Our consumer societies are large producers of all kinds of wastes. The European and national regulations are increasingly rigorous and preach the recycling of these products rather than just throwing them away.

In result, flows of collection and reprocessing between cities will be increased.

The Port of Lille, in partnership with the Urban Community of Lille Metropole and with the support of Inland Waterways of France (VNF), has been instituted as a pioneer for the organization and the multimode transport of these flows.

By transporting, since 1999, several tens of thousands of tons of household refuse in containers by waterway means, it highlighted the perfect adaptation of the river transport for these kind of traffics.

The experience in the summer of 2003 extended this to the used glass recovered by a selective sorting. Other matters could be taken into account in the future, such as wood, paper, paperboard, electronic products, white products, etc.

By implying themselves in this field and by placing at the disposal of the local communities its know-how as regards treatment of flows, the Port of Lille works everyday for the common interest.