Background and general issues
In order to adapt to ongoing global changes, in particular climate change (see [IPC18]) or biodiversity loss [IPB19], the United Nations (UN) [UN18] has drawn up a list of 17 sustainable development goals, including goal 12: “Establish sustainable consumption and production patterns”. To achieve this goal, the UN recommends target 12.5: “By 2030, significantly reduce the generation of waste through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse”.
The exponential growth in demand and the logic of mass extraction of natural resources have contributed to the emergence of situations of scarcity, sources of geo-political tensions and social conflicts. Particularly present in the mining industry, these phenomena are contributing to the gradual depletion of minerals and metals, while raising questions about the availability of these resources in the near future. These supply issues have supported the emergence of initiatives aimed at extracting secondary resources from waste deposits, or more specifically from urban mines [SCE19]. However, despite an increase in the availability and richness of these so-called secondary resources, their use still seems limited.
In France, the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) sector claims to have processed 742 tonnes of WEEE in 2017, representing around half of the country’s WEEE production. 80% of this waste in terms of weight is recycled directly [AD18], to the detriment of reuse or reemployment, which is explained in particular by the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility [MI17]. In line with this national trend, only one tenth of the quantities of WEEE entrusted to reuse structures have been previously prepared for reuse. As regards the building and public works (BTP) sector in 2014 in France, BTP companies produced 227.5 million tonnes of waste. 80% of this waste is inert waste produced by public works sites, which is mostly directed, as soon as it leaves the site, either to other sites where it is reused, or to recovery structures (material recycling, quarry backfilling) [Min17]. However, when it comes to non-inert waste, only 12% is reused or recycled as soon as it leaves the site.
To encourage the reuse of products before turning to recycling or treatment, France has issued a circular economy roadmap [Min18], and ADEME is proposing CODECs (Contrat d’Objectifs Déchet Économie Circulaire) to certain local authorities.
In Grenoble Alpes Métropole, in addition to ambitious waste reduction and recovery targets, the CODEC aims to initiate appropriate local circular economy loops. This new contract offers a real opportunity to tackle the problems of waste management in Grenoble Alpes Métropole, and aims to give producers a sense of responsibility. Indeed, without the local authority’s intervention, the region runs the risk of becoming a passive territory, subject to changes in the regulatory framework defined at national and European level. By encouraging players to move away from the linear economy model, and by revealing the potential for avoidance, the dynamics driven by the circular economy represent a potential for transforming local production systems to replace the extraction of natural resources with the valorization of “waste” deposits. A local production system is a concentration, in a geographically defined area, of SME-SMI-type production units, specialized in a sector of activity, around a trade or a type of product, and at the same time in competition with one another.
However, given the logic of free competition and economic rationality that dominates the waste management and treatment sectors, we are witnessing a flight of local resources towards massification centers, then high-performance sorting centers. This phenomenon is further amplified by the export of separated and sorted fractions to other regions or countries, due to the progressive detachment of the French industrial fabric from these sectors. The absence of a production infrastructure for recycled materials, combined with a lack of knowledge and technical skills, accentuates the phenomenon of resource relocation and its associated environmental impacts, and reduces the region’s resilience. The creation of an institutional environment around shared standards, conventions and informal practices appears to be the missing link in adapting production systems to the recommendations of reuse professionals. By identifying the constraints limiting the exploitation of secondary resources in terms of waste management and the use of materials, the local authority has the opportunity to act as a strategic coordinating center to initiate a territorial material circulation chain.
The aim of this thesis is to contribute to Grenoble Alpes Métropole’s CODEC by jointly developing, with the local authority, a decision-making tool to encourage greater adaptation of production systems to local circular economy issues and needs. Two sectors will be studied: the construction and public works sector and the WEEE sector. This choice is justified (i) by the interest for the territory, (ii) by the singularities of these two sectors, which allow us to address different situations. The challenge of ecological and energy transition offers opportunities for the mutation of production systems and the emergence of an alternative socio-economic paradigm, based on institutional arrangements and collective territorial actions [BC19].
The aim of this project is to identify more sustainable configurations of territorial production systems that can be supported by a group of stakeholders. The local authority must therefore be seen as a structure for steering common interests at the heart of the interplay of stakeholders, in order to establish new territorial resources resulting from collective dynamics [GB17].
Scientific background and challenges
The question of adapting production methods to limit their environmental impact has already been the subject of research [FG89]. This research has led, for example, to the development of industrial symbioses, the most emblematic of which is the Kalundborg symbiosis in Denmark. Nevertheless, these practices do not seem to be able to contain the environmental impacts of production systems within planetary limits [Ste+15]. When it comes to discussing the sustainability of production systems, Ceschin [CG16] states that a sustainable system is one that can be maintained over time without depleting natural resources or damaging the environment in which it is located. A strong version of sustainability also calls for economic and social systems to be considered as components of the biosphere, on which they depend and whose rules of operation they must integrate [TG19]. From this perspective, the replacement of natural resource extraction by urban mining resources can be seen as one of the instruments behind a rebalancing of the relationship between cities and their environment. The use of these secondary resources represents an opportunity to profoundly transform territorial metabolisms as a source of material resources. It is not enough, however, to limit and stabilize flows: the implementation of circular economy policies implies a reduction in incoming flows and net resource consumption [AB16]. To this end, we hypothesize that an adaptive approach in the direction of an absolute sustainability target compatible with bio-capacities is preferable to an approach of improving the existing situation in relative terms, an approach characterized, for example, by the search for increased material and energy efficiencies without taking into account rebound effects. The reappropriation of resources must be the result of a process of activation and construction of resources according to the strategies of the players involved [CP18], and call for changes in behavior. In this respect, the social learning process proposed by Dryzek and Pickering [DP18] seems relevant (see next figure).
