A player in sustainable development - Dalkia

Philippe Chalmin,
professor at
Paris-Dauphine
University, Chairman
and founder of Cyclope,
a research institute specializing in markets
for raw materials and commodities,
co-author of Panorama mondial des déchets
2006 (Global waste overview 2006),
and member of the French Prime Minister’s
Economic Analysis Committee.
“The price of paper pulp has risen,
oil prices are sky-high, and we are
seeing a lot of pressure on the markets
for certain metals, such as nickel and
copper. Even the price of an old metal
like lead, which would no longer seem
to be of much interest, has soared due
to the upsurge in world demand for
batteries: in the space of four years,
it has gone from around $400 to $4,000
per metric ton! We had lost all sense
of scarcity, and the markets are now
calling us to order. In these conditions,
waste is increasingly coming to be seen
as a source of useable resources.
It is gradually gaining the status of
a secondary raw material with
a commercial value. […] As raw
materials become more expensive,
we change scale. Recycling is becoming
more and more profi table.”
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