While Ecomaison has been recycling furniture and bedding for over 10 years, the eco-organization has extended its scope to include new household items in 2022: DIY and garden items, games and toys, household products and materials, and decorative textiles. It is now the only multi-sector, multi-material eco-organization for the entire home. " The aim is to provide a better service to our members, who manufacture or distribute a large number of products in several recycling channels. Being able to federate several product families within a single eco-organization is already a first step towards simplification.On the other hand, it's also a way of boosting economic performance in recycling, by increasing the volume of materials, notably wood, foam, plastic, metal and textiles", explainsEric Weisman-Morel, Director of Sectors. A "one-stop-shop" strategy for companies subject to several EPRs ( extended producer responsibility) that is paying off for Ecomaison.

A year of intense mobilization for Ecomaison teams

Work on approval applications kept our teams busy until April for toys and DIY and garden tools, and until October for construction. The latter was by far the most complex, with four applicant eco-organizations and two product categories (inert and non-inert). It's also a huge source of waste: over 42,000 million tonnes, according to Ademe. Ecomaison's strategy was to sign "a cross-coordination agreement with Ecominéro", analyses Véronique Poirier, project manager for the Presidency. This partnership has enabled us to offer a complete range of products and building materials for the new building sector.
Its positioning is also what sets it apart: "We operate in the building materials and finishing sectors, with a strong presence of retail and trade among our members", explains Eric Weisman-Morel.

As well as responding to requests for approval, Ecomaison ran a number of campaigns throughout the year to inform and educate both current and future members about the new obligations: letters, mailings, webinars, presence at trade shows, advertising inserts in the specialist press, a dedicated website. .. "The idea was to create a kind of momentum, to raise awareness among as many players as possible on a subject that is somewhat complex, such as recycling channels, or that is not yet well understood. The idea was to create a sort of momentum, to raise awareness among as many players as possible on a subject that is somewhat complex, such as recycling channels, or that is not yet well understood by some market players", explains Vincent du Granrut, Business Manager for the DIY and Garden sector.

This mobilization and awareness-raising campaign also took the form of a "road show" aimed specifically at building industry players. " It was important to get out into the field and present our range of services, because this is a very broad and complex sector, and one that mobilizes a lot of people. We visited 6 regions, bringing together hundreds of people", explains the Sector Director.

As for the digital teams, they worked throughout the year to support the implementation of these new channels. The number 1 digital project was the online launch of the Espace-services, "a migration from the old system to a new one adapted to our multi-channel business", explains Cécile Cabre, Digital Director. " We created a flexible system that allows us to be agile. We worked in one-stop mode, which is much simpler for the user. We've thought through the different paths to simplify them and create a single path that allows you to work on all 4 channels".

Internal reorganization and a new Board of Directors

Internally, this major transformation has resulted in the reorganization of teams by sector: furnishings, DIY-garden items, games and toys, building products and building materials. In 2022, a dozen new recruits joined Ecomaison and 2023 is on track.
Governance has also been modified, with sector committees for each approval. New articles of association have been drawn up. " We're going to go from 22 associates to over 60. The Board of Directors will increase from 15 to 20 members: 12 for furnishings, 6 for construction, 1 for toys, and 1 for DIY gardening. This is a total transformation of the way the eco-organization operates," explains Xavier Rebardy, Director of Regulatory and Legal Affairs.

All these transformations came to fruition with a new name adopted in October 2022: Ecomaison.

As of January^1, 2022, new measures under the AGEC law (Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy) now apply to Ecomaison members. " The law shifts the center of gravity for all sectors by reinforcing downstream prevention: reuse and repair," analyzes Véronique Poirier, project manager for the Presidency.

In this context, furniture take-back has become an obligation for distributors. To support them, Ecomaison has put a self-diagnosis tool on line, enabling everyone to find out what their obligations are, what solutions are available and how to implement them. Containers adapted to different store configurations are also available, as well as a collection service. If the store does not have the space to set up a collection area, Ecomaison offers a pro card giving access to collection points close to the store. Training documents for the staff concerned and a communication kit for consumers complete Ecomaison's offer. For retailers who so wish, Ecomaison has also set up partnerships with charitable associations to recover furniture that is still in good condition. A donation platform has also been developed to enable retailers to offer their unsold goods to interested associations, as the AGEC law now prohibits companies from destroying their non-food unsold goods.

