"Recyclable materials collected at the Institut Pasteur: annual tonnages and what happens to waste", a look back at the latest green café

The Waste, Sterilization and Premises Maintenance Department (DSE) would like to thank all of you who attended the presentation of its activities on the topic "Recyclable materials collected at the Institut Pasteur: annual tonnages and what happens to waste" at the last green café on September 12.

The DSE Department teams very much appreciate your interest in their activities and are very grateful for your positive feedback.
 
To view the presentation, click here

You will find below some additional information that follows on from the questions asked.

1.    Stream for disposal of napkins used in the company restaurant:

Napkins used during meals taken at the company restaurant cannot go into the dehydrators dedicated for food biowaste processing. They therefore need to be disposed of with household waste.
 
2.    Stream for disposal of food and drink cartons:

Empty cartons, closed with a recyclable cap, can be disposed of in the paper/cardboard stream. This is because they are made of recyclable materials (cardboard, plastic, aluminum). On arrival at the sorting center, these cartons undergo a process to separate the cardboard fibers from the other materials.
 
3.    Stream for disposal of cardboard cups:

Most cardboard cups are lined with a thin layer of heat-sealed polyethylene (PE) plastic applied to shield the cups from moisture.
For paper manufacturers that recover paper/cardboard for recycling, this plastic liner is very difficult to target and isolate, and this is a considerable obstacle during industrial recycling processes (paper quality deterioration).
It would be preferable to use biodegradable compostable cups like those provided by MRNET available on the procurement portal.
 
Note that the current waste collection company does not accept these cups in the paper/cardboard stream. This is because cups soiled with leftover coffee have been seen to pollute the rest of the sorted paper and cardboard.

The company will shortly be implementing a stream exclusively dedicated to the collection of cardboard cups (subject to approval of this additional stream on campus).
 
Please avoid using these cups if at all possible and bring mugs or thermoses instead.