France introduces compulsory home compost but infrastructure lacking says NGO

From 1 January 2024, in a bid to reduce landfill, French people are being asked to separate food waste from ordinary waste using compulsory compost bins. However, this European obligation will likely remain theoretical for months to come as many people still have no local solution for collecting the biowaste, according to the NGO Zero Waste Europe.

People gather around a community compost bin in France (illustration) © Alison Hird

The French ministry of ecological transition said that only 27 million French people, which represents 40 percent of the population, will have a solution for sorting their biowaste by 2024 either by door-to-door collection, a voluntary drop-off point close to home or the provision of a compost bin.

But "less than one in three French people will actually have access to a compost solution in their community", confirmed the NGO Zero Waste Europe on Monday.

The NGO also pointed out that "this obligation has been known since 2015", denouncing "an unacceptable delay" which, in its view, "reflects a lack of political will on the part of both local authorities and the State".

The French government added that there will be no fine for not sorting, and no obligation to have a peel bucket in the middle of the living room.

Slow take-up

In Paris, the city has been experimenting with waste collection from buildings, as in Milan in Italy, where it works well, but is disappointed by the low take-up. 

Instead, by the end of 2024, it will be installing around 500 new biowaste bins in the streets, where Parisians will have to throw away their peelings and food scraps.

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For the 1.9 million inhabitants of France's second-largest metropolis, Aix-Marseille, outdoor collection points are already being used on a trial basis, and others will be gradually installed by 2024.

The Lyon metropolitan area has started the process from 2021. According to the city of 1.4 million inhabitants, composting stations have been installed every 150 metres, for a total of 1,300 so far.

French small towns 'ahead of the game'

While French largest cities are still implementing biowaste bins, some small towns have been ahead of the game for a long time.

For example, in Besançon in eastern France, there are individual in-house composters, shared bins for condominiums and composting chalets for entire neighbourhoods, with access reserved for residents who have a code. 

In the centre bio-waste buckets will be collected by cargo bike and will be extended to 15,000 residents by 2024.

As a result, residents will no longer have to take out their residual waste bins more than once a fortnight.

Stop burning organic waste

The aim of the roll-out is to lighten ordinary household bins and to stop burning organic waste that contains a lot of water in incinerators, or burying it in landfill.

Household rubbish bins contain around 30 percent organic matter from peelings, to eggshells and coffee grounds which are often thrown away when they could be recycled, and turned into fertilizer for gardening or agriculture, or as biogas for driving or heating.

(with AFP)