At the entrance to the Colmar-Berg landfill for construction waste, trucks wait patiently for their turn to unload their skips. With only one landfill open for the whole country, this can take hours.

This situation has put a toll on the construction companies. They lose precious time, and this can cause problems on certain sites. “A driver and his lorry can spend half a day, or even more, just to come and unload the waste at Colmar-Berg. This is currently the only open and accessible dump for our excavation waste. The construction companies have restarted their activity and we all need to go there," says Marc Giorgetti, owner of the Félix Giorgetti group.

This results in a huge loss of output and a horrible CO2 'tourism', as the trucks have to travel more kilometres per day for the same amount of waste.

Jean-Marc Kieffer, chairman of the board of directors , CDCL

Although he is not really surprised by this situation, which he has already faced before, the entrepreneur feels like patience is now wearing thin.

Economic impact and ecological impact

The economic impact on his business is real, and not of his making. “The loss of time on site is immense and therefore, indeed, costly. This congestion costs four times as much because of the time lost. But it is also an ecological issue, because our trucks have to cross the country to Colmar-Berg and wait there for several hours. The temperatures are low and the driver has to leave the engine running to heat the cabin," explains Marc Giorgetti.

Jean-Marc Kieffer, chairman of the board of the CDCL group, agrees: “This is a problem that has been bothering us for a long time. The few landfills we have left are constantly overloaded, which leads to an enormous loss of output and a horrible CO2 'tourism', given that, for the same amount of waste, the trucks have to travel more kilometres per day.”

Two landfills awaiting authorisation

This is an irritating situation, especially as professionals in the construction sector are still waiting for the opening of two new landfills. “Everything is ready. All that is missing is the operating permits. The files have been dragging on for a while, and the politicians must now do what is necessary to speed up the procedures,” Giorgetti insists.

In the meantime, the procession of trucks will continue at the Colmar-Berg landfill. And the queue will continue to grow.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.