Vépluche

The Energy Transition Law [1] of 17/08/2015, one of the 6 objectives of which is to halve the volume of waste produced by 2050, concerns all actors in the territory: citizens, companies, public authorities.

What is bio-waste and why sort it?

A bio-waste is a food waste (peelings, meat and fish remains, bread…) or a natural biodegradable waste that can be recovered in compost.

In this law, the question of bio-waste management is raised. These wastes must be separated from the others since their burial in the absence of oxygen is favorable to the phenomenon of fermentation which releases methane into the atmosphere. However, the global warming power of methane is 25 times greater than that of CO2. It therefore plays an active role in global warming. It is therefore becoming urgent to make the most of our bio-waste. Incineration in the current treatment methods for food waste consists in particular of burning water, which may seem absurd.

How to recycle bio-waste? 

Bio-waste can be recovered by different processes:

• compost
• spreading (if no prior composting, or on the spreading site it seems to me that it is forbidden). The spreading would also call for composting.
• methanization -> biogas production

These reactions have the advantage of allowing the material to return to the ground. -> This is precisely the comparative advantage of composting VS methanization (biogas does not return to the ground).

Some key dates in the management of bio-waste :

• 01/2012: the large producers of waste (120t/1500 L of edible oil per year) are committed to sorting biowaste and recycling it in appropriate channels.
• 01/2016: volume reduction to 10 t and 60L
• by 2025: every French person will have to have a solution for sorting food waste at source.

The logistics center is based in Boulogne Billancourt, just outside Paris. It is the place of reception of the various goods: on one side the delivery of fruits and vegetables, on the other side the collection of bio-waste. These two operations are carried out on one and the same route according to the principle of Reverse Logistics. 

This centralization has several advantages.

Let’s take the example of a market gardener who used to deliver to 15 restaurants, which are now part of Vépluche. We then have :

• Reduced transportation costs for the producer
• Reduction of transportation and therefore pollution

Food distribution applies the zero-carbon last mile rule. Thus Vépluche uses an electric vehicle and super-cargo bicycles to make deliveries between its warehouse and its customers. This approach is also applied for the collection of food waste and the warehouse – composting plant trips.

Food waste collected from restaurants that are members of the Vépluche offer is recycled into compost and then into compost at the Châtillon plant.

Creation of compost:

Bio-waste is treated in the plant via an electromechanical composter. To understand how their micro-plant works, we advise you to watch the following explanatory video: 

An electromechanical composter allows a better yield than a conventional composter. In terms of figures :

Mechanical composter: 100 kg of bio-waste -> 25 kg of compost (¼)

Conventional composter: 100 kg of bio-waste -> 14 kg of compost (1/7)

The bio-waste remains 15 days in the compost bin. The compost then matures for 5 to 7 weeks.

The mature compost thus obtained has a pH between 8 and 9 (basic). 

Creation of potting soil :

To be able to talk about compost, the compost obtained must be acidified (lowered pH) by mixing it with another more acidic compost.

Traditionally, acidification is done by adding peat moss or coconut fiber (this is more used to aerate the soil and thus reduce its density). This is not the solution adopted by Vépluche, who wishes to propose an organic and local compost. The mixture chosen is therefore the following:

This green waste compost comes from Ile de France.

A potting soil is an organic material worked to have a balanced and ready to use support for the culture of plants. Unlike potting soil, compost is considered an organic fertilizer that enriches the soil. 

To facilitate both the use and the marketing of its product, Vépluche made the choice to produce a compost by mixing its bio-waste compost with other less rich and less basic compost.

A potting soil must have a stable pH around 7 to optimize the assimilation of all nutrients in the soil. Traditionally, the acidification of composts is done by adding a material with not very ecological characteristics: peat. 

This is not the solution adopted by Vépluche, which proposes an ecological and local compost made from green waste composts, manure and grape marc. Vépluche’s Trésor’ganique potting soil is composed of 25% of food bio-waste compost.

Bagging:

Bagging is carried out by a Vépluche partner based in Normandy, in batches of 3 tons of compost shipped every 3 months and bagged in 5L, 15L and 45L bags. 

The user thus has a turnkey product that can be used immediately.