France’s Grenelle Environment project decided in 2012 to put in place an extended producer responsibility (EPR) activity for used furniture waste. This enables collection, recycling and recovery to be organized for this new market, which represents 1.7 million metric tons of end-of-life furniture throughout France, a tonnage that is equivalent to 170 Eiffel Towers.
The new contract strengthens the positioning of Veolia Environmental Services in France as the industry benchmark, with suitable plants (high-performance materials recovery facilities) and a national presence that give it the capacity to meet the expectations of eco-organizations for the collection of the waste flows and the recovery of the materials in the used furniture.
On behalf of Eco-mobilier, Veolia will collect and recover used furniture waste in 53 French departments, representing around 40% of the new market.
Some 400,000 metric tons to be processed eventually
The materials (wood, metals, plastics and foam) will mainly be separated at the high-performance materials recovery facilities operated by Veolia in Ludres, Rouen and Nice.
By the end of 2015, close to 260,000 metric tons of used furniture waste will be treated and recovered by Veolia, and this amount will eventually rise to 400,000 metric tons. A part of the materials will be recycled as secondary raw materials, while the rest will be used in the production of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) or as waste to energy.
“This contract illustrates Veolia Environmental Services’ capacity to evolve from a service operator to a resource producer. Alongside Eco-mobilier, we are undertaking an ambitious, responsible venture: to reach 80% of overall recovery of used furniture waste by the end of 2017. It’s a challenge that is part of the circular economy.”
Bernard Harambillet
Directeur général de Veolia Propreté France
