Welcome Second Life
the site dedicated to the reuse of objects in Nantes Métropole.
Discover Our Story
This site was designed on free software, with a view to sustainable development: the reduction at the source of the production of waste; access to free objects for all, including people in financial difficulty; the development of exchanges, material or even immaterial, between the inhabitants.
It is intended for individuals wishing to: –
get rid of an object, if possible without it becoming a waste –
retrieve an object that another individual is willing to give –
share / discover an experience, a story, a Useful contact relating to the second life of object
Featured News & Recycling Guidelines
Tips for Formulating an E-Waste Recycling Routine
E-waste recycling is an important consideration for a wide array of businesses, from those that manufacture and sell electronic and electrical items to those that simply use it in the day-to-day running of their firm. Read our guide to find out how to fulfill your duty of care.
Establishing a routine to recycle and manage your e-waste is an essential step to ensure you comply with legislation.
Indeed, in 2007 the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) Directive was passed, which gave any companies involved in producing, selling or using such products a duty of care.
The directive’s aims include improving the environmental performance of businesses, as well as encouraging people to reuse, recycle and recover such devices as much as possible.
As there are multiple facets to complying with the WEEE Directive, it is a good idea to enlist the help of a recycling partner programme. A firm that offers this service can assess your needs to assist you in establishing a routine that will protect the environment.
What’s more, they may be able to collect the waste directly from your company’s location, while some firms also offer a data wiping service, ensuring no sensitive information remains on the machines prior to their disposal.
First of all, however, your business and its dedicated corporate recycling partner will need to look at how your WEEE is stored.
For example, you don’t want your eco-friendly efforts wasted by poor storage that leads to environmental damage in the local area – so considering where WEEE is kept is essential.
What’s more, you need to make sure it is not placed with standard waste and then accidentally disposed of as such.
Looking at it from another perspective, you’ll also want to ensure it is situated in a secure place – or your defunct machines, along with the sensitive data they hold, may find their way into the wrong hands.
Next, you need to think about collection, data wiping and, of course, the disposal itself. If you choose a dedicated recycling partner, this becomes simple, as they can handle all these processes for you.
After collecting the items directly from your company, they can then ensure all machines are completely clear of data ahead of recycling.
The WEEE Directive dictates that recycling must be conducted by a licensed waste carrier, so check the company you select has this accreditation.
Alongside actually making sure all these processes are correctly carried out, you will need to produce paperwork to show your duty of care has been fulfilled. Another aspect your waste recycling partner can help you with, full reports of the steps taken are provided by some companies, leaving your business can concentrate on its core objectives.
So, what should you look for in a WEEE recycling partner? Among the key points to check are whether they can offer you full compliance with the WEEE Directive, authorised accreditations, authorised approved treatment facilities and a waste carrier license.
Firms that can provide you with full reporting services, collect your WEEE directly and furnish you with a dedicated account manager will help to make the process as smooth and simple as possible.
By following the above steps, you can make sure your business fulfills its duty of care and boosts its green credentials.
Single Stream Recycling: Making It Easier to Be Green
If it hasn’t already arrived, single stream recycling will be coming to a curb-side near you. The rate of residential materials being recycled has stagnated since curbside recycling began in full force in the 1990’s. This is not to say that your town’s recycling program may not be doing well. It just means that we can all be doing better. But with recycling rates hardly growing in the last few years, how can we do this?
Well, introducing single stream recycling to save the day! OK, so that’s great; but what is it? Single stream recycling is an attempt to make recycling collection as simple as possible for residence, so as to encourage everyone to recycle as many materials as possible. This is done by replacing your current collection bin or bins with a single large cart that will hold an entire week’s worth of recyclables including corrugated cardboard and magazines. Gone are the days of sorting different recyclables into different buckets, or even mixing your recyclable containers into one bin while stacking corrugated cardboard and magazines on the side.