Territorial projects and modes of governance must be based on the socio-spatial context and the cooperation of stakeholders [GB17]. The productive system is neither material nor economic. It is defined as “all the factors and players involved in the production, circulation and consumption of wealth” [CA15]. Studying the procedures used to set up consultations and reflecting on the mechanisms used to develop solutions are two essential components in the implementation of territorial governance based on stakeholder participation [LVZ2]. In order for Grenoble Alpes Métropole to achieve the objectives it has set itself in its CODEC, this thesis hypothesizes that it is possible to build circular chains on the scale of a metropolis using a social learning mechanism.
The aim of this thesis, based on a study of the BTP and WEEE sectors, is to provide methods and tools for analyzing production systems in the metropolitan area, and their interactions with other territorial scales. All the relationships formed within the territory, but also beyond its perimeter, need to be studied in order to fully grasp the regulatory mechanisms and the interplay of players likely to influence the material circulation chain. These tools and methods must meet the dual objective of providing quantitative data on the flows involved in metropolitan waste production and management systems.
on the one hand, and, on the other, the qualitative perspective needed to co-construct operational actions with the players in the sector, in order to mobilize them effectively. The aim is for the community to be able to draw on these tools to coordinate the construction of territorialized production systems offering secondary raw materials (venous industries in Asian research). To ensure that the alternative and operational vision of production methods is in line with the perspective of material degrowth and territorial resilience, a needs analysis must be carried out.
However, to date, there is no model that can describe production systems on the territorial scale of a metropolis, going beyond a dissociated vision by production sub-systems. This representation seeks to take into account both the circulation of physical flows (material and energy) in the economy, and the organization of stakeholders in production sectors and the interactions that may exist between these different sectors in the same territory. Indeed, territorial ecology requires us to move away from one of the fundamentals of rational industrial economics, which reasons sector by sector, to consider the material complementarities between very diverse sectors: in Kalundborg, for example, an insulin factory supplies materials to a plasterboard plant.
Driven by an interest in the socio-ecological dynamics underlying resource management [BUC19], territorial ecology will provide an initial framework for reflection. By taking the territory and the actors involved in the governance of flows as the object of study [BJ17], this discipline encourages the initiation of a dynamic of cooperation between territorial actors.
The epistemological framework is provided by political economy, which takes a complementary look at the metabolism of social systems. This second discipline is concerned not only with the creation of wealth, but also with the conditions under which it is created and what is done with it [FBD18]. By linking socio-metabolic analyses to a theory of needs, political economy appears to be an appropriate framework for considering the organization and structuring of a community of players around the creation of territorial value.
While quantitative analyses of flows show the interdependent relationships between different players, little is said about the form taken by these flows, the concrete practices that make the circulation of materials in urban environments possible, and the interplay of players that shapes them [DE19]. This study seeks to go beyond the logic of inputs/outputs to analyze the logic of circulation and transformation of matter within a given territory, through the use of political economy.
Research questions
- How can a collective dynamic emerge around the reappropriation of waste deposits from construction and public works and WEEE?
- What institutional configurations and governance arrangements need to be put in place to initiate a sustainable territorial redesign o
Methodology
In order to match the scientific objectives of the thesis with the operational expectations of Grenoble Alpes Métropole within the framework of its CODEC, this thesis will use a methodology centered on the fields of study constituted by two sectors targeted by the CODEC (as very present on the territory): construction waste and WEEE. This choice is based above all on the local authority’s need for knowledge, in order to target the reduction and recovery potential of the waste streams in question. A comparative analysis will be carried out between the two sectors to highlight common issues or potential mutualization of networks and strategies. On the other hand, the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility in the construction sector represents an opportunity to avoid replicating the dysfunctions present in the WEEE sector [JBB16]. The draft law for a circular economy also seeks to introduce changes to address the difficulties the scheme has faced in recent years. This thesis therefore aims both to target the bad practices observed for WEEE and to anticipate the application of the new directive for the building and public works sector. To replicate this pattern, the methodology is broken down into three stages: formulating the problem, proposing levers for transformation, and putting them to the test.
a. Formulating the problem
In order to define the problem, the first essential research step will be to carry out a double literature review, so as to master the fundamental elements essential to understanding the context, formulating the problem and proposing an appropriate analytical framework. The first literature review will seek to establish the current state of knowledge on the sectors concerned. It should provide all information relating to the current situation of the sectors in question, and the trends likely to emerge. In studying waste management and processing methods, the readings should include the advantages and limitations associated with them. In this way, an overview of the opportunities and obstacles to the reappropriation of local deposits can be presented to the Metropolis. Consequently, this first literature review should also take stock of pre-existing environmental assessments, with the aim of providing points of comparison for the proposed alternatives. The second will look at initiatives introduced in specific regions.
