Context
“Peelings, leftover meals, coffee grounds, stale bread, expired products ... Food waste represents 30% of the weight of our household waste. In the metropolis, this is equivalent to 27,000 tonnes per year, or around 60 kilos per inhabitant. ”
Source : La Métro : https://www.lametro.fr/499-operations-pilotes-de-nouvelles-collectes-et-frequences.htm
The Metropolis has provided waste treatment since 1972. Its missions were reinforced during the transition to the urban community on January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2005 with the transfer of collection responsibility. Grenoble-Alpes Métropole is responsible for all operations related to the disposal of household and similar waste.
The political will to collect bio-waste is a continuation of the “energy transition law of 2015 which imposes an obligation of separation at the source of“ bio-waste ”(which covers food waste and plant waste) from by 2025, with a target for material and organic recovery of waste of 65%. "
Sorting organic waste produces quality compost, but also renewable energy (biogas). "The calculation has been made: this material, which is not used today, could cover the energy needs of 700 homes of 100 m2 or supply fuel for buses and dumpsters. A windfall that it’s now a question of recovering in order to develop it ”
The implementation of public policy
Grenoble-Alpes Métropole deploys separate collection of food waste on its territory. From now on, a brown bin is dedicated to food waste: it must no longer be thrown in the gray bin. For this, the Metropolis offers its residents:
- a sorting guide for voluntary drop-off points
- a sorting guide for door-to-door collections
- an information booklet on the collection of food waste
- a food waste sorting memo
Success of the test operation in 2 districts of Grenoble
After successfully experimenting with the collection of organic waste in two districts of the agglomeration, La Capuche in Grenoble and La Commanderie in Échirolles, corresponding to a total of 3,500 inhabitants, the Metropolis wishes to generalize the system to the whole territory. The operation made it possible to collect over 230 tonnes of food waste from November 2017 to November 2018. By 2020, 80% of the metropolitan area will thus be concerned with the collection of food waste.
With regard to households, 110 tonnes of food waste were collected, which represents an average of 18 kilos per inhabitant and per year. Comparatively, the average observed in Paris is 6 kilos of collected waste per inhabitant and per year.
On the professional side, 123 tonnes of food waste were collected. 48 restaurants, grocery stores and bakeries in the hypercentre of Grenoble have signed up for the pilot operation. Faced with the success of the operation from its inception, it was extended to 19 large producers of waste, subject to the Special Fee, including 14 collective restaurants (high schools, retirement homes, establishments for disabled adults, etc.), 3 supermarkets and 2 restaurants.
The 230 tonnes of waste were sent to the Murianette composting center to be transformed into compost, used as natural fertilizer to enrich the agricultural areas of the Grésivaudan valley.
For professionals and public establishments
Since April 2019, in sector 4 of Grenoble and Échirolles, staff mandated by the Metropolis has been meeting structures producing food waste to support them in the implementation of this collection.
Large producers of food waste in the metropolitan area already subject to the special fee can also register. To sort food waste, compostable covers and locked brown bins of 120 or 240 liters are made available.
The Métropole then collects food waste bins once or twice a week depending on the structure's needs. However, the second pass is billed.
The Little Extra
This policy is supplemented by individual support for local composting.
Written by Alice Deshons, LFC volunteer - August 2019.
Last modification : 20 May 2020.
Grenoble Alpes Métropole
The Métropole de Grenoble wishes to recycle food waste; since November 2017, it has been conducting pilot operations on the collection of food waste door-to-door from individuals, private and public actors.