Europe also has the scene of household waste flooding the streets.

SGGP 03/27/2023 07:21

March 27 is the last day of the third week of the strike by garbage collectors protesting the French government 's pension reform bill. At this time, the splendid capital Paris is flooded with 10,000 tons of household waste.

Paris streets flooded with garbage

Heavy fines for littering

Protesters expressed anger at the government's use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution to pass the pension reform bill without a vote in parliament . They also expressed discontent with President Emmanuel Macron's statements that he would not withdraw the bill, which he said was necessary to secure funding for the pension system.

Since Article 49.3 was announced in parliament, the daily lives of Parisians have been severely polluted and show no signs of improvement. Bars and restaurants are almost empty, as no one wants to sit and drink beer or sip coffee on sidewalks filled with garbage. Parisians are increasingly dissatisfied with the protests of environmental sanitation unions as the garbage congestion has caused rats to rampage in public areas. In addition, the warmer weather and sporadic rains cause household waste to quickly rot and smell, creating a great risk for disease to develop.

It is regrettable that the city is currently flooded with garbage. Many vandalism incidents in recent days have further aggravated the already unsolvable situation for residents of inner-city districts. Residents are very upset because garbage affects their daily life, the environment and public health. They do not oppose the strike, but according to them, there are many better ways. A strike that leaves the city flooded with garbage is unacceptable, because it harms environmental sanitation and public health, affecting the basic rights and interests of the people. Moreover, the image of garbage all over the streets is not pleasing to tourists , leaving a bad impression on the splendid city of Paris.

Meanwhile, the city of Reading in southern England, at the confluence of the Thames and Kennet rivers, is also suffering from an out-of-control amount of household waste in some areas of the city. According to the Reading Chronicle, on March 23, the City Council announced the issuance of 395 fines for littering in the past two years, especially in 2021 and 2022, with the majority of these being 353 fines for littering, 28 fines for littering and 14 fines for businesses failing to carry out their obligations to collect and care for commercial waste. The number of fines has increased 59 times compared to 2020 and 2021.

Italy has also been fined 20 million euros by the European Court of Justice (EU) for its ineffective waste collection and treatment system in the Campania region, in the south of the country. In addition, Italy has been fined an additional 120,000 euros/day when the waste treatment problem has not been properly resolved, violating EU waste standards.

Constant worry

In addition to the domestic waste crisis that has lasted for many weeks, arising from the social crisis, France is inherently behind other European countries such as Germany, Norway, Switzerland - countries that have achieved the goal of reusing more than 90% of plastic products thanks to coordinated reprocessing and conversion into fuel. Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe once set a goal of reprocessing all plastic waste in France by 2025. However, this plan has not yet progressed and has also somewhat affected the common efforts of Europe in dealing with plastic waste.

In addition, Europe is also struggling with technological waste. On March 22, the European Commission (EC) proposed new regulations requiring technology equipment manufacturers to accept repairs for customers' broken devices in order to reduce the number of discarded technology products. The EU estimates that the number of products such as dishwashers, televisions or mobile phones that are discarded even though they are still usable in the countries in this bloc has led to the amount of technological waste up to 35 million tons per year. The cost of buying new replacement devices is up to 12 billion EUR/year.

Under the new EC proposals, manufacturers will be required to repair devices that are still under warranty if the cost of repair is equal to or less than the cost of replacing the device. Consumers will also have the right to ask companies to repair products within 10 years of purchase if they are still repairable, even if the warranty has expired. The new rules also seek to increase consumer awareness of the need to repair products that are still under warranty rather than replace them, by requiring EU countries to set up online databases to help consumers find suitable repairers… The focus of the proposal is to make it easier for consumers to repair their appliances and reduce the need to buy new appliances, thereby helping to protect the environment by reducing waste, greenhouse gas emissions and using resources more efficiently.

Consumer and environmental groups have long pushed for tighter EU rules to ensure companies offer easier options for repairing their products. European Consumer Organization Director Monique Goyens said products that last longer and are easier to repair would save consumers money and the planet’s resources.

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