The Vinci Autoroutes Foundation has published a new study showing that, over the last three years, French people’s behaviour when it comes to waste management on holiday has stagnated.

This summer, the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation published the results of the ^10th edition of its survey on waste management on holiday, carried out by Ipsos. And the least we can say is that the results do not show any spectacular progress in this area…

A poor reflex

‘ The survey shows that, over the last 3 years, French people’s behaviour has stagnated and their awareness of the risks is clearly declining. As in 2022 and 2023, 27% of French people say they throw their rubbish out of their car window when driving on the motorway, and even 41% admit to doing so on the public highway,’ notes the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation, which also points to a growing underestimation of the risks caused by this behaviour. For example, only 59% of French people (compared with 69% in 2022) believe that throwing rubbish out of a car window could lead to a major fire hazard, and only 64% (compared with 71% in 2022) believe that it could pose a risk to biodiversity.

Unfortunately, the reflex of throwing rubbish out of the window is still alive and well, despite the increase in sorting equipment available to motorists: ‘ more than 1 in 10 French people (12%) admit to disposing of rubbish immediately in their car, without waiting for a rubbish bin, even though there are rubbish bins at 100% of motorway service areas, i.e. every 10 minutes or so of the journey ’, points out the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation.

Credit: Ipsos.com

Young people no more virtuous

Perhaps more worryingly, young people are no more aware of the importance of good waste management than their elders: 40% of the under-35s questioned said that they threw rubbish out of their windows when they drove on the motorway, whether organic waste (32%), cigarette butts (36% of smokers), paper and packaging (21%) or even plastic bottles or cans (19%).

Highly selective sorting

The study also looks at the sorting habits of motorway users, given that all service and rest areas on the concession motorway network are now equipped for selective collection. On this point, the Vinci Autoroutes Foundation observes that the behaviour of ‘French people on holiday’ has become more lax than that of ‘French people at home’: ‘ 76% of French people say they regularly sort their rubbish at service areas, 15 points less than in their daily lives ’. Impatience and a lack of desire to understand sorting instructions are primarily responsible for this slackening: ‘ 46% of French people who say they don’t systematically sort waste at service areas, i.e. almost 1 in 2, say they act as quickly as possible and use the nearest rubbish bin, and 31% of them say they don’t know how to do it,’ points out the Foundation, which has launched a new awareness campaign to encourage motorists to do the right thing, adding the necessary dose of humour to make its point.

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