Finally, the analysis of the territory will focus on a precise description of the stages in the construction of the organizational, institutional and regulatory context in which the study takes place. It will be supplemented by surveys and semi-structured interviews with key players in the industry to understand the components of the stakeholder network (motivations, interests, objectives, etc.). The aim is to understand on what basis and for what reasons relationships between stakeholders have been formed, what trends are associated with production systems, and what synergies could play a part in activating territorial capital [GB17] and specifying assets [CP18]. By focusing on the needs of the players we meet, these interviews will primarily explore the informal and intangible dimensions of the construction and WEEE sectors. This information should enlighten the community on the institutional arrangements to be put in place, whether formal or informal, to bring about collective action [DM12].
b. Make an operational proposal
Based on diagnostics of : (i) local material and energy flows, (ii) waste management and processing methods, (iii) the organizational context and the players involved, the local authority will be able to choose the synergy proposals best suited to its area.
This framework implies a study of the interrelations existing between the material, organizational and identity dimensions of the territory [CJ14]. Nevertheless, the construction of the action’s perimeter, the choice of governance and the stakeholders to be involved are components specific to each proposed measure. The distinction between the scales of territory and production systems already appears to be an essential issue to be addressed in the thesis. As part of the multi-scale approach, our scope of study will not be limited to the metropolitan area’s administrative competencies and boundaries, but will include relations with neighbouring territories and higher geographical levels. The systemic approach inherent in territorial ecology will enable us to represent channels, players and outlets from these different perspectives. Methods for quantifying and characterizing flows will be able to propose an inventory and priority targets for action, while avoiding conflicts over the supply and use of materials. A combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches seems appropriate to disaggregate the composition of flows and understand inter-territorial relationships. In order to ensure the consistency of these flows with the upper and lower scales, this work will rely on downscaling and data reconciliation techniques [Cou16]. This work will also test the hypothesis that this strategy and the methodological proposals that go with it enable sustainability objectives to be achieved. To this end, it is planned to test the proposed systems using models based on
In addition, a consultation process will be proposed to bring together the stakeholders involved in the governance of flows. The aim is to involve stakeholders in a process of developing solutions. Workshops and working groups will be organized to initiate the process of reappropriating waste deposits with stakeholders. Stakeholders will be able to share their visions and expertise on the margins for maneuver, feasibility or the network of players to be integrated. In this way, the local authority will have an overview of both the theoretical and technical aspects of the various channels and the way the territory operates. Quantitative and qualitative data, analyzed using territorial ecology and political economy approaches, will help build a network of local players that takes into account the socio-spatial and temporal context, institutional aspects, the resource or material under consideration, and the needs of the area.
c. Proofing
The objectives of these tests are twofold. Firstly, to test the hypothesis that the models developed are facilitators in the social learning process. To do this, we’ll need to establish an appropriate testing protocol, the choice of which will depend on a synthesis of the literature on the subject that will also be conducted during the thesis. This step will also be a good way of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the stakeholder mobilization method chosen. On the other hand, it will also test the hypothesis that the integration of territorial issues in terms of needs, resources and waste reduction by stakeholders will help define a more sustainable organization of local production systems. This final stage will also provide an opportunity for the metropolis to take full ownership of the approach and understand how to maintain the collaborative dynamics created around the material circulation chain.
Planning and deliverables
Firstly, and in accordance with ANRT requirements, this thesis will give rise to the production of two interim activity reports presenting the progress of the thesis work at the end of the 12th and 24th months of the CIFRE, as well as the response to the final evaluation questionnaire. Depending on the start date of the thesis, and as far as possible, every effort will be made to ensure that these activity reports also correspond to the timetable of the CODEC project which motivated this thesis subject. In fact, the CODEC steering committee is scheduled to meet in autumn 2020 and 2021, at which time it would be useful to present the sector diagnoses and model proposals to the stakeholders mobilized by CODEC. Grenoble Alpes Métropole will be provided with a deliverable on the state of play of the two sectors (BTP, WEEE). In addition, methodological proposals to enable stakeholders to identify territorial circular economy levers will be delivered during 2021.
The final deliverable of the thesis will be the manuscript itself. In terms of work organization, the aim of the first year of the thesis is to diagnose the state of the two sectors in mainland France, and to propose a biophysical and organizational model to represent the initial situation. The second year of the thesis will be devoted to developing improvements to the model used for the diagnoses during the first year. The objectives here are to identify levers for making the territorial economy more circular, to assess the environmental impact of any alternatives that might be formulated, and to maintain a satisfactory level of involvement and ownership of the approach by the stakeholders concerned. Finally, the third year will be mainly devoted to testing the proposal and writing the manuscript. However, these activities will not be carried out solely during this period, as the research method envisaged is intended to be iterative. Thus, activities to prepare for testing, in particular the mobilization of the network of actors, will be implemented throughout the thesis and as soon as necessary.
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