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Post by gigi on Dec 8, 2023 16:45:55 GMT 1
Some of you already compost all your green waste and have done for years, and no doubt some of you have little or no other food waste.
In the UK we’ve composted green waste for as long as I can remember, and in the last few years our council has provided 2 plastic food containers, a small one for indoors and a larger one for outdoors. The locking handles work well and I’ve not noticed any smell - and my nose works very well, and the outdoor one has so far stood up to any foxes, cats and anything else that might have been at all interested in it.
Since we bought an apartment near the centre of a small town in France nearly 16 years ago there has been nowhere to put green waste, which I’ve hated, and found it very difficult in the early days to put it in our bin.
I was reading an article in Connexion about rules about for disposal of food and vegetable waste which come into effect from January 1. EU law says that by 2025 bio waste should not be disposed of in ordinary tips and incinerators.
To work towards this, homes in France must keep their food waste separate from other rubbish, and local authorities must provide a means to dispose of it.
Households will need to have a separate bin for kitchen waste, such as peelings, coffee grounds, old bread etc, as well as green garden waste.
Our council in France has done nothing as far as I can find out, whereas Montpellier seems to be very prepared.
what about you and your council?
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Post by Polarengineer on Dec 8, 2023 16:56:17 GMT 1
They are not getting my compost.
will we soon have to bring our horse poo to the marie as well?
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Post by houpla on Dec 8, 2023 17:04:54 GMT 1
Our council hasn't even imposed the new system being rolled out for revised charging and collections..yet. Thankfully, the agglo waited to see how things went in other départements before deciding on their strategy, because it's been a right pig's ear in neighbouring Dordogne and even in a neighbouring commune of communes. There's been absolutely no mention of separating out food and green waste. They're encouraging composting, yes, and will 'punish' households financially for putting out ordures ménagères, so hoping to reduce landfill. Their proposed solution is for households to keep putting black plastic bags in their bin until it won't hold anymore, then putting the bin out for collection. That's going to be lovely in summer  My neighbour and I already recycle, compost or burn everything, so apart from the minor annoyance of having to pay a minimum yearly charge for recycling collection, it's not a problem. Having chickens and an understanding Maire help enormously  |
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curtis
Member
Charente Maritime
Posts: 474 
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Post by curtis on Dec 8, 2023 17:29:06 GMT 1
Our town has compost bins around the streets and special sacs are needed. However there is no checking as to what goes in the other bins. We have a small plastic cage with a lid and the special sac fits in there. But you have to apply for that and get the sacs in town.
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Post by jeliecrack on Dec 8, 2023 19:23:25 GMT 1
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Dec 8, 2023 21:07:15 GMT 1
Haven't a clue what this is all about. Using a translater doesn't help much. Green waste? Bio-waste? Household waste?
We put kitchen waste (apart from meat waste) into a garden composter. This is tea bags, coffee grounds & filter papers, fruit and veg. peelings and nothing else. Grass cuttings get left where they fall. Branches from fallen trees and dead shrubs get taken to the tip. I would burn them but its no longer allowed. If it gets more complicated, I luckily have plenty of space to start burying things like they did before we came to France.
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Post by houpla on Dec 8, 2023 21:33:38 GMT 1
Like a lot of us, A, you're already doing what the councils are going to be obliged to impose on residents who don't. The only difference in 2024 might be refusal or financial penalties for tipping garden waste. Some enlightened councils already have a system of municipal chipping/composting and then selling or giving the resulting material back to residents. As for bonfires.....that will always depend on your commune's attitude, your location/amount of land and personal responsibility/ability to get rid of vast amounts of woody garden waste any other way!
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Post by gigi on Dec 8, 2023 21:46:48 GMT 1
Yes, Aardvark, you’re one of those I mentioned, who already disposes of food waste properly - you don’t put it in with household waste - so you’re ahead of the EU’s rules.
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Post by cernunnos on Dec 8, 2023 22:04:14 GMT 1
We are ahead of " everybody" They don't come to collect our waste , although we still have to pay . ( to far , and they can't turn round) . So we look after our own waste. We don't compost, we have chickens and woodland. We have wood/cardboard/paper burners. All the rest goes to recycling or dechetterie, sorted. But that is the way we live! |
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Le-Dolly
Member
La Souterraine (23) depuis '05.
