Compulsory sorting of bio-waste at source and composting

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Source separation: for whom and when is composting compulsory?

By December 31, 2023, source separation of biowaste will be mandatory. In other words, all waste producers in France (private individuals, public authorities, local authorities, professionals, etc.) must have solutions for sorting at source and recycling their biowaste. This also means that management will be carried out as close as possible to the point of production.

But before you start..

What is bio-waste?

Biowaste (or organic waste) is waste derived from natural plant or animal resources. It is biodegradable and therefore compostable. It includes

- Kitchen and table waste (KTW), i.e. fruit and vegetable peelings, meal leftovers, dairy products, meat and fish,

- Food industry waste,

- Cellulose-based waste such as cardboard, tissues, paper towels, etc,

- Green waste (vegetable waste from gardens and green spaces, such as dead leaves, hedge trimmings, wood shavings, etc.)

Putrescible waste is fermentable waste likely to degrade spontaneously as soon as it is produced. It represents around 30%, or 1 third, of a household's residual household waste (RWH).

However, all this residual waste, once mixed together, is soiled and "pollutes" each other.

- If it is incinerated, the materials are not recycled. What's more, burning organic waste composed essentially of water is totally counterproductive.

- If they are landfilled, the juices and leachates produced (which are harmful to our soil and groundwater), as well as the gases generated, will have to be collected and reprocessed. Hence the importance of offering recycling solutions.

Sorting and recycling bio-waste,
what solutions?

Solutions for upgrading can be found through

Local composting

Local composting involves getting people to compost their own biowaste on site, either individually or collectively. This involves setting up individual or collective composters or vermicomposters (composting pavilions, for example) close to residential areas.

*Don't hesitate to get in touch with your local council or local authority, some of which make composters or vermicomposters available free of charge or at preferential rates

Local management enables

- Produce compost that reduces the need to purchase organic soil improvers and fertilizers. Compost and vermicompost are natural soil improvers resulting from the decomposition of our organic matter. They are rich and directly assimilable by plants. They also restructure and improve impoverished soils.

- Reduce the amount of waste to be processed by local authorities and public services, and cut your waste management bill (less incineration, less landfill, fewer collection trucks, less travel and lower energy costs linked to transport).

It's essential not to stop at simply distributing composters, but to draw up a real management and organization plan.

- Raising awareness and training users in best practices.

- Installation of composters or composting pavilions (for larger volumes).

- Evaluation of operations (monitoring data, operating data, results, etc.)

- Monitoring of the collective composter by a trained Guide or Master Composter (or even several). For more information on these training courses, visit the Réseau Compost Citoyen page.

Helping professionals and large-scale producers manage their biowaste

Numerous initiatives exist and have been set up to support professionals.

Short-term collection managed by associations or private service providers: for example, this enables materials to be fed into composting platforms or sites (or vermicomposting sites, as Terrestris does near Lyon) and recycled.

Separate collection managed by the local authority: this enables waste to be channeled into appropriate recovery channels.

Direct on-site management, such as on-site autonomous composting (CAE): if quantities and the site itself (available space) allow.

Sorting, composting or vermicomposting bio-waste: an obligation?

Yes, it will be compulsory to compost or vermicompost your biowaste (methanization being the other possible means of recovery). However, as part of a local management and circular economy approach, it seems more natural and perhaps less costly in the long term to treat your own organic waste on site (when space permits, of course).

Composting and vermicomposting therefore represent one of the solutions for reducing and recovering biowaste, with a view to meeting the January 1, 2024 obligation to sort biowaste at source

With the help of its major partner, Réseau Compost Citoyen, Vers La Terre can help guide and support you in this process. Don't hesitate to contact us at: contact@verslaterre.fr

december 31, 2023: what does the law say about mandatory sorting and composting?

Article L. 541-21-1 of the Environment Code, from the law on the fight against waste and the circular economy (known as the AGEC law) of February 10, 2020:

"No later than December 31, 2023, this obligation [de tri à la source / collecte sélective et valorisation des biodéchets] applies to all producers or holders of

biowaste, including local authorities as part of the public waste management service and private and public establishments that generate biowaste."

To find out more, here are a few legal texts

AGEC law: Anti-waste law for a circular economy of February 10, 2020

Law on energy transition for green growth, August 17, 2015

Environment Code, Waste prevention and management (Articles L541-1 to L542-14)

European Directive 2008/98/EC on waste management and the amending Directive (EU) 2018/851, which introduces a set of measures on the circular economy.

Composting: what biowaste should you put
in your composter?

The list goes on and on... Because, as we saw above, anything of organic origin is bound to decompose.

The sorting and composting instructions simply differ depending on whether you're using an individual or shared composter. On some shared composting sites, for example, it is forbidden to bring in biowaste of animal origin such as meat or fish. But that doesn't mean they won't decompose. In a composter, you can bring all your fruit and vegetable peelings, leftovers, garlic, onions and citrus fruit, etc..

Shredded material is preferable to cardboard. By this we mean all types of garden waste such as hedge trimmings, branches and dead leaves. The more the material is broken up (i.e. shredded), the better the composting process will be. Then, simply alternate layers: fresh material, dry material, fresh material, dry material and so on. Compost worms may be present in a composter, but they are not the primary actors in the process.