Waste

#waste #recycling #garden #valhor #pot #plasticbag #soil #greenly #ademe #florentaise #promessedefelurs #adivalor

Garbage in Paris… We have all seen the images on TV, in the newspapers or in the streets. And it is the amount of waste that impresses. In 12 days of strike, Parisians find themselves with 10,000 tons of garbage on the sidewalk. Misfortune is good for everything… As the saying goes! So,let’s take advantage of this movement to ask ourselves the question also on the garden side. What does waste do?

Waste ?

Greenly, was born in 2020. The carbon accounting platform reaches 1000 customers, large and small, helping them reduce their carbon footprint. So obviously, with all these trash cans in the streets of Paris, the Greenly are taking the opportunity to alert us to the subject! According to ADEME, household waste…Only…was estimated at 39 million tons in 2018.

And where does this household waste go when it leaves the suburbs of Paris?

They will end up in a landfill for 36% of them! They will be incinerated at 30%.

Some will be recycled, it is 20% of the mass. And for composting, we are far from the majority with 14% including anaerobic digestion.

Obviously, we are not yet in total recycling! Far from it!

429 kilos is the weight of waste per inhabitant and per year for the Paris region. This data is from 2020.

There is work to be done in education. Each individual can limit this average of 429 kilos. But there are also positions taken by distributors or manufacturers to limit this mass of trash cans…

Garden side ?

Around 240,000 tons of new products are sold in France for the garden and DIY. And on the other hand, these products and plants generate around 100,000 tons of waste in the same year!With such a quantity of DIY-garden bins, it seemed logical to react for three reasons.The first concerns the protection of the planet. Difficult, especially for gardeners, to communicate on plants, good health, clean air, small birds, all that, all that… And on the other hand, leaving waste lying around in nature.The second reason is linked to the first, it is the image we give of our profession. When it comes to landscape and environmental protection, we should be the heart of the reactor… Logically. The old plastic pots lying around here and there in the landscape… it’s a stain!The third reason is economic. Plastic is cheaper and the search for alternative solutions costs an arm in R & D, but also in implementation. But let’s face it, in the long term, the cost of depollution will be even more expensive. And sooner or later, we’ll get our hands dirty!

Val’Hor

The interprofessional and Val’Hor took up the case. This “ticking time bomb” could not remain as it was.Val’Hor relied on ADIVALOR to go faster. What’s that name again? The meaning is simple = Farmers, Distributors, Industrialists for the RECOVERY of waste. It is a national sector that brings together 9 professional federations and has existed since 2001.The idea is to start by collecting and recycling these growing pots.The intention is to start collection in 2023 and many garden centers have already set up collection areas for their customers.Of course, there are still details to settle, habits to change. But we can salute the will and the unity of the profession to solve this problem related to the cultivation of our plants.The responsibility lies with everyone and, on the website www.valhor.fr, you will find all the information, contacts and the principle of financing this campaign.As a responsible professional, you only have one thing to do, which is to fill out the letter of commitment on this same site. Easy and efficient, it’s up to you, and thank you in advance!

After that

It will take time before we no longer leave our containers lying around in the wild, convincing the last wearing. But the interest of the sector goes through this step.There is still plastic in the garden and this slow pollution does not correspond to the image we want to give of our product. The garden is green, and we are responsible for this greenery. It is up to us to set the example.Strong initiatives are beginning to emerge here and there. This is the case of “Promesse de Fleurs”, for example, which is committed to removing plastic from its shipments within 3 years.Another downside is the packaging bags for potting soil and other mulches. There too it moves. “La Florentaise” is working on a paper bag capable of living its life in the store despite the constraints of bad weather and time.This revolution is going to ask us for thought, money… But today, in 2023, even if our customers are often looking for the cheapest, they are not ready to accept the tons of plastic that remain in nature.The solution once again involves pooling our actions!

To be continued

If you have heard of ideas, initiatives, ongoing projects… Which will promote these waste reduction actions, I am interested. Certainly, you are 4 or 5 to read my editorials until the end     … But it is essential that each of us mobilizes on the subject.And if your usual garden center does not yet offer the collection of pots, it’s time to knock on the manager’s door to offer him this set up!We continue!!!

Roland Motte… Gardener!