Landfilling of French waste is decreasing, the Ministry of Ecological Transition indicated this Thursday, October 3. Which does not mean that there are fewer of them but that they are more often incinerated or recycled.
France is on the right track. The landfilling of French waste has declined significantly in recent years, the new Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher rejoiced this Thursday, October 3. Clearly, French waste ends up less often in landfills, a process that is very polluting for the environment, and is increasingly incinerated to produce energy or recycled. “Thanks to your action, we have reduced landfilling: in 2023, 14 million tonnes of waste were landfilled, which is 30% less than in 2010,” declared Agnès Pannier-Runacher in front of professionals, during the national waste conference organized in Nantes.
Toxic cocktail
However, she stressed that it was necessary “absolutely continue on this path to reach -50% as quickly as possible”. This objective of 50% reduction in waste sent to landfills in 2025 compared to 2010 was set by the energy transition law for green growth (LTECV), passed in 2015 during François Hollande’s five-year term. If it has long seemed out of reach, it could well be achieved soon, according to Antoine Bousseau, president of the National Federation of Depollution and Environmental Activities (Fnade), which has 252 member companies. “-50% in 2025, we are going to do it”, he declared in the corridors of the waste courts.
“One of the main problems of landfilling is the mixing of putrescible waste (such as food) with dangerous substances contained in certain everyday objects, such as electronic devices, plastics, etc.,” develops for Release Manon Richert, communications manager for Zéro Waste France. This toxic cocktail can then spread into the environment, including into groundwater. Hence the need to reduce the landfilling of our waste at all costs.
Reduce production at source
The anti-waste law of February 2020 goes in this direction: this other European objective which is incumbent on France requires it to reduce, by 2035, to 10% the quantity of household and similar waste sent to landfill, and thus to prioritize other methods of treatment. “From a third in 2010, we will be at 15-16% in 2025,” said Antoine Bousseau. And it’s possible, thanks to the taxation around landfilling, which “went up a lot”, reaching “a price level such that it was finally worth recycling”, he added. According to him, the general tax on polluting activities for waste, which a few years ago was five euros per tonne of waste deposited in landfill, now amounts to 65 euros. A convincing deterrent effect.
Although this news is very encouraging, given the damage to the environment that landfills represent, this does not mean that the waste problem has been resolved in France. Other methods of waste treatment, such as incineration or recycling, are not exempt from criticism. “Certainly, in the hierarchy of waste treatment methods, landfilling is at the very bottom. But there are harmful effects in the context of incineration and recycling, argues Manon Richert. And recalls the health issues surrounding incinerators, in particular the release of dioxin and greenhouse gases. The Ivry site was recently singled out by local residents.
When it comes to recycling, the defender of zero waste highlights a “industrial process”, who remains, despite everything, “expensive from an environmental point of view, energy-intensive” and water spender. According to her, the ideal would be above all to “reduce waste production at source”. In 2018, France produced 342 million tonnes of waste – second in Europe behind Germany – or 5.1 tonnes per inhabitant. And the trend is not getting better. “Today we have a crisis of overproduction in many sectors, notably textiles, furniture and electronic equipment,” recalls Manon Richert. There is still a way to go.
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