«In ten years, France has progressed from a hygienist approach inherited from the 19th century to a modern, environmental approach compatible with sustainable development», observes Jean-Louis Bergey, head of the Department of Waste Monitoring and Planning at the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME). This transition has been driven by national and European regulations, with the support of the Agency. Although the aim of the 1992 legislation to limit dumping solely to final waste by 1st July 2002 was not completely achieved, a huge investment effort of almost 8 billion euros made by local authorities produced significant results.

© R. Bourguet/ADEME

These can first of all be measured in terms of selective collection, which now accounts for 12% of household refuse – twice as much as in 1992. As a concrete example of the change in the way people think, 50 million French people will be sorting their packaging by the end of 2002. The number of waste collection centres has risen sharply from 207 to 3,000, resulting in a considerable increase in waste "material" recovery. At the same time, the modernization of storage facilities and incineration plants has been speeded up, thus bringing about larger, cleaner energy-generating faciclities in which production has more than doubled to reach 7,800,000 MWh/yr. Finally, a hazardous industrial waste treatment and storage network has been set up and companies have made sizeable investments to optimize waste management and develop production tools.
«However, all the players must remain mobilized in order to succeed in slowing the per capita waste production. It has increased from 345 kg to 369 kg per year during the same period, despite initial steps to reduce waste flows at source and increase eco-awareness in companies», explains Jean-Louis Bergey. Valorisation represents another major challenge: although some sectors (paper-cardboard, glass, plastics, etc.) are now well-organized, with the packaging sector using 86% recycled materials, others are still being set up (tyres, batteries, end of life vehicles). In addition, biological recovering of organic waste continues to be a priority, as does energy recovering.