Recycling in the garden?

#recycling #larbaletier #replace #pot #plastic #horticulture #container #garden #plant

Plastic in the garden is a real problem for us. Consistency, image and respect… These are the three points that make us react to this recycling in the garden. We are lovers of small flowers and communicate about well-being in the garden… It is obviously unthinkable that we leave our plastics lying around in nature!

Recycling in the garden

A month ago, I concluded an editorial on waste by asking myself if we were going to evolve and improve our plastic contribution or our recycling to the garden of waste produced by our activity. Good idea… 3 phone calls later and a factory visit later allow us to perceive the end of the tunnel…

Well yes, it’s still a shame to represent the garden, with an image of cleanliness, green, well-being, ecology… And to spit out our old pots on the side of the roads… It’s an image. It must be admitted that this is not a simple story. It is sold every year for about 3 billion euros of plant in our country. Can you imagine the number of trays and jars? To recover them, we must encourage our consumers to bring these jars back to the store or to the recycling center, it’s already a challenge… And then, we must hope that the materials that make up this container go through the machine for a hypothetical future production. Plus transport between each stage.

For the collection, Valhor with the support of ADIVALOR has started to organize itself.

But that’s just the beginning of the chain…

Larbaletier

Heuuuuu??? Is there a mistake in the subtitle here? Larbaletier is aluminum, not plastic?It’s true, and since 1975, back from the USA, our friend Robert decided to create this company in his name. The group specializes in aluminum furniture and displays for florists and garden centres.Since this period, Larbaletier has grown and maintains this production in its model factory in Fontaine les Grès, in Aube.For the Larbaletier group, which has been working with aluminum since its inception, recycling is part of the philosophy, just like the garden. And by combining the two, we understand why they have looked into the problem of recycling in the garden!The know-how comes first from the recovery of mineral water bottles. You can come across here and there in the car parks of hypermarkets, automatic stations that exchange empty bottles for vouchers. This is a Larbaletier concept!

And the plastic?

Well, okay, we imagine that the distribution as a whole organizes the collection of empty pots, the same as for water bottles. We then imagine that amateur gardeners are thinking of returning the containers. Already there, it’s work. But afterwards, we end up with containers and trays of all colors and sizes… Hello sorting… Not to mention transport to the reprocessing plant.Fortunately, there is a solution. With the help of Start Up Replace and Laurent, its dynamic boss, the Larbaletier group has found the beginnings of an answer to these problems.If the containers are crushed on the spot into small pieces, the transported volume decreases considerably. In addition, the recovered material comes from pots of various origins, and this is where Replace’s know-how comes into play. It is in the old pots that we make the best recycling… All these plastics are heated , sorted, mixed… Don’t ask me how, it’s a secret!And with this raw material, we can create benches, stakes, composters and garden furniture… These new recycled products are also 100% recyclable. The circle is complete !

Raw material !

With this technique, our pots go from vulgar waste to raw material. Holy change of status! Shredded plastic jars increase in value and this mixture is sold by the ton. This raw material will be used to make the garden chairs of tomorrow.For our market and for the garden consumer, we are no longer talking about the same thing. The old plastic container is no longer an overflowing surplus from our trash can, but an infinitely reusable resource.The shredder will be able to travel from point of sale to point of sale or stay there permanently. The latter will be able to resell this plastic to repay its investments.Commercially, by organizing pot recovery days, the store can improve footfall during off-peak periods. And as with bottled water, why not incentivize the home gardener with a ‘shredding bounty’ on these ‘pot days’.The brands are not lacking in imagination and will know how to find the right way to recover this waste… Sorry, these raw materials!The solution exists, the imagination too, now, there is only…

Roland Motte… Gardener!