Recycling companies experienced a slowdown in France last year, after three years of growth, affected in particular by a lack of outlets and falling resale prices for most materials, according to their federation, which presented its report on Wednesday. annual.
The turnover of the sector has, for the first time since 2016, seen in 2019 a decrease of 5.9%, to some 8.5 billion euros, according to this federation, Federec.
Most sectors saw their activity drop sharply.
For 2020, four out of five players surveyed predict a decrease in their turnover, of the order of 20% on average.
“Despite continued strong activity in 2019, our profession is now experiencing a very worrying crisis of opportunities in certain sectors, which could jeopardize the future of our companies,” warns Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, President of Federec.
Sectors "on the verge of rupture"
Sectors such as paper-cardboard or plastics were even at the beginning of 2020 "on the verge of rupture", before the arrival of the health crisis which suspended part of their activities, underlines Mr. Petithuguenin, also boss of the Paprec group. .
"The regulation of stocks on sites is a priority and a challenge for operators, who are confronted daily with the risk of fire and operating accidents", he says.
Some sectors have also suffered from a significant drop in material prices (ferrous and non-ferrous metals, paper and cardboard), while others have resisted (construction waste, wood, plastics).
Federec calls for more incentives for materials from recycling
Federec is asking the public authorities for more regulatory incentives in favor of incorporating materials from recycling into new products.
France has 1,200 companies (90% SMEs) and 2,400 establishments engaged in recycling.
In 2019, the workforce (around 30,800 people) decreased by around 1% compared to 2018, in connection with the decrease in tonnages collected.
Despite their difficulties, companies continue to invest in equipment to modernize, insists Federec, who notes a 2% increase in investment in 2019 to 625 million euros.
Another priority for the sector is the development of concrete solutions so that sorting refusals can be taken care of.
"Sorting generates unwanted goods which cannot be recycled, but can be recovered, in particular in the form of CSR (+ solid recovered fuels +) in industrial boilers or district heating networks", instead of being too often eliminated. , underlines the president of Federec.
Several recent laws provide for the development of these activities.
