“The expression plastic boiler is demagogic because it seeks to scare” believes René Revol, vice-president of the Montpellier Metropolis

René Revol : “On a un déficit considérable” en matière de traitement des déchets. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

René Revol, maire de Grabels et vice-président de la Métropole de Montpellier revient sur le débat sur la gestion et le traitement des déchets ainsi que sur l’opportunité de construire un collège au nord de l’agglomération.

You were one of the rare mayors of the Metropolis to speak out on the issue of waste treatment in the Metropolis. How will you vote this Tuesday ?

There is the end of a public service delegation at the end of the year. I am very surprised that all this was not anticipated by the vice-president. For me in the water field, when I have a DSP which ends in 2022, I prepare immediately from 2020. This is anticipated, organized. There is a sort of general improvisation there. On Tuesday we vote to open the procedure for the end of the DSP. The decision on the final form of the DSP will be determined in July 2025. Ametyst is not the whole of the waste problem. But the problem is monstrous. We operate 3,500 trucks each year. It costs CO2 emissions and soon landfilling will be impossible. The other solution is incinerators, we no longer have the possibility of building them. In Montpellier, 10 years ago everyone was against an incinerator and so there is the sector that I call luxury incinerator, the CSR sector. As I said, there are several forms of CSR. The debate over the coming months will determine the form it will take. This is not a plastic boiler, a demagogic expression because it seeks to scare instead of opening discussion. All this has to be worked on. If we do not create a CSR sector we would be forced to send it to incinerators. On Tuesday, I will read the deliberation and I will vote to initiate an implementation process with debate on the solutions. To replace this DSP and take a step forward. Behind, I approve of using our waste as an energy resource. In Northern Europe, in Switzerland, we understand that it is more virtuous to do it like that. The stakes are considerable, we have a gigantic deficit.

"We can't say anymore we'll see later"

You say that the metropolis has been burying its head in the sand on the subject for years.

In 1967 we decided to make the Thôt landfill. And that lasted until 2007. In the Alps where I came from, we had been sorting waste for 20 years. We could have made an incinerator. So we have to do a CSR. It should not be taken in a tense, definitive way.

Was Amétyst’s choice the right one?

Amétyst does not cover all aspects. What is good is bio-waste but it is poorly collected. But today the bio-waste corner is ridiculous in a huge room which is empty. Anaerobic digestion was a good idea but the ultimate treatment was missing. With the CSR sector we can achieve this. I visited some. The pollution emanating from a CSR is much less than the road which runs alongside the site. There is a debate to be had, without hysteria, to find a solution for our territory.

Bio express

Âgé 76 years old, originally from Grenoble, René Revol has been the mayor of Grabels since 2008. He is vice-president of the Métropole in charge of water and sanitation issues.

Élu à At the age of 60, he previously worked as a professional. the role of teacher in economic and social sciences for preparatory classes, particularly at the Jules-Guesde high school.

René Revol has been a political activist since 1967, first in the ranks of the Lambertist Trotskyists then within the Socialist Party and then in the Socialist Party. Rebellious France. A commitment which has enabled him to form a friendship. solid with the leader of LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. "I remain faithful è my convictions" he observes.

Shouldn't we take more time?

Tuesday's vote opens a consultation and development process. I am going to make this happen by setting up citizen consultations. Time will be taken. The award of a DSP is a minimum of eighteen months but the prefect says that on October 1, 2025, it is over. I have experience with Maera. We held a consultation, a citizens' committee. We talk with them every month. This work is difficult but it must be done. When François Vasquez says that we should not do that and that we must invest in sorting. If it transforms the 500,000 residents of Montpellier into 500,000 residents of Strasbourg, it won't be easy and there will always be 45,000 pieces of waste to process. It’s not improving sorting that will change everything. We are in a metropolis where there is a 27% poverty rate, people have other concerns in mind. It won't be easy everywhere. We are obliged to continue the sorting effort, make sorting of bio-waste compulsory and set up a CSR to sort even more.

Do you think that the zero waste policy has not really been implemented as François Vasquez says?< /p>

There were still 42 hires. François Vasquez was the boss. When Maéra boils over, I say it’s my fault. We have the responsibility, we must assume it. When we voted for the zero waste policy, no one thought that there would be no more waste. I warned François Vasquez at the start of his mandate to tell him that without an outlet he would not get through it. If we put tools in place, the population gets involved. There are no other solutions. We are continuing the sorting campaign but there will still be some left and we are obliged to do a CSR. We can't say anymore, we'll see later.

"We do not stigmatize the Collège des Garrigues"

You support the mobilization of parents for the creation of a new college in Grabels. But the Department has made its opposition known.

The Department has announced that it will receive parents. We pose a problem: that of population growth north of Montpellier. In Grabels, Juvignac, we see it. There are 9,000 of us, in 2028 we will be around 12,000. As mayor I anticipate all of this. The responsibility of public authorities is to anticipate and create schools. We make a very simple proposal, which is that there be a diagnosis of the situation of schooling for middle school students north of Montpellier, from Hauts-de-Massane to Aiguelongue . The Croix-de-Lavit district is neglected in Montpellier. This in no way means a stigmatization of the Collège des Garrigues.

The department evokes a mobilization against social diversity.

Yes, this is the press release from Kléber Mesquida. In Grabels, social diversity exists. I have no lessons to learn in this area. We must strengthen and enhance the Garrigues college, I am all for it. But there is a college that is missing north of Montpellier. And we have, with the agreement of Michaël Delafosse, reserved a plot of land of 1.5 hectares. It is next to Valsière and the bus-tram line stop. We need to discuss, we need to anticipate. If they find me another piece of land, in Montpellier, not too far away, I will be happy. We must not proceed through intermediary press releases.

Between yourself and Kléber Mesquida, the dialogue seems very difficult.

I am ready to meet him but he refuses to receive me. This is old-fashioned politics. When I have road problems I go to see Frédéric Lafforgues who is LR, we resolve them. Here it is a problem of general interest and the department is responsible for the construction of colleges. We have to hear the public voice, it's not Grabels against Hauts-de-Massane, we're creating a zero-unemployed territory together.

Where are we with this project?

The national inspection mission came to the field. Validation will take place in June. At that time funding will be put in place. We have a lot of volunteers involved in the project. I am hopeful that this will happen in the first quarter of 2025.