More French communes end home bin collections

Increased numbers of residents in France will soon be required to take their rubbish to communal waste collection points, as more local authorities confirm they are stopping at-home waste collection services.

The latest area to confirm the change is Haut-Limousin en Marche (Haute-Vienne) in a change that will affect some 22,000 people across 40 communes, reports France 3.

From September 1, 2025, residents will need to take their waste bags to a local collection point (PAV, points d’apport volontaire), rather than having them collected from outside their home. Houses will no longer have individual waste bins. 

The area is not the only one to implement a change in the way rubbish is collected. Earlier this year authorities in Dordogne and Charente altered their charging systems, causing consternation among residents. 

In February a court rapporteur recommended that door-to-door rubbish collection should be reinstated in Dordogne, after the Syndicat mixte départemental des déchets de la Dordogne (SMD3) implemented a PAV system for waste in 2023, with non-recyclable waste also being charged per bag.

Read more: Letters: Waste collection in France needs a rethink 

Criticism and protests

The imminent PAV system has been heavily criticised by many residents in Haut-Limousin en Marche, particularly those who are older, disabled, do not drive, or otherwise struggle to get around with or without large bags. 

“How will we [take the bins down]?” said one resident to France 3. She uses a cane to walk, and her husband is also ill, she said.

Workers in the area have also said they are worried about the consequences of stopping door-to-door waste collection (which will apply to individual households as well as small businesses).

Cécile Camerola, who owns two small supermarkets in the communes of Le Dorat and Magnac-Laval (Haute-Vienne), told France 3 that the annual bill for waste collection from her businesses is set to rise from €5,000 – which she currently pays to the local council – to nearly €20,000 for a private contractor. 

She said that she may have to let some workers go to meet the difference.

An opposition group in Haut-Limousin, le Collectif contre les PAV, now has more than 1,000 members, all of whom are calling for a reversal of the plans.

“‘The local authority is responsible for waste collection, but they are…asking residents to do the work. That's unacceptable,” said Nicolas Ovan, mayor of Cromac, one of the communes set to be affected.

An online petition opposing the project has gathered (at the time of writing) almost 1,300 signatures, with the collective claiming that almost a third of households in the community have already signed it.

Council response

Municipal authorities in Haut-Limousin en Marche are now set to hold a series of public meetings in a bid to hear resident grievances and explain the merits of the new system. 

Authority president, Jean-François Perrin, has said that the new system will bring advantages, including: 

• Better waste and recycling sorting

• Optimised costs 

• Lower environmental impact (due to fewer waste trucks on the road)

Residents in the area can call a hotline to ask questions and share concerns (07 68 77 26 61), he said.

Opponents of the plans (including local residents and some elected officials) refute these arguments. One queried whether a truck that passes every two weeks would be more polluting than the cars of 23,000 users who will now have to travel to deposit waste, and another said that changing the system will generate extra costs.