Food production and waste disposal on an island: local loop on l’Ile d’Yeu

Resource management is crucial in this territory of 25km² and 4 870 inhabitants (30 000 in summer). Different projects have been developed in order to increase local food production and reduce and reuse waste locally to reduce maritime transport of waste and resources.
"Terres Fert’île" (fertile island) project started in 2014 in order to increase local food production. Partners include city council, local farmers, and citizens through local organizations. Strategic focus has been put on identifying obstacles and removing them.
Two main issues have been identified: lack of farming land and farmers’ concern about saturating local market
Actions have been deployed to provide new farming lands: identification of abandoned lands in agriculture-compatible areas, research of owners, clearing of wild lands… A call for candidates has been issued.
Other actions have focused on better understanding local market and on finding ways to increase outlet for local production. In particular, kitchens in schools and senior housing have been identified as potential partners and workshops have been organised in order to pinpoint how to promote a more important proportion of local production in their supplies.
Further on the bio-based circular economy, a program has been implemented to reduce and reuse organic waste. These actions range from reducing food waste to promoting composting. For example, green waste is transformed into compost with an accelerated process in a new facility.