World recycling day: update on the situation in fenua

Recycling consists of partially or totally reusing the materials that make up a product at the end of its life, to manufacture new products. French Polynesia has opted for a strategy of sorting household waste which makes it possible to avoid their burial and above all authorizes a new recovery.

According to a survey by Alvea Consulting of 1,050 people representative of the population of Tahiti and Moorea, a large majority of the population believes that sorting waste is important because it has an impact on the environment (97% ). The degree of involvement varies with the area of ​​residence (rather urban) and age (rather 30 years and over). Among those equipped with a green bin and a gray bin, 77% sort their waste. The study specifies that 83% of the inhabitants of Faa’a – a municipality that is not a member of Fenua Ma – wish to participate in selective sorting to limit their impact on the environment. The mixed syndicate, open for the management, collection, treatment and recovery of waste in French Polynesia, is also committed to organizing recovery channels, and most often re-export, of highly polluting waste. Even if not all of them will be subject to a new valuation. Examples include used oils, batteries, batteries and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

In French Polynesia, only glass is reused locally. With constant growth since Polynesians deposited more than 2,200 tonnes of bottles in the glass terminals in 2020, compared to only 400 tonnes in 2003! Green bin waste is exported to Asian channels (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia or New Zealand, South Korea) to be transformed into new objects. Waste electrical and electronic equipment is sent to France for reprocessing.

Virtuous strategy

Fenua Ma explains that recycling saves raw materials and therefore preserves natural resources. While reducing the overall volume of waste to be buried. "Making a new object from recycled materials reduces greenhouse gas emissions," says the union. “Remelting aluminum cans requires half the energy compared to mining the base ore. Finally, Fenua Ma notes that recycling allows manufacturers to create jobs and stimulates innovation through the search for new products to be made from recycled materials.

The recovered electrical and electronic waste is packaged and exported to France for recycling. The collection operations carried out in the municipalities have met with great success. This sector is particularly expensive due to the remoteness of the treatment site, but it offers the most guarantees.

The glass recovered by the network of glass terminals is recycled locally. It is crushed to be used as a draining material. "This recycling thus makes it possible to significantly reduce the extraction of aggregates", underlines Fenua Ma, who explains that the crushed glass in 0-15 mm replaces the gravel used as an underlay for the concrete slab of the houses, for the drainage of the retaining walls or for wastewater infiltration basins, etc.

Tires: everything remains to be done

Of the 2,400 tonnes of tires imported each year, Fenua Ma recovers at best 400 tonnes. The Country, a member of Fenua Ma under its jurisdiction over toxic and specific waste (batteries, batteries, oils, medicines, car wrecks, electronic waste, distress flares, etc.), claims to want to provide a solution to this problem. ancient. After an initial consultation that remained unsuccessful in 2017 “due to too high financial responses”, Fenua Ma launched a new call for tenders in 2020 which resulted in a grinding technique. Fenua Ma immediately had a mass of 3,500 tonnes of used tires to deal with over the first five years.

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