Veolia Group
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400,000 metric tons of urban furniture recovered and recycled

In France, end-of-life products are managed by “eco-organizations” in line with the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR). Veolia works on behalf of one of these organizations, Eco-mobilier, to collect and recycle used furniture in 53 administrative departments nationwide.
Business case listing

COLLECTION, MATERIALS RECOVERY AND WASTE-TO-ENERGY SOLUTIONS

Eco-mobilier is a non-profit eco-organization approved by the French Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy Ministry. It organizes collection and recycling services for used furniture. Created by furniture distributors and manufacturers, Eco-mobilier works to help the industry successfully pursue its transition toward more environmentally friendly practices through compliance with relevant recycling criteria.


1.7 MILLION METRIC TONS OF END-OF-LIFE FURNITURE

Veolia will process nearly 250,000 metric tons of furniture in 2014. Materials including wood, metal and plastic will be separated at the company's high-performance sorting centers in France. Part of these materials will be recycled to provide secondary raw materials, with the rest used for solid recovered fuels (SRF) and energy.


AMBITIOUS TARGETS

Veolia aims to process 260,000 metric tons of furniture in 2015, and almost 400,000 metric tons in the long run. Eco-mobilier has a reuse and recycle target of 45% for year-end 2015 and a target of 80% for overall recovery by 2017. Veolia will be actively involved in helping the organization achieve these two goals.

Eco-organizations focus on targets that involve both recovery and recycling. With its industrial resources, its nationwide presence and its supply chain, Veolia is able to rise to the challenge of meeting ambitious targets for materials recovery.
Marc-Antoine Belthé
Recycling Director, Veolia Environmental Services France

 

Key Figures

53

administrative departments in France

80% of waste furniture reused or recycled by year-end 2017 

260,000 metric tons of used furniture

Customer benefits

  • Effective collection services
  • Improved materials recovery 

Solutions

  • Logistics: conventional and innovative collection services
  • Waste-flow separation: high-performance sorting and remote sorting
  • Materials recovery: producing recycled secondary raw materials
  • Waste-to-energy: feedstock for waste-to-energy plants and production of solid recovered fuels
  • Human resources: personnel management and vocational training
  • Awareness raising: dialogue with stakeholders; campaign to illustrate the importance of sorting