Since the start of the school year, Oé organic wines have been available at the Maison du Zéro Déchet café in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. At the Maison du Zéro Déchet , as its name suggests, they defend a very ambitious zero waste and zero waste approach that gives priority to reducing waste at source. Their desire: to be players in the ecological transition , to better take into account the most disadvantaged populations and the needs of future generations . To tell you more about it, we introduce you to Alice, deposit manager at Zéro Waste France .
What does your job at Zéro Waste France consist of and how are you connected to the Maison du Zéro Déchet?
“I have been coordinating and running the Consigne Network and the Ile-de-France branch of the Consigne & Réemploi Network in Île-de-France since October 2019. When I arrived, my job was to restructure the Consigne Network, which had been set up informally by volunteers. I am the witness of a craze around the deposit. And now, my job is to support impact project leaders and packaging reuse professionals throughout France, and to ensure that they work together. I find synergies between their activities by making tools available to them and by offering them working groups . I am in a way a spokesperson who helps to advance reuse in the broad sense and who brings the projects to the ears of the public authorities .
It's very motivating to see that things are moving. There are more and more solutions and entrepreneurs getting involved. In Paris, a pool is exploding on take-out sales and deposit systems. We also see washing machines emerging (to wash bottles and returnable packaging). We are really going in the right direction, I think it will continue to grow.
As for the Consigne Network and the NGOs Zéro Waste France and Zéro Waste Paris , they are in the premises of the Maison du Zéro Déchet. And in the Maison du Zéro Déchet, there is also a shop , an associative café where Oé organic wines are served and events to animate the community . It is a real place of resources for everything related to zero waste and zero waste .”
How does the deposit network work?
“We work a lot remotely, not only because of the covid but above all because the projects are scattered throughout France. Once a project leader joins the Consigne Network , he is given access to the chat, the file sharing platform and the working groups led by the members of the network themselves. The aim is to encourage the sharing of experience , so that those who have already advanced on topics can share them with others, and simply pull each other up. As a network we also run groups and we are currently working on the creation of a national pictogram for reuse to identify the actors of reuse. Another of the missions of the Consigne Network is to encourage the creation of regional networks because the implementation of reuse makes sense when it is part of a territorial logic. Last February, we were able to create the Île-de-France Consigne et Réemploi Network, to which Oé is attached. And the objective is to pool expertise and resources , to communicate with different audiences: the general public, professionals, institutions. And also do some lobbying at the local level by highlighting the solutions we propose.”
(Editor's note: the citizen and independent association Zéro Waste France was created in 1997 under the name of Cniid and works with citizens, elected officials and companies to raise awareness of the impact of waste and the ecological transition)
Why did you choose Oé organic wines?
“We are very happy to welcome new projects that are embarking on the deposit with a desire to move forward on the subject. The icing on the cake, you work with many members of the Consigne Network at the local level. We want to help you and promote what you do.”
What commitments do you make to the members of the Consigne Network?
“We have many projects for members and in particular a national pictogram which will be released at the end of October in consultation with a certain number of players. In the project steering committee there is the network of Biocoop stores ; the companies Triballat , Léa Nature , Danival , La Boucle , etc. And the objective is to have a benchmark for the consumer so that he knows both that the packaging must be returned to the collection point and also so that he understands that the packaging is more ecological because it can be reused. It's a big challenge because the symbol will have to be brought to life and understood by consumers. This is a project that will be presented during technical meetings with the community of members of the Consigne Network which will take place in Lille. We also organize events for project leaders : on the technical, regulatory, deposit, etc. and training for project leaders.”