Consumer information and unique identification number

2022 also saw the widespread introduction of environmental labelling on products, in particular the Triman logo. " This was a key point for producers, as it mobilized their marketing and product teams. When you have producers with 1,000, 2,000 or 10,000 product references, each with their own packaging and labels..." stresses Vincent du Granrut, Head of the DIY-Gardening Sector. "In fact, this was the subject of webinars during the first 4 or 5 months of 2022", adds Eric Weisman-Morel, Filière Director.

To ensure that producers comply with their obligations, the AGEC law made it compulsory for all official documents to bear a unique identification number. The effective implementation of this number has had a rather beneficial effect on membership, as many third-party sellers on marketplaces, particularly foreign ones, have had to comply. " We've had an influx of third-party sellers, and we've also set up a specific contract so that marketplaces that have to declare the sales of third-party sellers who don't have a unique identifier can proceed with the declarations ", explains Eric Weisman-Morel. One of the new features of this law is to make marketplaces jointly liable with their third-party sellers. In other words, if the sellers are not registered, it is up to the platform to declare and pay the eco-participation.

New governance

The AGEC law has also changed the rules of governance, by creating external governance at the level of each approval: stakeholder committees made up of 4 colleges: representatives of producers, local authorities, waste management operators and approved associations. "We have to submit a certain number of decisions for approval, before passing on the opinion or agreement to the public authorities. This is a much more concerted approach involving all the players concerned", explains Xavier Rébardy, Director of Regulatory and Legal Affairs.

Finally, the AGEC law requires the creation of a dedicated re-use fund for each sector. "According to Matthieu Goutti, Head of the Toys Sector, "We spent almost a year working with associations and public authorities on this structuring project. "What we proposed was to link up a collection point and a reuse player on an almost systematic basis, to give a second life to as many toys as possible. Reuse is now a challenge : "volume targets have been set: we aim to double them by the end of the approval period", announces Véronique Poirier.

2022 was a record-breaking year. A record for tonnages collected, a record for recycling performance, a record for recovery. This performance was made possible by improved sorting at waste collection centers, additional collection points and close collaboration with local authorities and operators, as Operations Manager Marie-Eve Fermet points out. " We' ve made very clear progress on these results, thanks to fine-tuned management of all our operator contracts, and a very strong presence on the ground to ensure that each player optimizes their operations," comments Marie-Eve Fermet, Operations Manager.

Ecomaison's good results in terms of recycling and recovery are also based on its ongoing quest to give more value to materials. In 2022, for example, Ecomaison launched an invitation to tender for the treatment, recycling and recovery of wood CSR (solid recovered fuel), mattresses and plastics. It was aimed at both waste managers and industrialists interested in using the material as a secondary raw material. " What's important in this approach is that we address a diversity of players interested in our materials," explains Louis-Paul Laclaire, Purchasing and Operations Director. "Depending on their needs, we'll supply materials that are more raw, or already ground. This has given value to our recycled materials (...) We have succeeded in offsetting the impact of inflation by selling our recycled materials more effectively, thus reducing Ecomaison's overall expenditure."

France's No. 1 network of collection points

To simplify the sorting process for private individuals and craftsmen alike, Ecomaison is working to expand its network of collection points, in particular to accommodate new recycling channels. Today, 98% of the population has a collection solution within 15 km of their home. For the building industry, the development of the network is a central issue, since the law stipulates that every craftsman or building firm should have access to a collection point within 10 km of his worksite (20 km for less densely populated areas). To this end, Ecomaison conducted a study in Aquitaine in 2022. Objectives: to identify "white zones" and ensure that collection points complement each other. "We inventoried all the collection points for building waste: professional and public waste collection centers, and materials distributors. This enabled us to see, for a given region, what needs to be put in place to achieve the coverage targets set by the French government", continues Louis-Paul Laclaire.

A permanent call for tenders has also been sent out to professional waste collection centers to enable them to become collection points. " We are proposing an original contract model for construction products and materials, with a partnership approach that meets the expectations of waste managers. Rather than restricting them to the sole activity of receiving waste, we propose to those who know how to recycle this waste to commission them for the entire value chain." An offer that immediately appealed to these private players. " We had to find an economic model that was viable for the operators: offer them business conditions that would consolidate their position, and at the same time enable us to achieve operational excellence", analyses the Purchasing and Operations Director.

At the same time, Ecomaison has launched a call for tenders for new collection solutions for the toys and DIY-garden sectors, "We have new logistics needs, for smaller volumes, while maintaining quality. We are setting up new, more suitable containers and companies capable of collecting and sorting them".

