Why is my French tip no longer taking green waste?

Reader Question : My local tip says it has stopped collecting most household green waste from June 1. What am I meant to do? I thought my property taxes funded this service 

Yes, décheteries (waste tips) can refuse garden waste of any kind if they wish and yours is not the only one to stop accepting déchets verts.

This ‘green waste’ includes grass cuttings, weeds, dead leaves, as well as branches etc from pruning bushes and trees – essentially, any non-food biodegradable waste from maintaining gardens and green spaces.

It can come from general maintenance as well as mandatory annual ‘débroussaillage’ or undergrowth clearance.
Several communes across France including major cities such as Rennes have recently changed rules to prevent most garden waste from being dropped off at these locations.

Reasons cited include the resulting pollution - residents using cars to drop waste off and then large trucks coming to collect and take the waste to a dedicated site, a lack of available space and increasing costs. 

While you are correct that local waste collection funding comes via taxe foncière property tax payments, many councils argue that costs for green waste management are now prohibitively expensive and impact the running of tips. 

The government’s eco-agency ADEME states that each person in France creates around 160kg of green waste per year on average.

You can use the ADEME website to look for other tips near you that accept green waste, and if so the requirements for dropping it off (whether you need a tip badge, etc). 

The website allows you to enter your commune’s postcode (or full address), providing results in an interactive map or list format.

What are alternatives?

Several alternatives exist. 

Firstly, you can contact your local commune to see if curbside collection of green waste is being offered (this may now be the case if the local tip is cutting back on drop-offs).

If available, you may be able to arrange either a one-off or regular visits to pick up waste. 

Materials should be put in biodegradable bags made for déchets verts, and not ordinary bin bags. Alternatively, your commune may provide you with a green bin to put déchets verts in.

If not, households are encouraged to use green waste for compost or mulching (leaving cuttings where they fall to improve soil health). Certain lawnmowers have ‘mulching’ attachments to help with this.

Some mairies give free composters to residents, but this varies. Check your local commune website or contact your mairie to see – you may need to make a formal request for one.

A novel solution, ‘végéteries’ are now popping up across France. These are spaces dedicated to green waste, independent from tips and often open 24/7 to reduce the risk of queues. Some are free.

Households are generally banned from burning garden waste due to pollution and the threat of wildfires, but under extreme circumstances mairies may offer derogations to allow it. This includes when no viable alternatives (such as a local tip) exist.

Check with your local mairie to see if this is possible.