compost bins hit the streets
82,000 residents of the 7th arrondissement will receive a 7-liter bucket and kraft bags in order to be able to use these terminals, the installation of which costs 500,000 euros. The annual operating budget is 350,000 euros in the 7th © Merlet
The green majority of the Métropole de Lyon supports the development of a network of compost terminals. How could this new type of trash can settle permanently in the metropolis? Are the Lyonnais ready?
Some people wait for a cold sweat when sorting their waste. After gray and yellow bins and glass silos, a fourth bin could appear in the streets of the Lyon metropolis: the compost bins. 30% of the content of gray bins is food waste. So many orders that will soon go to the compost if the Greens have called for the end of their project. In other words: fruit skins, vegetables, leftover meals, shells… could avoid the incinerator. Today, 20% of incinerated waste is food waste in Lyon, or two and a half times the volume of Part-Dieu, according to metropolitan figures. Problem: the incineration caused a lot of pollution because of the fumes. A challenge that worries all political sensitivities at a time of alarms on global warming.
Composting to limit incineration
The miracle solution for the ecological majority of the Metropolis of Lyon? Compost bins. Concretely, these are iron bins making it possible to collect food waste, to make it ripen outside the cities, then to use this compost for the farmers of the agglomeration. An experiment has been taking place since September in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon run by Fanny Dubot, elected under the banner of environmentalists. A success according to the services of the Metropolis: “We have installed 150 terminals to date, or 1 for 550 inhabitants”, explains Isabelle Petiot, vice-president of the Metropolis in charge of waste treatment and cleanliness.
Across the city, 600 shared composting sites already exist, making it possible to divert… only 2% of food waste from the incinerator.