Better recycling cuts down rubbish

A rise in recycling means France is throwing away 37.8 million tonnes of rubbish a year but could cut that by a third

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WE are still throwing away too much rubbish in France - 391kg per person per year - despite a rise in recycling.

The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) says 37.8 million tonnes of rubbish was collected in 2007, with 24.8 million tonnes from household collections and 10.8 million tonnes direct to waste collection sites.

Ademe says 150 kg of rubbish for each resident could be reduced by composting or stopping bulk mailings– and highlighted that 7kg of food went straight into the rubbish bin still in its wrappings.

However, while more recycling is being done the average “rubbish bin” hasn’t changed in the last 15 years. Personal hygiene and sanitary goods account for 34kg per person (an increase from 15kg in 1993), while packaging has reduced from 39% to 32%.

About half of all newspapers and packaging is now recycled but, overall, only about 33.5% of rubbish is recycled.

Ademe also said that despite increased recycling of glass there was still 20kg a person thrown into rubbish each year.
Photo: Fruggo

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