Sustainable solutions for treating waste at sea
A huge sheet of plastic is stagnating in the Northern Pacific. A direct consequence of human overconsumption, this “Eighth Continent” is irreparably disrupting marine ecosystems and raising the crucial issue of how to ensure the sustainable management of our waste on a global scale.
Just fifteen years ago, no one suspected the existence of an eighth continent on earth. Yet in 1997, while taking part in a regatta in the Northern Pacific, captain and marine environment defender Charles Moore came up against a huge floating dump of plastic waste. It took him no less than a week to cross it. Two years later, with his Marine Research Foundation Algalita foundation, he undertook an expedition to discover the origin of this “North Pacific Plate”, which covers an area of three million square kilometres. That is six times the surface area of France.
One million micro-particles per square kilometre
Since the 1950s and the advent of mass consumerism, the remains of cups, bottles, bags, toys, balloons and toothbrushes have converged there under the effect of a circular current. This translucent soup, which is invisible in satellite images, now contains almost a million micro-particles per square kilometre, similar to zooplankton but impossible to digest and eliminate. 35% of the fish in the area have been affected and over 100,000 albatrosses have lost their lives. 5 similar patches have in the meantime been discovered in the oceans of the world.
Une réduction par 4 des déchets domestiques
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT s’engage quotidiennement dans le traitement raisonné et le recyclage des déchets ménagers et industriels. Plastiques, papiers, verres, cartons, métaux, matériaux solides ou liquides, non-dangereux ou toxiques… Sa filiale SITA France propose aux collectivités locales, aux entreprises et aux professionnels de santé des solutions innovantes et durables de collecte, de tri et de traitement adaptés à leurs besoins. Parmi ses principaux enjeux : analyser les besoins de chacun avec des techniques informatiques de pointe, réduire par 4 le volume global des déchets domestiques, limiter leurs émissions polluantes, mais aussi valoriser leur transformation en « matières premières recyclées », en sources d’énergie diverses (électricité, chaleur, biogaz) ou en engrais par le biais du compostage.
A 4-fold reduction in household waste
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is involved on a daily basis in the rational treatment and recycling of household and industrial waste. Plastic, paper, glass, cardboard, metals, solid or liquid materials, non-hazardous and toxic… Its SITA subsidiaries around the world offer local communities, companies and health professionals innovative and sustainable solutions for collecting, sorting and treating waste that suit their requirements. These key issues include: moving from a culture of waste disposal to one of waste recovery. SITA is therefore becoming a supplier of secondary raw materials and alternative energy.
Giving waste a second life
With 5.5 million tonnes sorted every year, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is making an active contribution to the sustainable transformation of waste into secondary raw materials. For example, a tonne of recycled plastic avoids the use of between 700 and 800 kg of crude oil and a tonne of paper and cardboard saves 2.5 tonnes of forest timber. Over 70% of waste entering SITA FRANCE’s 129 sorting centres and recycling platforms is therefore recovered and re-enters the production cycle. Waste that cannot be recovered or treated is disposed of, under strict supervision, or incinerated in the 89 storage installations owned by SITA France.
Converting plastic into diesel fuel
SITA UK, one of the leading recyclers in the United Kingdom, signed an exclusive contract last year with CYNAR PLC, a British company focused on new conversion technologies. The company is aiming to build 10 plants to transform end-of-life plastic into diesel fuel at a rate of 60,000 tonnes of treated waste per year. The first plant is expected to come into operation in London by the end of 2011.
The “bottle to bottle” example
In 2008, SITA FRANCE and the leading independent recycling company PAPREC created FRANCE PLASTIQUES RECYCLAGE (FPR): one of the first PET plastic bottle recycling units, at the Limay site in Yvelines. Since 2010, thanks to an investment of 40 million euros, this installation has set itself the target of processing 40,000 bottles per year into granules that can be reused to manufacture new bottles or food packaging. Ultimately, the “bottle to bottle” project intends to produce new plastic bottles consisting of between 25 and 50% recycled raw materials. Considering that there has been a 10-fold expansion in the plastic recycling sector in France over 10 years, this is a promising market.
Photo credits: © GDF SUEZ / DUPONT CYRILLE
More informations :
• SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT official webiste
• SITA UK official website