As the name implies, single stream recycling will let you add recyclables to your new cart as you produce them, or in a single stream, just like the regular trash. Read a newspaper, throw it in the cart; have a can of soup, throw it in the cart; sort out your junk mail and throw it in the cart. No need for extra bundling, or extra piles; which means less clutter in your home or garage. Making recycling easier means more participation and more participation means that more materials get recycled.
With the extra space in your new cart, make sure you are taking advantage of all the materials that can be recycled in your area. Call your town or trash hauler to get the latest list of acceptable recyclables. There is a good chance that new materials may have been added since you last checked. Now that recycling is so easy and you have plenty of room in your recycling cart, there is no excuse for not recycling all the materials that you can.
Here is a list of materials that most towns are now accepting in their recycling program. If your town does not accept some of these, call them and ask why. There are markets available for all of these materials, so there is no excuse for these to be left out of your local collection.
Glass containers Metal containers Aluminum foil and containers #1 – #7 plastic containers Milk cartons Juice boxes Junk mail Corrugated cardboard Paperboard Newspapers Magazines and catalogs
Remember that it is still important to keep trash and non-recyclables out of your recycling cart. While your trash is simply disposed of in a landfill or incinerator, your recyclables are marketable products that become the raw material to make new products. With your help, that plastic bottle may become a fleece sweater that keeps you warm; or that newspaper may become sheet rock for your next construction project, or that metal container may be used in your child’s next bicycle. What you throw in the trash today is gone, but what you recycle today may come back to you as new. Respect it for the resource that it is!
After Renovating, Don’t Waste – Recycle!
Plenty of British people want to buy a house to renovate in France either because they love a good project, or because they want their French property exactly as they wish. But when renovating or improving a house – on a large scale or not – there is one thing you can be sure of: the builders will leave a mountain of rubbish…
Here are a few tips to reduce the quantity of rubbish that will be generated:
Reuse your rubbish:
The very first thing to do is to take care of this matter in the contract by including an express clause requiring the builder to be responsible – at no additional cost to you – for disposing of the resulting rubbish. Depending on the nature and the size of your project, this may often consist of wooden floors, brickwork, roof and floor tiles, and bathroom fittings that have been replaced, among other things. Make sure you have a clear understanding with the builder and his men with regard to any items that may be reusable.
For example, wooden floor slats can be cut up and used as firewood. Hence, you could use any floor joists of old barns or rotten beams that have been replaced if they are full of woodworm, sunken or in very bad condition. Knowing that oil prices have skyrocketed, suppliers of wood for burning have also increased their prices; so much so that you are getting a ‘free’ source of heating.
Remember that such items are supposed to belong to you: make sure the builder does not dispose of anything that you want to keep or reuse.
The way to deal with your rubbish is… the déchetterie:
Any items left in a barn or outbuildings that have been cleared and renovated need to be disposed of. In such cases, the builder may be reluctant to dispose of any TV sets or other unusable objects. You will have no other choice but to go to the local tip (déchetterie as it is called in France) and get rid of the items there yourself. A visit to the déchetterie could be quite an experience as you are entering another world- you’ll find Christmas trees next to fridges, old sofas next to paint tins. Be aware of the opening hours, as of course, it will close for lunch like every other establishment in France does. Within the déchetterie, you will need to identify yourself and say in which commune you live and give your address to the person in charge.
What to do with items made of iron
If the builder does not take away metal items, it may not be the best idea to take them to the déchetterie as it won’t always be accepted. If your French property is deep in the countryside, you may meet a well-established custom: a rag and bone man (known as a chiffonnier in France). This man comes round your village once or twice a month but does not ring his bell, so you have to watch out for him! Sometimes the municipal dustman will do a special collection and take away various unwanted items left outside your property. These may include iron objects, bedsteads and fridges but don’t worry, you will be notified of the times of such visits.
As you can see, the disposal of waste is a universal problem and authorities are generally quite strict on the matter. This is why it is a good thing to recycle!