The partner interview of Philippe Meinrad.

Bio360 Expo ’s partner for several years, Agriculteurs Composteurs de France now has more than 60 farmers collecting, sorting and processing organic waste to turn it into fertiliser or renewable energy.?

Philippe Meinrad , a farmer who composts and produces methane in Alsace, answered a few questions.?

What do you see as the future opportunities and challenges for agricultural composting of organic waste?? ?

The first strong point of our activity is that it is an opportunity for local authorities to treat and recycle the organic waste they produce. For the past 20 years, we have been structured around a Charter of Good Practice that certifies our professionalism and the conditions under which we provide our services: pollution and fire risk management, monitoring of the quality of the materials to be treated, monitoring and control of the process and analysis of the quality of the finished product are all arguments that we can put forward.?

We are providing serious, sustainable solutions for our regions. ?

For its part, climate change is both an opportunity, with conditions theoretically more favourable to biomass production (higher atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperatures), and a difficulty, with an increase in extreme weather events (droughts, floods, bad weather, etc.). Under these conditions, the uncertainty over volumes of green waste is increasing, with greater irregularity throughout the year and between years.? ?

New opportunities are emerging with the growing awareness of the hitherto unused source of kitchen and table waste, not only from private households but also from local authorities and professionals in the catering and food distribution industries. It's up to us to put in place and propose solutions to prevent this material from leaving the organic matter cycle. ?

However, other applications are being developed to meet energy challenges in particular: all these materials to which we are giving a new lease of life could be redirected towards uses that break the circular chain through a "terminal" use, but which are undoubtedly more economically profitable in the short term.?

?What are the key messages that the sector needs to communicate?? ?

?Compost is more than just an outlet for organic waste. It is an amendment whose role is to nourish the soil in order to preserve its structural and chemical fertility. On this second aspect, it can be used as a substitute for finite resources and/or resources whose production is particularly energy-intensive or polluting. Phosphorus mining has a deleterious environmental impact, which has only recently received media coverage... ?

Composting is a model of the circular economy: local waste is transformed locally into a fertiliser that will be used locally as a growing medium to produce the food and energy needed by the local population and activities.?

What role can composting play in a world of renewable carbon?? ?

Composting saves resources. ?

?At the same time, it stores carbon in the soil. During the composting process, micro-organisms and fungi feed on organic molecules, break them down and produce new ones. It's a phase of intense reorganisation that produces an organised, more stable material known as compost. Structured in this way, the organic matter becomes part of the soil and only degrades over a period of several years, or even decades. ?

The carbon incorporated into the soil in this way contributes to the structural fertility of the soil, improving water retention and reducing erosion. ?

?Composting is therefore a tool for resilience and adaptation to climate change! It is the fertiliser par excellence for a low-carbon world...?

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?For media based in France, please contact Mathilde Dubouil, mathildedubouil[a]bees.biz?

For international media,? please contact Caroline Gautier, carolinegautier[a]bees.biz?

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