Burning of green waste in the open air: Avignon City Hall
Why shouldn’t you burn your garden waste?
The burning of green waste can be at the origin of neighborhood disturbances generated by odors and smoke, but also harm to health and the environment.
Maintain your garden stocked with waste. Between mowing the lawn, pruning hedges, shrubs and trees, or even dead leaves, a person produces 160 kilos each year according to the Environment and Energy Management Agency. (ADEME). To get rid of them, some people burn them in their garden: one million tonnes of green waste would be burned each year.
This widely extended practice is now banned since 2011.
Too few people know that the combustion of this waste is very harmful to health and the environment: it releases toxic substances such as fine particles, nitrogen oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and monoxide into the air. carbon, volatile organic compounds or dioxins.
And this pollution is increased if green waste is burned along with other waste like plastic, treated wood, etc. (which unfortunately sometimes happens).
Burn 50 kg of plants in the open air, emitting as many fine particles as 13,000 km traveled by a recent diesel car.
From green waste to gray smoke find out about ATMO SUD
What does the regulation say?
We are all affected by the ban: companies, communities. Apart from the prefectural exemptions essential to certain activities, the burning of green waste (mowing of lawns, the pruning of hedges and shrubs, residues of pruning, brushing, maintenance of flower beds or dead leaves) is prohibited all year round in the Vaucluse department (article 84 of the departmental health regulations).
The burning of green waste is also prohibited by the decrees implementing the general police force plans for the protection of the atmosphere (PPA).
What are we risking?
In the event of non-compliance, a fine of 450 euros may be applied (article 131-13 of the new penal code). If the neighbors are bothered by odors, they can also engage your responsibility for odor nuisance.
So what to do with your green waste?
Burning green waste is far from the only option available to you to get rid of it: there are a multitude of alternatives, much more ecological, and which sometimes even have benefits for your garden.
Put them in the compost
You can completely compost your green waste by mixing it with your kitchen waste, such as peelings, coffee grounds, damaged fruits and vegetables, etc. calls a “compost”, a material rich in humus and a wonderful natural fertilizer for your vegetable garden, your flowers or your potted plants. To do this, you just need to spread the compost in a thin layer, then incorporate it into the soil by hoeing.
For more information, direction ADEME article 5 rules for successful compost
To book your composter with the Syndicat Mixte pour la Valorisation des Déchets (SIDOMRA): 04 90 23 44 76 or by filling in the online form
Use them in mulching
Spreading branches cut into small pieces, cut grass, dead leaves at the foot of shrubs, flower beds, in planters and the vegetable patch is also a very good idea. Mulch provides nutrients to plants and protects the soil from drying out and frost.
Find many tips for using compost and mulching in your garden in the ADEME guide.
Contribution to the recycling center
It is also possible to bring your green waste to the nearest recycling center, where it will be composted.
Two recycling centers in Avignon:
- Courtine Avignon recycling center (chemin de Courtine)
- the Montfavet recycling center (avenue Souspirous)
For more information on waste collection centers: contact the Waste Environment Department of the Greater Avignon Urban Community on 04 90 14 80 31 or directly online
Consult the brochure on the various alternatives to burning
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