Calitom

Calitom is the waste public authority of the French department of Charente. This public body is in charge of the collection and treatment of household waste, responsibility assigned by the elected representatives of municipalities and federations of municipalities.

Calitom’s activities include: collection of packaging and recyclable papers, glass, residual waste, 28 civic amenity sites, 1 composting platform for green waste, 1 landfill site for household waste with pre-treatment, 1 sorting centre of recyclables, 1 re-use centre.

Michel Coq, President of Calitom, gives us more information on its activities  regarding sustainable resource management.

ACR+: In 2016 Calitom extended the plastic packaging collection to accept also plastic cups, trays and films of its 200,730 inhabitants. Are there already some results?

Indeed, since last year we are collecting all types of plastic packaging. With 105 kg/inhabitant/year recycled, the results are already very good but they have to be confirmed throughout the years. This progress is a step towards a more global objective of waste prevention and reduction. A dialogue is currently organised on this topic with citizens. It will define a clear quantitative target as well as the actions and awareness-raising plan to guide the population in this direction.

ACR+: Have you implemented other actions to encourage waste reduction?

Since 3 April 2017, for a third of Calitom’s territory (104 municipalities covering 28,000 households) the collection of household waste was reduced to once every two weeks. This is an important change in the service provided. By decreasing the frequency of the collection we want to make our citizens feel more engaged, to encourage them to think about their waste. It is a powerful way of encouraging people to consume differently, to sort more and to do homecomposting.  

ACR+: Could you share with us one of your main achievements?

In 2015, Calitom and GrandAngoulême – the two public bodies in charge of waste treatment in the department – have developed together a departmental sorting centre called Atrion. Following this first project, which brought closer the two structures, GrandAngoulême requested this year to become a member of Calitom.

To discover more about Calitom you can visit www.calitom.com (in French) or contact Ms. Alexa Badin, in charge of communication (abadin@calitom.com).