Dealing with World Rowing Cup waste

The Aiguebelette Organising Committee and the Savoie Regional Government worked together to face these problems  at the World Rowing Cup II in Aiguebelette, France using recycling and environmentally friendly measures.

The beautiful Lake Aiguebelette location, which will also host the 2015 World Rowing Championships, had measures in place to ensure the impact of playing host would be as minimal as possible. To help make this happen environmental specialist Alix Duhamel has been working for the past year on identifying the production, type and volume of waste that would be generated at the World Rowing Cup.

Duhamel and her team set up an extensive recycling system, including the separation of compost, plastic and other waste at the dining facilities and separate recycling bins around the regatta venue. These were complimented by the latest in eco-toilets. Unlike the usual plastic-made portable toilet that smells strongly of chemicals, these eco-toilets were made from wood and had no smell. The toilet  worked by using compostable toilet paper and sawdust to treat human waste naturally.

For Duhamel the issue was explaining recycling and the eco-toilets  to people from a number of different countries. “We were dealing with 46 different nations, so we couldn’t just use English and French,” says Duhamel. “We had to rely a lot on pictures to illustrate how to sort the rubbish and use the eco-toilets.”

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This year acted as a test run for next year’s World Rowing Championships which will attract more athletes, administrators and spectators. “I didn’t know rowing before. We really learned a lot this year and it was good, but next year will be excellent,” Duhamel says.

Recycling does not always come naturally and according to Duhamel, one of the most difficult parts was explaining how to sort all of the different types of trash. Next year, the committee plans to have volunteers stationed at each of the trash receptacles to help athletes and spectators put their waste in the correct bin. Separating the waste appropriately is vital to the entire system. “If you don’t separate well, you cannot recycle,” Duhamel says. 

Duhamel spent the World Cup weekend getting her own hands dirty. She helped carry bags of recycling, checked on the eco-toilets and spent much of her lunch time in the dining area, stationed at the exit where diners cleared their plates and sorted their waste.

“It was the best time for us to be close to the athletes and the people,” Duhamel says. “We could explain to them what we were doing and why it was important.” The venue lends itself to this explanation by epitomising the beauty of a clean and natural environment. “We are really at an exceptional site, the landscape, the environment. It was really important to us to keep it in tact for the locals and the visitors,” Duhamel says.  

This recycling system was an example of what will be in place for next year’s World Rowing Championships and Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta In Aiguebelette from 30 August to 6 September 2015.