2023-12-27 15:38:00
“No to the incinerator”, we can read on the signs leading to the citizens’ meeting which was held this Tuesday in Givet. The subject of the meeting concerned the opening on January 8, 2024 of the public inquiry into an environmental authorization application with a view to operating a hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment facility in Givet. The promoting company is called Givet Recycling. It has started the process to acquire 11 ha of land in the Givet Community Activity Park (PACoG), near the towns of Beauraing, Doische and Hastière.
Dejected and dismayed, French citizens have the impression of having been duped. Because time is on their heels to oppose the project. They learned the news via an announcement in the newspaper L’Ardennais on December 20. No time to put together a solid file to compete once morest the promoter, they believe, because the public inquiry already closes on February 7. “As an association approved by the prefecture’s services, we are usually contacted, we are warned that this type of file is going to take place. There, damn it, we find ourselves back once morest the wall”, do not lose anger Sylvain Bomel, local citizen. “We cannot ignore the public inquiry, followingward the train will have passed and we will no longer be able to react,” supports Joël Dujeux, president of the Cvigilance association.
A Belgian promoter
At the head of the Givet Recycling company is Dutch-speaking Belgian developer Wim Pétillion, from PetillionGroup, specializing in road construction, demolition work and land remediation. In Ypres (West Flanders), Wim Pétillon already has a purification and physico-chemical treatment plant for construction waste (BTP). Exactly the same as the one he wants to open in Givet. “My work is the separation of products, I separate stones, organic materials, sludge which can be recycled into sand and reused by my clients as construction materials,” he explains.
Thermal desorption and C0²
Its other project, concomitant with the treatment plant, is a thermal desorption unit for tarry asphalt (a process which consists of gasifying the asphalt by heating it to 600°). This is where the problem lies for local residents. “There will be dust everywhere. What regarding the pollutants? I still remind you that we are in a nature reserve, that there are schools and residents nearby,” says Joël Dujeux. “Why does he want to settle here in Givet? Is the tip of the Ardennes only condemned to this type of project (see box)?” he questions once more, believing that the situation would be more interesting for the Belgians than for the French. “We don’t want to hear that Givet is becoming the dustbin of Europe,” says another. One of the explanations given by the promoter is that the port of Givet allows the river transit of materials via the Meuse, connections with Wallonia, and that a market was to be taken in the French Grand-Est Region. Annually, 950,000 tonnes of waste might be treated.
Finally, according to the developer, atmospheric pollution would be negligible. “We have a station which purifies the released gases. It is made with efficient techniques. We must respect French standards and we are well below,” he explains. “We have never been as sensitive to our carbon emissions reduction strategy as in our time. Greenwashing exists and we can help our elected representatives from the Community of Municipalities not to be naive,” says one citizens of Civigilance. If the DREAL (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing) organizes a public information meeting, the developer has said he is inclined to participate in order to reassure local residents. The notice of public inquiry indicates that the municipalities of Doische and Hastière are also called upon to give their opinion.
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