Does selective sorting of waste really serve any purpose?

“Everything ends up in the same bin anyway, there’s no point in sorting…” You have undoubtedly already heard this disillusioned reflection, which sounds like a very good excuse for not sorting your waste. Perhaps you have already said it yourself. If nine out of ten French people say they sort their packaging, only half do so systematically, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos for Citeo in 2019. However, since January 1, sorting has become even simpler: all Packaging, even dirty, goes in the yellow bin.

And the recalcitrants will soon have to work harder. From January 1, 2024, the implementation of sorting of biodegradable waste will be mandatory. A new brown trash can will therefore have to find its place between the yellow trash can and the glass bin. But does sorting really serve any purpose? On the occasion of European Waste Reduction Week, which begins Saturday November 18, franceinfo looked into the question.

Special and “very minority” cases

“Today, the French system is efficient. Provided that the packaging has been properly sorted, everything that is put in the yellow bin goes to the sorting center”, assures Jean-Charles Caudron, specialist on the subject within Ademe, the Ecological Transition Agency. In other words: no, garbage collectors do not throw all the trash in the same bin, apart from very rare cases.

It may happen that a sorting bin is collected at the same time as the other bins “if, upon visual inspection, the garbage collector sees that he has waste contaminating the yellow trash can”, explains Helder De Oliveira, director of the Regional Waste Observatory in Ile-de-France (Ordif). For example, if half-full jars of tomato sauce or used diapers end up in a yellow bin, it is better to exclude it from the sorting collection, rather than take the risk of dirtying an entire bin of sorted waste.

Other situations may justify this practice, notably “in the event of exceptional disruptions, linked to strike movements for example”, reports Helder De Oliveira. In the event of piles of waste on public roads, priority is given to the health issue. The trash cans are then all collected together until the situation returns to normal. Finally, in certain rural areas, there are two-compartment skips, which allow recyclable bins and residual waste to be collected separately, by rolling the dump truck once.

Cases of recyclable waste thrown away with residual garbage are therefore marginal. However, “we only collect 40% of the recyclable waste deposit”, deplores the director of Ordif. To arrive at this figure, the Observatory compared the quantity of waste collected in yellow bins in Ile-de-France with the quantity of recyclable waste found in green bins. “People don’t sort enough”, regrets Helder De Oliveira. However, he is careful not to blame the problem solely on individuals. “Currently, sorting your waste is a voluntary act. Incentives should be put in place so that, if you sort well, you gain something”he suggests.

Small plastic packaging that is difficult to recycle

Since the Grenelle II law, adopted in 2010, manufacturers of manufactured products are responsible for the waste that their activity generates. Concretely, a yogurt producer must finance the collection, management and recovery of used pots. But most companies don’t have the internal resources to do this. They have therefore organized themselves by sectors to delegate this responsibility to third-party organizations, to whom they pay an eco-contribution. For packaging and paper, the private non-profit company Citeo is responsible.

According to its operations director, companies have no interest in not playing the game, because in addition to paying a tax on non-recycled waste, those that are recycled create value. “The ton of PET [c’est-à-dire de plastique clair] was still worth 800 euros at the start of the year”, underlines Anne-Sophie Louvel. According to data established by the company, 72% of household packaging and 62% of paper is recycled. To obtain these figures, Citeo compares the quantity of packaging placed on the market and the quantity of packaging that is collected in the sorting circuit.

So why are we still far from reaching the 100% rate? Beyond the problems of sorting or collection, the waste that arrives at the center is not systematically recycled because “we have not yet completely mastered the process for all sectors”, explains Jean-Charles Caudron. This is the case for small plastic packaging, such as yogurt pots. Currently, only 11% of plastic packaging (excluding bottles and flasks) is recycled, according to Citeo. However, it is important to continue to throw small plastic packaging into the yellow bin, because this encourages companies and recycling sectors to make efforts to ensure that they are increasingly treated.

“We are following an industrial logic. As long as the French do not put their yogurt pots in the yellow bin, there will be no factory to recycle them.”

Jean-Charles Caudron, director of supervision of REP sectors at Ademe,

at franceinfo

Moreover, recalls Jean-Charles Caudron, even if not all small packaging is recycled, “all those who arrive at the sorting center are at least used to make fuel.” This is not the case for those placed in the black trash, which are incinerated.

Sorting your waste is therefore never useless. But what’s even better is not producing any. According to the High Council for the Climate, waste is responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions in France, or the equivalent of 15 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019. These emissions are mainly attributable to landfill and incineration, but recycling processes are not, however, entirely neutral in terms of carbon impact. “We must reduce the flow of waste, even recyclable ones”, pleads the Zéro Waste France association. “Solutions exist: deposit, reuse, etc. There is public enthusiasm for the issue of waste reduction, but the laws are not ambitious enough”, she regrets. The anti-waste law, passed in 2020, plans to gradually eliminate single-use plastic packaging by 2040.