During nearly 20 months of activity, CYCLEVIA has travelled to many French Overseas Territories. The latest trip saw us travelling to North America, south of Newfoundland, to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
The first part of our visit focused on collective work with producer responsibility organizations present in the islands at the same time: Valdelia, Cyclamed and Soren. Together we discovered and shared impressions and experiences, initiated by the French Ministry of Home Affairs and the Overseas Territories in order speed up the waste treatment momentum in the area. This enabled us to acquire the macro vision that’s necessary to have a good understanding of the local context and to initiate specific solutions for our sector in the islands.
Our sector was particularly in spotlight in the 2nd part of our visit. André Zaffiro and Brice FABRE were committed to meeting all the stakeholders there.
In regards to products placed on the market, we now have a clearer view: it’s a widely dispersed market with a large number of small Canadian importers. Furthermore, via our meeting with customs and excise we discovered that 95% of lubricants are imported from Canada.
In terms of collection, 26 tonnes were collected in 2022, i.e. just over 50% of those placed on the market. Carried out by a single operator, this is well organised for professionals. Collecting waste oils from private individuals is managed through the municipal recycling facility at Saint Pierre, which is frequently visited by residents. However, at Miquelon nothing exists, but a project to create a municipal recycling facility is being examined and we were able to discuss this at the Miquelon Town Hall.
In regard to treating our waste, all of it is shipped by sea to the French mainland as no solution exists locally. However, a meeting with EDF has given us some ideas. Why can’t the waste oils in the islands be recovered locally by the power station?
At Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, the topic of waste is of great concern and one that has often been left unanswered. Residents and the authorities are worried about two landfills. 7,000 tonnes of waste are “abandoned” every year: household waste, professional and medical waste, etc. carrying with it environmental and health risks. Separate sorting, that is generally well respected by the residents, is however insufficient.
We ended our visit with a meeting with the local authorities on the “Waste oil prevention and management plan in the Overseas Territories”. We’d like to thank to them for these discussions, and the public and private stakeholders too whom we met during our very informative trip!