Recyclability: what if it's more than you think?
There are precise criteria for informing your customers about the recyclability of your products, as is now mandatory. But what does recyclability mean in general terms? Ecomaison opens up your horizons.
Recycling means planning ahead
An object's recyclability is determined at every stage of its production.
For example, the fewer hazardous or worrisome materials used in its manufacture, the greater the possibilities for its subsequent use as a recycled material. Seeing further, seeing earlier: that's the motto of the resource economy!
Recycle, yes, but as late as possible!
Easy to repair, easy to maintain: the French anti-waste law for a circular economy (AGEC) requires manufacturers to extend as far as possible the lifespan of the objects they put on the market. Recycling takes place when all possibilities for reusing and repairing a used object have been exhausted.
Recycling, a regional affair
An object's recyclability also depends on the area in which it is produced, sold and then collected. Recycling infrastructures must exist within reasonable distance of the collection point. These infrastructures must be able to recycle the product on an industrial scale, with the aim of recovering the recycled material from the product.
Object manufacturers, manufacturers of components made from recycled materials, recyclable waste processors and players in the Social and Solidarity Economy: as these links develop, they weave a dynamic network of activity in the region.
Recycling means innovation
Local and entrepreneurial initiatives are making it possible to include more and more recycled materials in the resource economy.
An object that is not recyclable today could be in a few months or years. Similarly, the mass of usable recycled materials from a collected object can increase as technical advances are made.
Ecomaison gives the necessary impetus to players who feel ready to go further in eco-design through its regular calls for projects, and relays the latest innovations in the field to its members.
For example, we help our member manufacturers to design and manufacture mattresses whose components are easier to separate for recycling at end-of-life. We are also helping to develop bio-based products, such as anti-stain treatments for sofas and fabrics, to replace the resins and chemicals still often used.