Plastics at end of life, a geography of waste
When: 27.10.2026 18:30
Where: 48.850289, 2.326965
Organizer: Admin
What do plastic waste reveal about our societal choices?
Behind the promise of recycling, the management of end‑of‑life plastics reveals deep tensions between environmental imperatives, industrial interests and political decisions.
As waste volumes increase, a question arises: what does our way of handling plastics say about our models of production, consumption and regulation?
Plastic waste today constitutes a privileged observatory of contemporary transformations. By following their flows, their material properties and the social dynamics that organize their circulation, Jeanne Perez highlights the trade‑offs that shape waste‑management sectors and the limits of current responses. Why does recycling occupy a central place in public policies? What effects does this hyper‑focus produce on the end of the life cycle? What alternatives can be considered in the face of the difficulties of closing the loops?
This meeting proposes to open the discussion around recycling mechanisms, the organization of sectors and the collective choices that today guide plastic management.
The session will bring together Jeanne Perez, post‑doctoral researcher specializing in plastics and plastic waste, and Henri Bourgeois Costa, director of public affairs at Fondation Tara Océan and co‑designer of the cycle, and will be moderated by journalist Mathieu Vidard.
At the end of the discussion, you will have the opportunity to ask all your questions to our guests.
About the speakers
Jeanne Perez is a post‑doctoral researcher at the Espaces et Sociétés (ESO, CNRS) laboratory at Le Mans Université. Her research focuses on plastics and plastic waste, through an interdisciplinary approach crossing environmental chemistry and social geography. It falls within the field of rudology (the study of waste), developed notably in Le Mans, and analyzes the environmental, social and territorial issues associated with plastic materials.
Mathieu Vidard is a radio and television host and producer. Since 2019 he has presented the show La Terre au carré, entirely devoted to ecology. Since 2017 he has a daily scientific column every morning on the station’s morning show and presents the “Science Grand Format” segment on France 5 every Thursday evening in the early evening slot.
Henri Bourgeois Costa is a specialist in ecosystem geography. After a career in NGOs starting in 1997, he developed expertise on water, biodiversity and industrial environment (eco‑design, plastics engineering, valorisation). Since 2019 he has worked at Fondation Tara Océan where he develops advocacy on the circular economy, especially around plastics and toxins, and brings these issues to the international level within UN negotiations.About the "Plastics: a systemic poison" series
Organized in partnership with the Tara Ocean Foundation,
the series “Plastics: a systemic poison” explores a pollution
that has become global. Since the 1970s, scientific research
has revealed the extent of the problem: from oceans to mountains,
invisible microplastics penetrate our organisms and disrupt
ecosystems. The humanities and social sciences complete this picture by
analyzing the economic and social mechanisms of our dependence on
plastics.
As the seventh round of negotiations for an international treaty opens
this year, these meetings bring together researchers and civil society
to cross knowledge and inform public decisions.
The goal: to collectively rethink our relationship with plastics and
the environment.
→ Discover the series
Tags: plastic, circular economy, environment, recycling
Source: https://www.paris.fr/evenements/plastiques-en-fin-de-vie-une-geographie-des-dechets-113739
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