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Environment: flowers, a very effective antidote to polluted soils
French departments have had the idea of reviving former industrial wastelands by massively replanting. This is the case in Seine-Saint-Denis (93), where the flowers planted depollute the soils of Île-Saint-Denis.
(France 2)
French departments have had the idea of reviving former industrial wastelands by massively replanting. This is the case in Seine-Saint-Denis (93), where the flowers planted depollute the soils of Île-Saint-Denis.
Growing flowers to depollute the soil. This is the project of the Halage association that has given life to a garden on one of the largest polluted sites in the Paris region. Located on Île-Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), the garden is maintained by around twenty employees.
The adventure began in 2018, when the department bought a large industrial wasteland polluted by a construction group. The heavy metals and hydrocarbons on the site gradually gave way to flowerbeds and plants that filter the water and gradually depollute the site. “All plants are depolluting. Some will be a little more useful than others.. But in general, plants help to depollute these soils”, explains Alexandre Crasquin, technical supervisor within the Halage association.
The project was born “given the fact that 85 – 90% of flowers are imported from abroad”, explains Stéphanie Page, production coordinator of the Halage association.
Here, everything is produced locally. The flowers are then delivered within 20 km to partner florists. There are currently more than 6,500 industrial wastelands in France with polluted soil. This initiative could well inspire other regions to get involved.