Case study Identity Card

Long title: co-design of regional organic residue recycling scenarios
Geographical coverage of the case:The community of five municipalities Territoire de la Côte Ouest, representing the western quarter of the tropical French volcanic island La Réunion.
Case study team: Tom Wassenaar (CIRAD, Recycling & risks), Jérôme Queste (CIRAD, Green), Danielle Barret (CIRAD, DG)
Years covered: 2010-…

Case study description

The innovation under study: in Réunion Island, GIROVAR as a support for recycling organic residue into fertiliser products

A number of economic activities in Réunion Is. generate substantial amounts of organic waste. The disposal of this waste poses environmental risks and obstacles to development. The main sources of waste are animal manure, green waste, sewage sludge and sugar industry residues. The goal of the GIROVAR project, launched in 2010 with the support of a group of municipalities in the western part of the island, was to work with development actors to jointly produce analyses and action scenarios aimed at establishing a value chain to transform organic waste into fertilisers. As of 2015, when the research project was in the exploitation phase, all of the actors concerned had accomplished a paradigm shift from the disposal of pollutant waste to the economic exploitation of natural resources, altering their behaviour and implementing appropriate technical and organisational solutions. Moreover, the project has found scientific, institutional and industrial applications. Several impacts are anticipated in the medium term.

In 2010, CIRAD launched the GIROVAR project in conjunction with six other organisations, including a group of municipalities and the Chamber of Agriculture. The project concerned an area with a population of 180 000 in the western part of the island. The goal was to support the eventual establishment of a value chain to transform organic waste into standardised organic fertilisers for subsequent use by farmers on the island.

At the time, this was a particularly sensitive issue in Réunion Is.: in January 2011, a new fire started at the composting facility, leading the State to cease operations at the site. The application of EU waste management directives blocked traditional organic waste recycling processes. At the same time, soaring commodity prices affected imported chemical fertiliser prices. The GIROVAR project was therefore launched at a key moment that drove the State, the local authorities and the agricultural sector to think about a new way of organising organic waste management.

At the core of the project, consultations to co-design sector development scenarios

In 2010 and 2011, CIRAD explored the different dimensions of the issue, whether agricultural, technological, geographical, environmental or sociological, through training courses, surveys and studies, and using the findings of 15 years of technical research conducted in the field.

The next stage involved a consultation process structured around participatory workshops, technical focus groups and steering committees: every element was discussed, from the initial situation to potential solutions, along with appropriate target products for agriculture in Réunion Is..

This data was then used to co-design scenarios taking account of the relevance of practical solutions, the credibility of technical choices and the profitability of the installations proposed. The originality of the GIROVAR project resides in its use of multi-level, intersectoral consultations to accompany the emergence of an innovative organic waste recycling sector, bringing together actors from different backgrounds who seldom came into contact beforehand.

A project that raises awareness

This project was based on a plausible premise: it would be possible to turn organic waste in Réunion Is. into standardised, marketable fertilisers. This produced a shift in attitude that was voiced during consultations, but was also felt much further afield. The problem of waste was then approached as a matter of recycling involving producers of waste and consumers of fertilisers, rather than as a problem of pollution and waste disposal. For public actors in particular, organic matter was now viewed more as a product, and a versatile one, that was no longer associated only with energy, but also with fertilisers.

The main actors concerned (farmers, planters, manufacturers), the state services that were not directly involved and the scientific community welcomed this proactive approach, taking it into account in their actions and in public policy-making.

The rallying effect of consultation: tangible results

In 2011, the consultation underway mobilised the different actors concerned, who took advantage of the broad dissemination of knowledge and of exchanges between partners from different backgrounds (government, authorities, rural communities).

Among the political actors, motivation was clear: the Regional Council kept green waste composting in its strategic guidelines, and a coalition of interests formed pressing to increase legal thresholds for volcanic chrome and nickel levels in organic matter in Réunion Is.. In addition, two agro-environmental measures now subsidised the construction of collective waste treatment plants and the use of standardised organic fertilisers.

GIROVAR mobilised many different institutional actors, who took up the issue through its various tools: the creation of Qualitropic’s strategic committee on “biofertilisers”; a call for proposals; integration of this innovative activity into the Regional Council’s strategy; and training programmes by the Chamber of Agriculture and the agricultural college. The project thus led institutional actors to converge around a common goal: the creation of recycling plants to produce standardised fertilisers.

GIROVAR also enabled researchers to further their research. CIRAD and ErCane launched new research programmes on organic fertilisation of sugarcane. In the field, farmers could initiate individual experiments using organic fertilisers.

Among the other actors, motivation was seen in specific acts, not always with an explicit link to the project: the group of municipalities concerned by the project invested in the renovation of its green waste composting plant; sugar producers streamlined the sugar filter cake recycling to sugar cane fields; all livestock farmers now adopted manure spreading plans; and several poultry manure drying and granulation units were set up around the island.

When the project ended in late 2014, some real progress had been made and the Qualitropic business cluster and the national expert network on Fertilisation and Environment took over, one working with industries in Réunion Is. and the other with the scientific community in mainland France. Because of its methodology, the results of GIROVAR could also be of interest to other similar projects.

Measurable indicators to monitor the emergence of different impacts

Over and above growing awareness of the economic benefits of recycling waste and the tangible results achieved by the end of the project, the impacts expected over the next 5 to 10 years concern an increase in demand for organic fertilisers, thereby encouraging entrepreneurs to move into this sector, a decline in imports of fertilisers and higher gross margins for farmers.

To ensure the monitoring of anticipated impacts, indicators have been identified for different points: sales figures for local and imported fertilisers will measure increases in organic fertilisation; and the number of production facilities for organic fertilisers will determine whether or not a value chain has indeed been created. The project should also make it possible to measure price stability for fertilisers or the increase in margins for farmers.

Over a longer time horizon, GIROVAR is expected to have other important impacts, which will also be measurable: a reduction in the quantity of final waste; an increase in agricultural productivity resulting from farmers’ satisfaction in new products; the expansion of pig and poultry farms; an increase in organic farming on the island; and better water quality at withdrawal points.

More generally, these impacts could all translate into greater well-being for the inhabitants of Réunion Is.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders involved in the innovation process

Value chain stakeholders : most organic waste producers, fertilizer producers and agricultural stakeholders of the community of municipalities
Research stakeholders : CIRAD
Institutional stakeholders : local, regional and national government representatives

Stakeholders impacted by the innovation process

Value chain stakeholders : all organic waste producing sectors and the fertilizer sector of Réunion, involving agricultural, industrial and commercial stakeholders
Research stakeholders : CIRAD and INRA
Institutional stakeholders : local, regional and national government representatives
Other : transfer & innovation cluster Qualitropic