VALDELIA IS BANKING ON THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR TACKLING PRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

VALDELIA IS BANKING ON THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY
FOR TACKLING PRESSING ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

How are Valdelia’s missions implemented?

Valdelia is an operational as opposed to a financial eco-institution. That means we collect an eco-contribution on the sales price of new professional furniture to pay for the collection and processing of these products at the end of their service life. The Valdelia team supervises on-site collections and transport of the waste to processing centres spread across the whole of mainland France and the country’s overseas regions. We also work with 247 partners from the caring economy initiative in order to foster direct and adaptive reuse. Valdelia is a trusted third party in a broad ecosystem, bringing manufacturers and distributors of professional furniture into relation with “second-wind” stakeholders. The eco-institution is therefore a value creator in an ongoing innovation and circular economy initiative. The building sector’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) is based on the same model applied to makers of construction and building products and materials.

What conclusions can you draw from actions so far conducted in the professional furniture sector?

We collect on average 90,000 tonnes of professional furniture every year and 83% of it gets recycled. We have set a 2023 target of 5% for direct and adaptive reuse. As of now, we can see the market is ripe for second-wind solutions when fitting out work areas, and that ignites our enthusiasm. Moreover, these days, CSR is motivating businesses to be more eco-assertive and discard preconceived ideas on the reuse of, for example, professional furniture.

What are the issues in extending your scope to cover building waste?

The building sector generates over 42 million tonnes of waste every year, a huge figure. The AGEC Act (anti-waste for a circular economy) specifies that this waste be taken to recovery locations and sorted with a view to its reuse or recycling. To do so, as from January, 2023, businesses who make, distribute, or import construction products and materials (“market purveyors”) are obliged to subscribe to one of the four eco-institutions accredited by the government for managing this sector and to delegate responsibility to the institution for collecting and processing waste. Free recovery of the sorted and processed waste will be made possible by an eco-contribution that each market purveyor must pay to the eco-institution. Our main issue will be turning this sector into a lever for transformation, a genuine solution for addressing pressing environmental matters. This sector’s current practices must progress, notably instilling the circular economy culture among building industry stakeholders.

Focus on Valdelia

Expert website
The www.expert.valdelia.org website for the furnishing trade keeps track of second-wind assistance projects conducted by Valdelia, in which innovation combines with circular economy.
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Valdelia, a Greet hotels partner
In partnership with the furniture professionals’ association L’Ameublement Français, Valdelia has assisted the Accor group in the large-scale fitting out of congenial hotel spaces by incorporating second-wind furniture. For the “Greet” hotel chain, the Valdelia innovation centre has contributed  the following to the project:

• Its expertise in the fields of furniture, second-wind, and logistics
• Its partner network—manufacturer and distributor members as well as second-wind furniture suppliers (resource pools, inclusive joinery firms, etc.
• Its assistance and advice methods

Building website
The www.batiment.valdelia.org  website provides all the answers to building stakeholders who may be affected by the implementation of Building EPR regulations from 1st January, 2023.
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