Garbage trucks will soon arrive under his windows. However, in 2018, Anick had chosen to buy an apartment in the Martin Luther-King eco-district, on the edge of the 17th arrondissement of Paris, to spare herself this morning ballet. “With geothermal heating, pneumatic waste collection was one of the arguments,” agrees this 70-year-old retiree.
Because since 2013, the nineteen buildings gradually built on this former railway wasteland have all been connected to this innovative collection system. The approximately 7,000 residents who have settled there throw their household waste and packaging into dedicated terminals, installed at the foot of the buildings. The whole thing is then sucked up at 70 km/h through underground pipes to “a collection terminal”, located on the edge of the ring road. A first point of passage before the waste is recycled or incinerated. “It’s royal,” assures Anick. There is no smell and it is very clean. »
“We are furious!” »
This technology ― supposed to reduce pollutant emissions by limiting the use of trucks ― was also part of the promises of this model “green” district. A concerted development zone punctuated by “low energy” constructions, solar panels and a large 10 ha park.
But from May 19, containers and garbage trucks will come to this “eco-responsible” landscape. The City of Paris has decided to stop pneumatic collection and return to a traditional collection system. “We are furious,” complains Anick. We feel cheated, the town hall presents us with a fait accompli. » “This will only cause us nuisance,” says Élisabeth, another resident of the neighborhood.
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A decision that the City of Paris justifies, among other things, by the “far too high” cost of this system. “We would have liked to continue,” says Antoine Guillou, the deputy (PS) to the mayor of Paris in charge of cleanliness. But the contract we have with Veolia, which provides this service, ends on May 19. » A few months ago, the town hall therefore launched a new call for tenders. “Veolia did not wish to respond,” explains the elected official. The only company that applied offered prices six times higher than that of a traditional collection. »
“Cleanliness vehicles even had to return”
In 2022, the regional audit chamber had already identified this “expensive and inefficient” system in a report on waste management by the City of Paris since 2015. According to the magistrates' calculations, tire collection amounted to 912 euros per ton. of waste in this district, compared to only 198 euros per tonne for traditional collection in the rest of Paris.
And the unfavorable comparison doesn't stop there. “Sorting performance is also less good with this system,” argues Antoine Guillou. Around 50% of packaging ends up mixed with household waste after having been correctly sorted, while this is the case for only 20% of yellow bins. »
The pipes would also have been undersized, which prevents packaging of a certain size from being thrown away without first cutting it up. A problem which would have led to “wild dumping”, according to the deputy. “Cleaning vehicles sometimes even had to come back to remove them. » How can we explain such a situation? “It was very innovative at the time this system was installed,” summarizes Antoine Guillou. But other cities which have also made this choice such as Romainville (Seine-Saint-Denis) are also in the process of coming back on it. »
Pipes used to pass optical fiber or collect rainwater?
What remains is a 20 million euro installation which will become unemployed within a few weeks. “It’s an ecological and financial fiasco, a waste,” lists Geoffroy Boulard, the mayor (LR) of the 17th arrondissement. While it is not inevitable that it will not work. » As proof, he cites the example of Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine), where tire collection has existed for ten years in one of the city's districts.
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“What is happening in Paris is the symbol of very poor management,” he says. I have warned on numerous occasions that more investment is needed to optimize the performance of this system which is under-exploited. Today it only operates at 60%, although the office buildings could also have been connected to it. » The district mayor now wants “all possibilities to restart a procedure to be studied”. “We cannot on the one hand denounce mismanagement and on the other ask for the extension of the system,” retorts the socialist deputy.
In the meantime, residents are worried about the transition between the old and new systems. “Who is going to take out the bins at 6 a.m.”, Anick is already wondering, who also denounces “the lack of information”. A public meeting is planned… But only on April 29. “Too tight to adapt,” this resident still annoys. Antoine Guillou tries to reassure: “We will do everything to properly prepare for this transition. »
But one question will still remain unanswered: what will become of this equipment? Antoine Guillou mentions a possible reuse of pipes to pass optical fiber or to collect rainwater. Avenues which should be studied in the coming months.