Activity Resources, Resources for Sustainable Development: The Case of Waste Management in a Zoological Park in France

Aimed at raising awareness among the general public and visitors, the zoo-park was created in France to implement, develop and support conservation actions for the preservation of global biodiversity, as well as scientific research programs to better know the animals and protect them effectively. The park is thus part of a sustainable development approach and it has created a few years ago an anaerobic digestion plant (biological process that aims to transform the manure produced by animals into energy and natural fertilizers, as well as waste some of which are brought by local farmers). Like dump, other ways exist to manage the diversity of waste produced in the park. The dump has many problems depending on the agents in charge of waste management. Some agents mention the fact that they treat a lot more waste since the arrival of a couple of pandas, presence generating a number of visitors in strong growth. The work of the agents thus depends in particular on the number of visitors, the reservations to the hotels and their consumption. In high season, agents also see their workload increase. If they have to harvest the waste before the park opens, they are often required to take care of the waste in the afternoon. The arduous nature of the work of the zoo agents in charge of waste management is strong, as we will show. Not unrelated, many conflicts between employees of the park appear regarding the management of waste (e.g. poorly closed bags, bags too heavy, bags spilled in the local garbage). Noting these conflicts, the management tried to put in place various solutions in order to better manage these conflicts. Without conclusive results, the Management decided to address an ergonomist. We observed that the agents concomitantly developed other resources related to the waste sorting activity; the exploitation and the valorization of waste constituting some quite interesting.