Posts: 566
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Post by Le-Dolly on Dec 8, 2023 22:07:56 GMT 1
Here, it is not the council, but the waste management company that supply the household composting bins and provide the composting receivers at each of the places where communal waste bins are provided. They are frequently emptied and the resulting compost is available, for free, from the local tip. It has been this way for the past three years.
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Post by lapourtaider on Dec 9, 2023 8:04:11 GMT 1
On the plus side, our commune and the communité de communes are very proactive on this. There was a public meeting to introduce the subject (unfortunately we couldn't be there as we were late back from elsewhere). This was followed up by a flyer. There is a communal composting bin by the rubbish bins. The CDC were (are?) offering two sizes of composting bins at low cost to households ( we bought the larger one for 15€).
On the negative side it is difficult to change peoples attitudes around here. The communal composting bin is in a deplorable state. People put there compostables in there still in the plastic bag they were in. As far as I can make out it is never emptied and has even caught fire.
We have never composted but have always recycled, now we have the means to complete the transition.
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Dec 9, 2023 11:30:53 GMT 1
Soon after arriving in France I took on board the reasons for thinking carefully about our waste disposal habits and in our area it seems that the council(?) is making it easy to comply. I never give it a thought now apart from the pain in the butt having to take stuff to the tip or walk (uphill) up the lane to the communal brown and yellow top bins. I imagine how troublesome it might be for people who don't drive or are not fit enough to do what we do.
I will never be a maniac "eco" warrior but I do fully understand the need to stop landfill. My very unpopular solution would be to push the blame toward manufacturers that no longer build products that can last for decades or longer just in the pursuit of profit growth. The capitalist mantra of growth growth growth feeds the problems we now face. Bombarded by advertising at every turn from birth to the grave to keep the sheeple consumers supporting the whole process.
Chatting to the bod at our local tip back in UK he said "look at this". He held up a pair of muddy tights. Then explaining he found it stuck to a tooth on the JCB he'd just used to re-shape the site. The section hadn't been touched for over ten years. The tights were still as strong as the day they were made. (So how do women manage to wreck a pair just putting them on?)
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Post by jeliecrack on Dec 9, 2023 12:40:54 GMT 1
So how much of this composting law is about making it easier for private waste disposal companies,use less people, to make bigger profits.Because its me doing the sorting not them.
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Post by lindalovely on Dec 9, 2023 15:09:27 GMT 1
So how much of this composting law is about making it easier for private waste disposal companies,use less people, to make bigger profits.Because its me doing the sorting not them. I think we should all be capable of sorting our own rubbish. Why should someone else have to sort through our mess regardless of whether they are paid or not. And I am not sure waste disposal companies have ever sorted food waste and compostables because they have just buried it all. The problem is it is just not viable to continue to throw out the amount of stuff we do and stick it in a hole in the ground. If you mix food waste with other recyclable waste it contaminates it to the point that it cannot be recycled, and it does not break down when mixed with other waste. So, composting waste that can be composted is the best thing to do. We live in the countryside so most people compost their food waste. If you want to stick it in a plastic bag and dispose of it in the non recyclable rubbish you can but it costs around 4 euros a time. You use a card to open the bin. You get 26 openings a year included in your annual fee for waste disposal but you are billed for extra openings. Recycled rubbish is unlimited so it pays to sort your waste carefully. |
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Post by houpla on Dec 9, 2023 18:15:26 GMT 1
If this new law forces agglos, CdCs and municipalities as well as their pals in the SICTOMs to set up effective green waste recycling centres, then it'll not be before time. Food waste is a drop in the ocean compared to the vast quantities of woody/green waste deposited in dechetteries or burnt (still). It has the potential to be a valuable resource, but not many homeowners have the time or machinery to process it effectively. Certainly in Val de Garonne, it all comes down to money and meeting Gov targets (again, involving fines for missing targets, so back to money) and has very little to do with a genuine 'green' commitment.
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