LORIENT AGGLOMERATION Sustainability and organic household waste management study Abstract: During the last fifty years the concern has emerged regarding environemental and waste management techniques, especially in developped countries which has contributed to the formation of numerous local initiatives. For as much we can wonder up to which point waste management is an advantage to protect the environment. The purpose of this study is to show how local initiatives could impact global concerns. We shall only concentrate on developped countries for our purposes. Key words: sustainability, waste management, organic household waste Pauline Pillet – English study - 2017 From a global concern As the world population has expanded exponentially from 4 billion in 1970 to nearly 7,5 billion today, the environmental impacts of human activities have increased proportionally. 50 % of the world's population lives in cities or urban areas especially in developped countries causing pressure on the local environment. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA) this increases to 82% in Europe. Country / % of urban population 1960 2015 Australia 82% 89% United States 70% 82% China 16% 56% Spain 57% 80% France 62% 80% Source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS All cities around the world are facing the question of waste management as a challenge to minimise the environmental impact of human technologies and consumption. Most European countries introduced legal regulations regarding waste management in the second half of the 19th century with hygene problems due to growing industrialisation and expansion of cities. This Pauline Pillet – English study - 2017 concern kept on growing through the 20th century with, among others, the work of the Club of Rome and the publication of the Meadows report that identifies five key problematic areas including environmental degradation. In 1972, the first conference of the United Nations about environment proclaimed: “The natural growth of population continuously presents problems for the preservation of the environment, and adequate policies and measures should be adopted, as appropriate, to face these problems. Of all things in the world, people are the most precious. It is the people that propel social progress, create social wealth, develop science and technology and, through their hard work, continuously transform the human environment. Along with social progress and the advance of production, science and technology, the capability of man to improve the environment increases with each passing day A point has been reached in history when we must shape our actions throughout the world with a more prudent care for their environmental consequences. Through ignorance or indifference we can do massive and irreversible harm to the earthly environment on which our life and well being depend. (…) To achieve this environmental goal will demand the acceptance of responsibility by citizens and communities and by enterprises and institutions at every level, all sharing equitably in common efforts. Individuals in all walks of life as well as organizations in many fields, by their values and the sum of their actions, will shape the world environment of the future.” In 1987, the Brundtland report defined for the first time the meaning of “sustainable development” for intergenerational equity on social, economical and environemental stakes encouraging member states to improve their consideration of these three pillars. In 1999, the european landfill directive defined the aims regarding a better waste management in every European country : the amount of biodegradable municipal waste must be reduced by 50% by 2009 and 35% by 2016. Following the Grenelle law in 2009, France defined its National Strategy for Sustainable Development. The first challenge announced was “sustainable production and consumption”. Within the objectives of this challenge : the aim was to reduce by 7% the production of domestic waste per inhabitant before 2013. Sources: ONU Pauline Pillet – English study - 2017 The composition of domestic waste relies on the level of urbanization and wealth of the country. In the world, the waste composition is categorised as : organic, paper, plastic, glass, metal and other. Its treatment also depends on the level of wealth of the countries, giving a sad panorama of inequalities between poor and rich countries matching the level of economic, environemental and social stakes: In developped countries the acknowledged method of burying waste has shown its limits (soils pollution) and waste management options are now more and more reliying on the great R's : Re-use, Recycle, Recover. Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSW) has to follow this logic to match the expectancy to avoid urban pollution and health hazards. In France, according to the French agency for environment and energy control (ADEME) 35% of bins are filled with oragnic waste. It remains the most important category of waste, in fact the proportion of biowaste is equal to glass, metal and plastic waste all together. Organic waste is essentially composed of foods scraps, shells, eggs and garden waste (grass, leaves, wood). Pauline Pillet – English study - 2017 … to a local initiative 70% of the world's population lives in coastal regions, 40% in France, it rises to 80% in Brittany, which leads to greater environmental impact on the surrounding area, leading to concrete and necessary environmental actions. The city of Lorient is comprised from 200,000 inahabitants from 25 cities. In the year 2000 the council took an initiative to reduce the impact of treatment and allow the collection of organic household waste and prevent its combustion. This remains an incredible achievement for such a large city. Lorient Location Lorient is a coastal city situated in Brittany,France, to the west of the department of Morbihan, It has developped on the Atlantic ocean at the mouth of two riversThe Blavet and the Scorff. The hydrographic network is one of the most important component of the city, located between two watersheds: the Scorff and the coastal watershed (The Ter pond), it presents a low relief of 46 meters. 4% of the city is located on damp zones with a large scale of biodiversity. Influenced by its coastal environment, the average temperature is about 11.4°C, between an oceanic and continental climat, the annual level of precipitation is 927mm, the winds are predominantely west, south west. The city territory counts 1742 ha with only 30 ha of agricultural space classified as natural areas in order to protect them from artificialization. Most of the farming exploitations within the territory of the city are a source of supply for local biological products. Sources: MLCC, Lorient agglomeration Pauline Pillet – English study - 2017 Historical background As with many coastal cities, traces of human settlement date back to 3000BC. The city has a long time relationship with marine activities as it grew through international trading, with the Company of Indies. Officially founded in 1666 by the Company itself, the original aim was to build a strategic port and develop a naval construction site. In 1744 the city erected fortifications and kept on growing until the population settled outside the walls and progressively created areas close to the ones we know today. The industrial revolution gave a new impetus to the city allowing it to develop around new marine activities, ship building, fisheries, etc. After the first World War the demographics increased and new neighborhoods were added to the existing city. But the Second world war has had the biggest influence on what the city really is now. Taken by the germans in 1941 as military headquarters the city was almost completely destroyed (90% of the buildings) by the allied bombing supposed to destroy the german base. The reconstruction of Lorient took 50 years and some scars are still visible all around the city and its neighborhood. This period also allowed the town to completely rethink urbanism. Freed from the historical center, Lorient decided to create a new urban landscape inherited from Le Corbusier's ideas and over 30 architects trying to avoid the problems encountered with large housing developments in many cities in the 1960s in France. Individual houses were singled out and public services were constructed in the middle of the city, giving a new meaning to accesibility and social life. This work is acknowledged as a patrimonial value and the city has been recognized in 2006 with the “Art and History City” label. The rehabilitation is still in progress giving to the city the opportunity to test and design new ideas. As an example, in 2008, the architect Jacques Ferrier signed “la cité de la voile, Eric Tabarly” just over the german submarine base as an nautical development hub, and transformed the whole area into a place of encounter between sea, culture, commercial activities and leisure (sailing, walks, visits). Considered as a modern city due to its late birth with the Company of Indies, it's rapid adaptation to the naval and commerce industry and its fast growth, the urban history of Lorient doesn't go back before the 17th century and gives the city a strong capacity of adaptation, from a social, architectural and economic point of view. Pauline Pillet – English study - 2017 Demographics and Social With 57 961 inhabitants in 2013 and a density of 3316 inhabitants/km2 Lorient is the second city of Brittany in terms of density after Rennes. 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2008 2013 Population 66,444 69,777 62,554 59,271 59,224 58,148 57,961 Source, INSEE recensement As shown by the figures, Lorient lost over 8,000 inhabitants between 1968 and 2013 but the loss seems more stable since the end of the 90s. The visible migratory deficit is not compensated by a positive natural balance and can also be explained by the periurbanisation phenomena and the extension of urban centers. As the biggest city of the agglomeration, Lorient leads the way on the surrounding territory that includes 25 towns in the region.