First toy collections at drop-off centers

In the Jura region, land of toys, the first toy collections took place at the public waste collection centers of the Sictom de Lons-le-Saunier and Haut-Jura. These initial experiments, which lasted from July to December 2022, enabled us to find out more about the type of toys collected at the drop-off centers and the type of containers to be installed. "We used ^1m3 pallet boxes. This enabled us to see what types of toys and what types of materials we were recovering in this type of small container (...) This experiment gave us more information on the ground, in line with the strategy we had envisaged", explains Matthieu Goutti, Head of the Toys Sector.

They have also helped mobilize local players, notably community associations. This is an important link for this new sector, for which donation and reuse are at the heart of its second-life strategy. In November 2022, Ecomaison also launched a pilot operation to collect toys from schools in the Académie de Versailles. "It was a pilot to test a spin-off over more territory," explains Matthieu Goutti. It was a proposal that complemented the accreditation specifications, and was a resounding success: 182 schools took part over the Christmas period, collecting 15 tonnes of toys and raising awareness among 50,000 pupils and their parents of the importance of donation and reuse.
This type of operation provides associations with a high-quality source of toys, and enables them to develop educational programs on solidarity and sustainable development. Ecomaison equipped each school with collection containers and distributed a communication kit and educational booklet for teachers. Some forty Ecomaison partner associations in the département recovered quality toys, which they were able to donate or resell at fair prices.

"Collections of toys and DIY-Garden items started as early as the end of 2022, even before the start of eco-tax collection, proof of our strong commitment to the massive and rapid deployment of these new channels," concludes Marie-Eve Fermet.

In terms of innovation, 2022 has been a year of follow-up to the initiatives launched in 2021. Fifteen of the sixteen selected projects are still being studied, around 3 themes:

- Pirogasification, a thermochemical wood treatment process that releases gas. This technology enables methane to be produced from wood or RDF resources. Ecomaison has signed a partnership agreement with GRT Gaz, Syctom (Greater Paris) and Citeo to test the pirogasification of wood waste, which could eventually be used for district heating.

- The identification of new technologies to improve the recycling of Ecomaison's historical materials, notably medium-density fiberboard (MDF), a wood fiberboard that is currently not recyclable, but also foams and latex.

- The introduction of biotechnologies such as mycoremediation: the production of fungi that can "digest" the pollution contained in wood, but also in textiles, particularly furnishing and decoration textiles, which will be included in the Ecomaison scope in December 2022. Carpets, curtains, blinds.... the stakes of reuse and material recycling are high for these new products subject to EPR (extended producer responsibility).

A prevention and eco-design plan for better production

Manufacturers can use prevention and eco-design plans to accelerate their transition to a circular economy. The aim is to help companies take action and encourage them to innovate. Ecomaison has worked with three other eco-organizations to develop a comprehensive "user guide" for eco-designing products and packaging. These are :

- Citeo for the management of household packaging and graphic paper,
- ecosystem, for the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment,
- Refashion for clothing, household linen and footwear.

The action plan model is based on three axes: increasing the integration of recycled materials, reducing the use of non-renewable materials, and improving recyclability. The model also offers the possibility of going further in all stages of the product life cycle, for example, by extending the product's lifespan. " This common framework allows each marketer to adapt its plan with specific objectives and action methods according to its sector and its maturity on the subject of the circular economy," comments Benoît Godon, eco-design manager at Ecomaison.

A recyclability table has also been put online in the services area, following a coding system issued by the decree. It enables marketers to enter the product code and measure its recyclability status.

The status of wood energy, a challenge for new outlets

2022 was a year of acceleration for the "end-of-waste status" dossier concerning wood energy (CSR), launched five years ago. The challenge for Ecomaison is to be able to sell this product and thus generate value. All the more so as wood energy is a local, renewable alternative to fossil fuels. An intense series of tests was carried out in high-capacity boilers: the equivalent of 500 days of tests during which more than 30,000 tonnes of wood were consumed. The aim was to demonstrate the perfect compatibility of wood energy with conventional biomass boilers. "We became convinced that this wood could be used to replace combustible products in large-capacity conventional biomass boilers. We could substitute an expensive product, forest biomass, with a cheaper one, our Ecomaison eco-fuel". The 2000-page dossier has been submitted to the French Ministry of the Environment. Ecomaison is confident that it will finally be completed in 2023.

Véronique Poirier, in charge of operational research at Ecomaison, concludes: "Operational research is one of Ecomaison's strong points. It has already enabled us to create a real circular dynamic; it's a strong corporate culture."