Etymology

Compost means composed, formed, mixed, from the Latin compositus (« com » for « together » and « positus » for « to place »).
It is the same root that gave the word compote.

Sustainable development

There is obviously an environmental dimension to collective composting, but not only... The social link around the composter is known to all the people who share the activity of collective composting.
In addition, it generates short-term savings on waste management.
The environment / social / economy triptych makes it a sustainable development action.
The documents on this site are intended to assist you in this practice.

Environment

According to ADEME, a french agency [1], 30% of our bins are made up of putrescible waste, or 83 kg per year and per inhabitant.

If everything is not recoverable, you can opt for a compostable average of 50 kg per year and per inhabitant.
For a composter of 50 households (i.e. for France approximately 110 people). This is equivalent to 5.5 tonnes avoided annually !

Social

Having permanence on limited time slots, to accommodate the members of the collective composter, has the advantage of checking the sorting instructions, but not only ! Above all, this allows you to get to know each other, to hear from neighbors and to discuss (on projects, on neighborhood life, on local associative activities)...

In short, the collective composter is a real social place !

Economy

As we have seen, a composter of approximately 50 households is equivalent to 5.5 tons avoided annually.
According to ADEME, in France, the cost per ton collected is €85. For 80% of local authorities, this cost is between €67 and €120 [2].

That is an avoided cost of €368.5 to €660 per year for the waste manager for a composter sized for 50 households. This allows, in the case of financing by the community, to quickly make profitable the purchase of the composter and the associated tools !