Nothing is lost, everything is transformed.
Peelings and remains of plates, the anti-waste reflex and recovery of bio-waste, relatively easy to do at home, is gaining in business.
Including in the heart of Paris!
This is the challenge of UpCycle, a socially useful company specializing in the composting of food waste, and designer of an electromechanical composter to be installed on the site where the waste is produced.
In the particularly dense environment of the 9th arrondissement, behind Saint-Lazare train station, innovation has won over the designers of an ultramodern building called The Island, which since last summer has brought together nearly 900 employees from all of the group's subsidiaries. Pernod Ricard.
Here, behind the 2,400 slats of glass on its facade, the principle of "smart working" and hyper-technology has eliminated offices in favor of à la carte workspaces, between alcoves, "silent rooms" and rooms. meeting.
The rules of "becoming eco-responsible" and sorting are part of the daily life of "Islanders".
But innovation is also nested in the company restaurant, or rather below, next to the bicycle room for employees, with this room where investors have therefore installed a composter by UpCycle.
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“It is an extension of the spirit of the project, with a view to improving its already exemplary environmental quality,” emphasizes Charles Blandignères, investor representative.
Getting a composter in town is not easy, but we show that it is possible!
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“The entire site is designed in an environmentally responsible manner.
The advantage is that we started from a blank sheet, and that we were able to anticipate these questions instead of trying to adapt to a place, adds Emmanuel Vouin, of the Pernod Ricard group.
It is also integrated into the way our service provider designs its menus.
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In fact, between the basement where "the beast" and its good bacteria hide, and the roof terrace partially cultivated with aromatics, flowers and some fruits enriched with homemade compost, the value chain mobilizes cooks and employees. , despite the health crisis which has forced the service provider, Baxter Storey, to turn off the stoves and temporarily close the main restaurant areas.
Nonetheless, if the "on-site valuation" has succeeded in nesting in one of the densest districts of Paris, the model could have children.
It will also be launched soon in the huge Coeur Défense tower, a 350,000 square meter complex in the business district.
"We are going to make La Défense autonomous in waste management," says Grégoire Bleu, co-founder of UpCycle.
100 to 120 kilos of bio-waste swallowed per day
Connected and managed by UpCycle, the composter is designed to swallow an average of 100 to 120 kilos of bio-waste per day.
As discreetly as possible, “without giving off any odor, attracting any pest, or causing any nuisance, underlines Grégoire Bleu.
At the heart of a building, it is an essential issue.
When the garbage cans attract midges, even rats, and their premises quickly become pestilential, the large composter in the basement emits only a slight hum, imperceptible outside its premises.
On the Island side, whose owners have invested 50,000 euros in innovation, and who will devote "around 200 euros of electricity per year" to it, the electric composter also induces "a virtuous agricultural loop", presents Grégoire Bleu .
Because the compost produced benefits the 400 square meters of terrace cultivated by the urban landscapers of Mugo.
On the roof of this ultra modern building, 700 square meters are partly cultivated.
LP / Elodie Soulié
From the terrace, the herbs and aromatics go down to the kitchen, and are also dried on site to become herbal teas offered to employees ... This summer, the canteen also served rhubarb compote from the roof, homemade pesto sauce ... "With one kilo of waste, we obtain 500 grams of compost, which means that here, the restaurant can provide 60 kilos of compost that can be used directly each day, ”greets Grégoire Bleu.
For gardeners, it will be “a plus”, in their eighth floor overlooking all of Paris.
"All the catering here is designed with greater responsibility and promotion", adds Anaïs Ko-Alart, director of the company restaurant.
Between the two sorting stations and the very educational signage, it's hard not to be exemplary by returning your tray.
Fifteen days to turn waste into compost
“The guests themselves sort the paper, glass, etc.
Only bio-waste remains on the plateau, ”she explains.
This waste then goes directly to the composter, which will mix it up, to feed the bacteria well.
"It takes about two weeks to have compost," says the boss of UpCycle.
An initiative which makes it possible to respond to a social issue.
“Today, 90% of compostable waste generated by individuals and company restaurants is transported, then incinerated, or even landfilled,” recalls Grégoire Bleu.
It is a waste, costly financially and energetically.
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To offset this calamitous carbon footprint, the recovery technology developed by UpCycle engineers can expect a lot from the law which will force everyone, by 2023, to recover their waste.
“A composter can treat the waste of 10,000 inhabitants,” explains Grégoire Bleu.
Our role is to support local stakeholders, associations or, as here, businesses.
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