Innovation

”Bac à marée is a usage innovation”. Bac à marée bins already existed but were not being utilized. Thanks to the creation of an application. Fabrice Faure establishes a network of Bac à marée bins. Citizens become true actors in the water de-pollution process: they can report when the bins are full and geolocate them. This network serves as an indicator for monitoring the ecological status of the coast. Additionally, Fabrice Faure creates the “Teo scale,” which allows for studying the effectiveness of these bins.

Innovations are underway, such as constructing a canoe as a means of environmental education and creating a virtual educational toolkit to raise awareness among young people about these important issues.

Inspiration

Fabrice Faure has always been very sensitive to environmental issues. He is self-taught, and since he was 18, he has been organizing actions with environmental and social goals. For example, he went on a cruise with young people to raise awareness about the lack of wastewater treatment plants in coastal cities on the Iberian Peninsula and demand their installation.

As a passionate boat builder, he embarked on a 13-year sailing trip worldwide in the early 2000s. Very enriching, this cruise was also a real turning point for Fabrice Faure: "Pollution is becoming increasingly impactful," he observed. He then questioned the purpose of building boats if they sail in polluted waters—the reason why he decided to dedicate himself entirely to fighting water pollution.

Overall impact

In addition to its certain social and ecological impact, Bac à marée works in partnership with many companies to incinerate the collected waste. It is important to incinerate and not recycle waste. Bac à marée acts as an alert system in this regard, “The plastic that comes from the ocean should not be recycled because it is loaded with persistent organic pollutants that accumulate,” says Fabrice Faure, lamenting the "greenwashing" of companies that recycle waste from the sea.

“Bac à marée” is a brand that, to some extent, helps to clean up the coastlines and seas. This brand belongs to the "Teo" Company, which is a cooperative society of collective interest. Teo's purpose is protecting the marine environment, whether it be through the waste collection or the analysis of quantities.

Business benefit

Bac à marée has a solid economic model: a single bin costs 700 euros per month, and these financial costs are shared by sponsors, the department, the local municipality committee, and to a lesser extent, the municipality itself. The company benefits from a prosperous economic model, thanks in particular to the great diversity of its financial resources. It is also important to note that Bac à marée has never faced investment difficulties from local communities since “it only responds to citizen demand.” However, the company would eventually like to become less dependent on local communities by forging new partnerships with private sector actors.

Today, more than 300 bins are located on French and foreign coasts (Spain, French Guiana). The goal is to expand the network on a European scale.

Due to its form (public interest company), the cooperative is part of the national litter network, allowing it to be aware of new developments, be part of the ecological and political news, and adapt its strategy.

Social and environmental benefit

Collecting more than 500 kilograms of waste per year per bin, Bac à Marée is fighting against sea and ocean pollution. But more than that, the company also acts upstream, at the level of rivers and waterways. There is a certain causal link between the sea waste problem and river pollution. Thus, Bac à Marée collaborates with local representatives; on the one hand, they carry out joint actions. On the other hand, they experiment with the share of responsibility of large agglomerations or isolated landfills in river pollution to find an origin and act accordingly.

Bac à Marée is a company that promotes social values: transmission and awareness. Fabrice Faure insists on the importance of these social actions because the problem of waste is ultimately caused by human lifestyle: humans are not sufficiently aware, perhaps unconscious, of their harmful ecological impacts. He says, “The money that is invested in de-pollution is less money to educate people.” Bac à Marée tries to remedy this through certain tools, such as the virtual educational kit intended for schools and high schools, but also through its policy of hiring many young people or its partnership with an engineering school. Above all, the social benefit is what motivates Fabrice Faure in everyday life: “One only needs to travel to admire a sunrise at sea without pollution and realize that future generations should be able to experience it as well.“

The company's actions are part of the Trait-Bleu program, with the aim of protecting a common good: the ocean. If more than 120 tons of waste are collected annually on our coasts, it is still not enough for Fabrice Faure. He said, "We cannot be satisfied with collecting waste; we must turn off the tap."

The company works in relation to the communities of communes and certain economic actors (waste disposal centers, recycling, etc.). It facilitates waste management for the municipalities and thus provides considerable help for all the regions in which it is established.

Interview

Fabrice FAURRE, Founder