On the initiative of Brasseries de Bourbon, three local industrial players (with BB, Bourbon Plastics Packaging and Cycléa) join together to, with the support of the Qualitropic competitiveness cluster, promote the sorting of household waste and recycling in the service of the circular economy.
The fact is known : the recyclability rate of household waste has remained desperately stable for years. In cause, insufficient sorting and sorting errors of household waste between gray and yellow bins. Despite the implementation of selective collection almost 20 years ago, many recyclable packaging are still not thrown into the yellow bin. More generally, if 92% of Reunion Islanders say they sort their packaging, only 45% do it systematically. Pire : a lot of packaging continues to end up in ravines, on the side of the roads, on sidewalks or beaches, litter that will end up in the ocean. There has been no shortage of institutional awareness campaigns on the subject in the past.. Today, industrialists are in turn stepping up to the plate. Bourbon Breweries, Bourbon Plastics Packaging, Cyclea, Qualitropic, also featuring The Coca-Cola CompanyTM (through its international program World Without Waste) have decided to act to improve consumers' sorting practices by reminding them that recycling sectors in Reunion Island are operational and that it is up to them that this sector of job-creating activity develops. The initiative for the operation goes to the Brasseries de Bourbon, which brings together important local players in recycling for this action..
Raising awareness in stores
As far as the health situation allows, awareness raising among the general public is held in shopping malls and on fairground markets, to remind you of sorting instructions in a fun way and answer questions. The content of the messages and the training of the facilitators are the work of Qualitropic, upon consultation with Citeo (national eco-organization in charge of paper and packaging). Goal : promote good sorting practices but also dismantle certain preconceived ideas. “We are all mobilized to increase recycling performance and accelerate the circular economy. But for this, we need everyone’s commitment to develop and systematize the sorting process. A gesture which is not yet anchored in the habits of the Reunionese. This partnership is therefore very important to continue raising residents’ awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of their sorting action” underlines Jean Hornain, CEO of Citeo.
Sorting to create jobs
A general public poster campaign, in place for two months, makes it clear that sorting properly, it means reducing your environmental impact and preserving the environment, but it also means creating local jobs. Laurent Bleriot, director of the local public waste sorting and recovery company Cyclea, summarizes the issue : " Today, the island’s sorting centers represent nearly 200 jobs. With more material collected, we could develop local recycling sectors, with local outlets, and so, open a real circular economy loop on the island”. Leader in the manufacturing of flexible packaging films, Bourbon Plastics Packaging, which employs 50 employees, is another concrete illustration of this : its Bras-Panon factory, equipped with a high-tech regeneration workshop, already processes 300 tonnes of recovered plastic films per year. “By reusing flexible plastic films collected from our industrial customers, we recycle and manufacture 100% pei garbage bags and shopping bags” recalls Muryel Leblanc, director of BPE.
