By Julie Bossart
Published on
29 Apr 24 at 7:22
Stop or else, and, in this case, how? This Monday, April 29, 2024, the town hall of the 17th arrondissement of Paris is organizing a public meeting* around a subject that smells of sulfur: stopping the pneumatic waste collection In the Martin-Luther-King eco-district starting May 19. The headliners of this political meeting: the district mayor, Geoffroy Boulard (LR), and Antoine Guillou (PS), Anne Hidalgo’s deputy in charge of questions relating to the cleanliness of public spaces or even to waste reduction.
Less traffic, less noise, more cleanliness
In a https://twitter.com/Mairie17/status/1777354723487543715/photo/1 released at the beginning of April 2024, the first asked Paris City Hall to reverse its decision to abandon this innovative urban waste management system, which has the dual ambition of reducing environmental impact and improving quality of life.
Commissioned in 2015, pneumatic collection consists of “transporting household and similar waste through a network of underground conduits using a powerful flow of air,” explains the district town hall on its site. Residents deposit their waste at specific collection points, from where it is then transported to a centralized collection center. »
The advantages: a reduction in the traffic of traditional collection trucks, noise pollution and air pollution, while guaranteeing better public hygiene.
“Inefficient collection” and too expensive
However, at the end of March, after around ten years of operation, the Town Hall decided to stop the fees. Because collection by tire proved to be “unfortunately inefficient”, explained Antoine Guillou to Europe 1, citing AFP. According to the figures put forward, “50% of recyclable packaging must ultimately be mixed with household waste, compared to 20% in traditional collection”. Because the cost of operating it would have exploded.
Veolia, which provided the service, not having wanted to renew its contract, which expires on May 19, the City began looking for a new service provider. However, the only company to have applied has “proposed a price six times higher than the cost of normal collection elsewhere in Paris, and twice as high as the current operator”, specified Antoine Guillou.
It should also be remembered that, in a 2022 report, the regional audit chamber had already highlighted the high cost of pneumatic waste collection. “The overall operating expenditure, compared to the tonnage of waste collected since 2015, results in a collection cost of 912 euros per tonne. Compared to the cost per tonne of collection in other districts of Paris, estimated at 198 euros excluding tax (2018), this amount seems exorbitant,” pointed out the magistrates. And added: “At full capacity, the overall cost (investment and operation) over thirty years is approximately 65% higher than that of automobile collection. »
A “negotiated offer to maintain the service”?
Geoffroy Boulard does not lose his temper. If the system has not sufficiently proven itself, the fault lies with the Central Town Hall which, “despite the numerous requests made by the elected officials of the 17th arrondissement”, has “not included the investments necessary for the optimal functioning” of the pneumatic collection. And to denounce on the microphone of BFM an “ecological nonsense” as a “financial mismanagement” – the system had required an investment of 20 million euros.
In his press release, the elected Republican recalls that “many French and foreign cities have implemented this system and continue to develop it, further proof that it can be effective and profitable. Paris simply cannot give up. » This is especially true since “one of the members of the group operating the system [serait] ready to negotiate its offer to maintain the service in better conditions,” assures Geoffroy Boulard.
“With geothermal heating or solar energy, pneumatic collection was one of the ecological attractions of the eco-district, where residents have gradually settled since 2012,” recontextualizes AFP. Should they expect to experience the noria of dump trucks from May 19? The public meeting should allow them to obtain some answers.
*The public meeting will be held at the Rostropovich School, 34, Mstislav-Rostropovich Street, from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
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