Nice

Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is a French intermunicipal structure located around the city of Nice in the department of Alpes-Maritimes. It was inaugurated on 31 December 2011. It encompasses 49 municipalities with a total of around 550,000 inhabitants and covers an area of some 1,400 km2. It was the first metropolis to be founded in France and is headquartered in Nice. It is not, however, a true urban area as much of its territory is made up of natural rural and mountainous areas (forests, high mountains, beaches, etc.).

Its unique light and radiant beauty have always been sources of inspiration for the greatest masters in such varied fields as architecture, painting, music and cinema. The Old Town of Nice, ambassador of Sardinian architecture, stands as proof of the fact, along with a host of palaces and châteaux in the purest baroque style and a wealth of museums and art galleries. There’s the Nice Carnival, of course, and the Nice Jazz Festival. But apart from these internationally renowned gatherings, the Metropolis plays host to over two thousand cultural, festive and sporting events, including the Paris-Nice bicycle race, the Ironman triathlon and the Book Festival, marking the seasons as they pass and bringing Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur to vibrant life.

Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is a major tourist destination at national and international level alike. With some 5,700,000 visitors a year, the city of Nice is France’s top tourist town after Paris. Boasting outstanding surroundings, set between sea and mountains, it has succeeded in evolving and adapting to the global competitive context. Tourism is a real driver of the local economy; it is, in fact, Nice’s leading industry. Thanks to its undeniable natural and structural assets (including its international airport, the second busiest in France after Paris and the Republic’s first carbon neutral airport), the city enjoys sustained tourist traffic throughout the year, with the peak period between May and September and business tourism complementing leisure tourism. With high added value, the former helps spread tourist traffic over all twelve months of the year.

The Metropolis continues to flourish today thanks to a tourist trade that has been ensured sustainable momentum. Its infrastructures, recent achievements and major projects in the sphere of urban development all seek to improve users and visitors living environment. Among other things, Nice aims to become the “green city of the Mediterranean” and position itself as an eco-exemplary territory at European level.

Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur’s Directorate for Waste Collection and Management is responsible for ensuring daily traditional and selective waste collection, carried out by a metropolitan-owned company and private service providers, as well as sorting, treating and recovery of waste collected, overseeing and developing the facilities required for waste collection and management. It also contributes to initiatives promoted in the context of the Metropolis’ other competences, such as Proximity Urban Management.

Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur is committed to an overall approach combining a variety of existing waste treatment technologies and is largely autonomous in the sphere of waste sorting and recovery. 13 free waste reception centres are available to Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur inhabitants. They accept most forms of household waste (glass, paper, batteries, used oils, WEEE, vegetable matter, etc.). And finally, since 2012, Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur introduced a local waste prevention programme across its territory, with the aim of reducing waste production.

A wide range of preventive actions has been implemented, including promotion and distribution of composters for collective and individual use, creation and dissemination of “Stop Pub” (i.e. no junk mail) stickers, communication campaigns on food wastage, re – use, and distribution of doggy bags.

Almost 328,289 metric tons of waste was collected across our territory in 2015. With major seasonal variations in many of the Metropolis’ municipalities’ populations, it is essential to adapt our waste management to the varying inflows of tourists staying on our territory.

Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur draws on feedback from project partners in setting up sustainable waste management and prevention actions aiming to limit the environmental impact of waste management.