Angers plant: turning waste into a resource

In what would seem to be an impossible task, the European Union has set a target of reducing that amount to four kilograms. Yet efficient recycling and materials use could recover EEEW, keeping it out of landfills.
For that to happen, citizens have to get involved. Local authorities must inform residents and offer to collect EEEW, while retailers must agree to take used appliances off the hands of any customer purchasing similar types of equipment.
Treating EEEW is especially important because it often contains hazardous substances such as mercury, cyanide-containing veneers and asbestos.
Veolia Environmental Services opened an EEEW treatment plant in Angers on October 13, 2008 that recovers 88% of the weight of EEEW. Given the magnitude of the task, outsize methods are sometimes called for: the plant, which can treat 70 refrigerators an hour, or 350,000 a year, does not crush them. Instead, it cracks them open by throwing them against one other to recover 99.5% of their CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons, a refrigerant that destroys the ozone layer). A less extreme approach is used for the smallest devices: a scanner identifies, separates and recycles waste, skipping the crushing step and avoiding the destruction of batteries, capacitors and other pollutants.
This deconstruction process also helps people to rebuild their lives through employment opportunities: the Angers plant has made a commitment to hiring disabled and disadvantaged workers. This synergy of industry and social economics was enthusiastically welcomed by the region and the French Minister for Ecology.