Marrec, Anaël <br/><br/>
“Garbage Revolution”: The Genesis of A Methanisation Firm and its Transformation from Anti-Nuclear Activism to Green Business (1977-1990) 

 -  2024.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 80 
<br/><br/> In the 1970s, environmental movements promoted renewable energies as democratic, decentralised and ecological alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels. During this period, a group of activists were fighting against the project to construct the Superphénix fast-breeder nuclear reactor project at Creys-Malville (Isère) in France. When they decided to create a biogas technological start up, Valorga, however, they were anxious to avoid being solely defined by their previous “anti-stance”. The firm was thus positioned to respond to two significant challenges facing Green Business in the 1980s: the challenge of increasing use of renewable energies and the challenge of waste reduction. Valorga targeted medium-sized towns that were facing difficulties in treating their waste and proposed equipment that could produce both biogas and fertiliser from household waste. The company was actively supported by environment networks as well as by public authorities from municipal level to the level of the European Union. The success of the prototype in La Buisse (Isère) was followed by the construction of an industrial-scale unit in Amiens (Somme) and the company’s success led to an increase in its workforce and increasing capacity to treat waste with its equipment. Nonetheless, these former anti-nuclear activists have had to deal with significant difficulties that have jeopardised their initial political and environmental objectives. This article analyses the extent to which the “garbage revolution” promised by this firm has been transformative and questions whether Valorga has succeeded in its objective to offer an alternative ecological project.