From Lunéville to Baccarat: Garbage bins scrutinized closely to reduce “biowaste”
Black trash bags opened at the recycling center. And two people sorting what's inside, in front of elected officials. A scene that unfolded the other day at the Lunéville recycling center and then at the Baccarat one. The goal? "To characterize biowaste" and identify the different categories of waste, their weight, and their volume.
Françoise Wisniewski's team, project manager at the Inddigo design office for local authorities, will be working on this for two weeks at the request of the CCTLB. This characterization is already carried out monthly for yellow sorting bags at the Paprec factory in Dieulouard. But this time, it's the turn of the black bags.
The two officers then placed items such as packaging (which should have been placed in a yellow bag), plastic toys (destined for the recycling center), electronic device cables (also for the recycling center), diapers, and food scraps, which were the subject of the search, in separate bins. The contents of these black bags are currently all being incinerated.
"This research hadn't been done since 2017 for biowaste," explains Amandine Petit, sorting ambassador. "At the time, there was no sorting expansion yet." "For the CCTLB territory, you have very good sorting results compared to other territories thanks to the incentive fee. But it can be improved," notes the project manager.
After studying the quantities and types of biowaste found in the bags and the specificities of the territories, the design office will propose solutions so that this food no longer ends up in black bags, and therefore burned, but recycled. "This could involve offering individual composters at a reduced rate, or installing one per neighborhood, voluntary drop-off points, or door-to-door collection. We technically study the cost, organization, and environmental impact for users of the solutions, and then the communities choose. Generally, it's a mixed scenario: no collection at all or all composting," explains Françoise Wisniewski.
The elected officials took the opportunity to ask for new guidelines, as they have evolved over the years. Photo: Corinne Chabeuf
During this first operation, agents from the CCTLB's Waste Prevention and Management department reminded elected officials of the problems encountered, such as plant cups, which should not be thrown in the yellow bag but in the black bag, as should tablecloths and paper towels. "The yellow bag is only for packaging," one of the agents reminded. Containers, such as yogurt pots, should also not be nested, as the machine does not detect that they are the same product and rejects them.
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