Chris Slade describes the son et lumiere presentation at the abbey of Bon Repos called "Le Pays de Conomor" in Brittany, which takes place during the first two weeks of August.
French Déchèterie – No slippery steps
I have a few idiosyncrasies, well several. Looking for things to take to the dump is not normal!
I actively seek out old football goal posts, finished paint pots and assorted rubbish so that I can visit the dump. Yesterday, I discovered a new recycling centre (or Déchèterie).
I love the considered and orderly approach to French recycling centres. In France, you drive your car up a small hill / bridge, and on either side, on the ground there are about eight containers. The tops of the containers are at road height, so there are no slippery steps to climb up with armfuls of old carpet and waste building materials. Here you can just reverse the car up to the correct container, plastic, metal, cardboard, glass, building waste etc etc and open the boot and throw the waste down into the correct container, under the watchful eye of a man in yellow fluorescent trousers!
Converting garden waste into compost
These centres are so organized and tidy. There is always a broom for you to clear up any waste that may have fallen on the road.
The new recycling centre I discovered yesterday has a different way of dealing with garden waste. This is not placed in a container but in a sectioned off part of the dump in which there are 4 or 5 compartments. When the first one becomes full it is left to compost down and the second compartment is opened, and when that becomes full the third compartment is used etc etc. The compost is then sold. Ingenious.
You arrive with a trailer full of rubbish and leave with a trailer full of well-rotted steaming compost.
Some trailers take more than others!
Our recycling centre in the UK is pretty much like the one you’ve described in France. I guess they vary from area to area, but it does look like the general quality is improving.
We do occasionally visit our local decheterie near Missillac (Pays de la Loire). Whilst it isn’t quite to the standard described in this post, the attendants do keep a close eye out to make sure that people are only using the decheterie if they are from the local commune. Is that the case across the rest of France? Interesting when we turn up with our UK-registered car and start dumping waste 🙂
I am very impressed by what I see. More people should embrace responsible recycling. Can you please tell me what you do with the used material to divert it from landfills? Do you recycle such things as electronics? Also, how do you promote your centre to encourage local residents to recycle?