatory of Ile-de-France (Ordif) reduces this volume to 476 kg for Ile-de-France residents, which does not mean that they are more virtuous. "In the DMA, we include occasional waste mainly sent to landfills," explains Helder de Oliveira, its director. And the Ile-de-France residents send few. Around 60 kg per year, compared to an average of 200 in France. »

On everyday waste – where the stakes are highest – the volumes are the same. Trends too, and they are not very good. "Everyday waste means both that which is subject to selective collection (paper, cardboard, plastic packaging, glass) and residual household waste, i.e. everything else that ends up mainly incinerated," begins Helder de Oliveira. Between 1945 and 2000, the volume of this waste per capita almost doubled, "before starting to decline, particularly as a result of the economic crisis, until about 2015," says Flore Berlingen. But since then, it's been increasing slightly. In Ile-de-France, we have gone from 454 kg per capita in 2015 to 476 today.

Pushed by the European Union, the France has set itself the goal of reducing its household waste by 15% by 2030 compared to 2010. Declined in the Ile-de-France, "this would imply falling to 429 kg in 2025 and 406 in 2030," says Helder de Oliveira. We are no longer on this trajectory at all. »

A handful of motivated vs the mass little concerned?

What for? "Good question," resumes the director of the Ordif. On the one hand, he has the impression that awareness of the environmental issues related to our waste is growing. "We see it just in the growing number of French people who are committed to the zero waste approach," says Manon Richert, communication manager of Zero Waste France, an NGO that federates this movement. And concrete alternatives are (re)emerging and progressing. Like buying in bulk or deposit. "But these developments are too small," says Helder de Oliveira. This is the paradox today: on the one hand, we have a handful of ultra-motivated people and, on the other, the mass of French people who say they pay attention to their waste and start sorting, but do not actually do it enough. The question of motivation is still not being resolved, especially in dense cities. »

The flood of boxes that Noëlle points out is the perfect illustration. This is one of the waste streams that has increased in recent years, boosted by the boom in deliveries, confirms Helder de Oliveira. "And while we could at least recycle them to make the most of their end of life, we only recover 30% of the deposit."

"Seeking to reduce is swimming against the current"

Will this strike of garbage collectors serve as a trigger? The director of the Ordif fears the opposite, "some Parisians stopping any sorting in this complicated period". "Not everything depends on consumers either," insists Manon Richert, recalling that the problem is also and above all structural and regulatory. And if several measures taken recently, particularly in the Agec law of 2020, go in the right direction, "they remain insufficient, often poorly controlled and therefore poorly respected," she points out. He cited the example of the obligation for fast-food restaurants to serve meals in the dining room in reusable dishes. "We are still in a context where those who commit to a zero waste approach have the impression of swimming against the tide of the rest of society," abounds Flore Berlingen. It should be the other way around. »

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