3. Recycling surplus inert materials from the construction industry

3.1 Principle

A survey carried out in the early 2000s revealed that almost 100 million tonnes of waste and surplus were landfilled every year in France, including 9 million tonnes in the Ile-de-France region. Most of this waste comes from the construction and civil engineering industries, and consists mainly of inert soil from trenching, excavations and digs of all kinds.

Faced with this situation, the authorities have introduced a number of regulations to encourage the development of recycling channels. Professionals have taken up the problem, developed original technical solutions and created a new inert waste recycling business, which has developed on the outskirts of urban areas.

The recycling of surplus materials is not a new activity,...