Drastically reducing waste pickup frequency in the city of Cannes

In 2022 the city of Cannes in the south of France was using 16 new underground compactors for residual waste and plastic packaging. “These underground compactors make our city cleaner and safer and at the same time they reduce pick-up frequencies,” says Florian Vincent, Projects Director for the Communaute D’agglomeration Cannes Pays de Lerins. “Back in 2020 our first 4 underground compactors were installed along the main boulevard in Cannes,” he continues. “At the time we were using large numbers of jumbo-sized wheelie bins for the collection of packaging and residual waste on the boulevard. Capacity was limited however, which meant we had to empty the bins up to 7x per day. On a busy boulevard full of tourists, emptying bins 7x per day is undesirable, not least because of the unsightly image they present. That meant we were on the look-out for waste collection solutions which offered us large-scale capacity as well as a cleaner appearance.

This showed that the compactor is a proven and reliable technology

“Eventually our search led us to Vconsyst France, the distributor of Sidcon underground compactors in the country. Sidcon uses a compacting mechanism which provides an extremely high capacity. Compared to a regular underground container, it can take up to 10x as much waste. We were pleased to hear that these compactors were already in widespread use throughout the Netherlands, thus demonstrating that this is a tried and trusted technology.

The first underground compactors was installed at the boulevard

“In 2020 we installed the first 4 underground compactors along the boulevard. We went down from using large numbers of wheelie bins to just 4 underground compactors for packaging and residual waste. Waste collections decreased from 7x a day to just 1 every 2 weeks. This was a huge drop and meant reductions in cost and traffic movements.

“The underground compactors now give us a cleaner city and have also reduced fly tipping. This drop in illegal dumping has been noticeable among inhabitants and the waste collection service. On top of that, we have been able to reduce the cost and the space required for waste collection significantly. The underground compactor has a small footprint (1.45 x 1.45m), whilst an above-ground container can take up to 4 square metres of space! The increased capacity, smaller footprint and silent compactor mechanism are major benefits of the system. After our positive experience working with these underground compactors, we have installed 12 more at different locations throughout the city.

“These underground compactors make our city cleaner and safer and at the same time they reduce pick-up frequencies”

Everybody is looking to save costs with waste collection and wants to make the city more attractive and clean.

“The underground compactor is equipped with several sensors, which indicate filling levels: this information is used to optimise the routes and allows me, the manager, to perform data analysis. For example, we can see the tonnages of waste collected , monthly variations and usage patterns. This data can be harnessed to improve waste collection yet further.

“I am certain Cannes will be expanding use of the underground compactors in the future. The higher capacity provides us with big savings in collection costs and a smaller footprint helps clean up the appearance of the city. I see major added value in installing Sidcon underground compactors in other French cities. Everyone is looking to save costs on waste collection and making their cities more attractive and clean. Sidcon’s underground compactor provides both of these benefits.”