The fact that sorting and processing garbage is better than shoveling all in one heap and exporting it to a landfill is not understood in our country by far. This is due in many respects to the banal absence of the ubiquitous system of waste collection and processing facilities as such. As a result, that from separate collection there can be a benefit and even more so that from garbage it is possible to make the electric power, in Russia only the most responsible citizens know. Garbage is regularly stored on landfills, which, as it turns out, are often located very close to the settlements – one of the brightest examples was the “Kuchino” training ground in Balashikha.

Divide and recycle

At the entrance of the average Frenchman there are tanks with colored lids – yellow, green, blue, brown, similar not so long ago began to appear in Russia. To send your garbage for recycling, the inhabitants of France do not need to make an effort – the infrastructure for separate collection of waste is available in a step from the entrances. Glass, paper, plastic are recycled, and garbage from the tank with “other waste” – into the furnace.

– Of the 100% household waste of a Frenchman, 31% are burned on average, 26% are recycled, 26% are recycled, 16% – for organic processing and only 1% of waste is burned without subsequent energy production, And the joint transition of France Laia Cluže.
He noted that a certain proportion of the ash obtained from the incineration of waste is then sent for use in the construction of road networks as base layers with one condition – there should not be a number of reservoirs to avoid leaching harmful waste from the ash.

– In each region of France there are facilities for the disposal of garbage, but only 50% of the population has access to them. Unfortunately, the remaining 50% still take out garbage in the landfill, – added Kljuže

The level of waste processing in France is about 42%, according to the Ministry of Ecology of the country, this is the average European value. The share of electricity generated from incineration in France’s total electricity is 2-3%, and comparable to the amount received from wind generation.

At the same time sorting waste at specialized enterprises are not involved – officials consider this an inexpedient waste of labor. However, even with adequate infrastructure, not all French people sort their garbage, many send everything to a tank with common waste.

– We have reached a certain limit in this sense – those who responsibly relate to separate collection of garbage, long spread it on individual tanks. The rest continue to throw everything together. Here the division is relatively stable, – the Ministry of Ecology reported.

Factory in the city center

Isséane is located right in the city center. Here, both processing and incineration are handled, but the construction does not look like a “factory” in its classical sense. The building is lined with ecological materials and surrounded by plants, near a small park is broken, where citizens can come. No protruding pipes and fetid smell in the district.

– The management structure of the plant is public-law, in fact they are led by representatives of 84 municipalities, which it serves, financing comes through taxes from their residents. Thus, if people did not approve the construction of the plant, it simply would not have been built. We could not disregard the wishes of the population, “comments an employee of Isséane, authorized to conduct a tour of his territory.

In order not to spoil the surrounding landscape, most of the processing capacity is hidden underground: in fact, two thirds of the plant is located “in the basement.” The bulk of the pipes are also underground, and their very top, which still looks out onto the street, is disguised as a general style of the building. To remove unpleasant odors from garbage, too, decided a little cunning – the air is pumped from a ditch 20 meters deep, where waste is received, and also burned.

– The tax on maintenance of activity of a factory can vary depending on remoteness of municipality, from ways of transportation of a waste and much another. Including the amount of waste that the municipality produces. As a rule, we take 100 euros for each “input” ton of garbage, and all the necessary amount is distributed to all residents. One truck, on average, unloads 5-6 tons of waste at a time, “says Isséane.
Recycling and collection of waste on average per year to a resident of the region cost 113 euros, the Ministry of Ecology of France notes, annually the budget receives from this tax about 6.8 billion euros. Another 1.2 billion euros comes from an environmental fee, which is levied on home appliances buyers, furniture and so on.

– Construction of the plant cost about 600 million euros, but it was 10 years ago. The plant is designed for 40-50 years, the investment will pay off in the middle of the term, “our interlocutor added.

“And then what?” In 40-50 years? “- we ask and catch a look full of surprise. “In 40-50 years and decide. We do not know what our world will be like in this time. Perhaps, such plants are not needed anymore. But it is absolutely certain that no one will use it for more than this time, “we hear the answer.

Less dumps – more clean air

The French divide the waste management structure into five levels, the first of which is pan-European, it is here that directives are issued in the field of the global processing of municipal waste, which, in particular, France should follow. The second level is state-wide, here, too, state objectives in the field of waste processing are defined without specificity. Then follows the regional level, where structural plans for the municipal waste recycling are already being created, and the above-communal structures for the organization of the garbage collection and disposal process are the fifth, the so-called inter-communal, or municipal level.

In total, there are 36,000 municipalities in France, which sometimes combine to organize the process of removal, sorting and processing of waste, as did the municipalities around Isséane. Now in the country 4,5 thousand points of reception of a waste where on separate “handfuls” are sorted not only household waste, but also the old technics, furniture, the rests from a hairstyle of trees and many other things. The sorting centers, which both burn and recycle garbage, in France 230, another 127 plants are engaged only in incineration.

– 40 years ago in France there were about 6,000 landfills, now there are 230 of them. One of our tasks is to reduce their number and simultaneously reduce the amount of incineration, despite the fact that the population as a whole is growing, the Ministry of Ecology noted.
The department also intends to reduce household waste by 10% and smoothly switch from incineration facilities to waste treatment plants that allow producing energy.