It’s happening on the Lil’Ô site in L’Île-Saint-Denis (93). This is where the « Earth Makers » deploy their fertile substrate demonstrator. The consortium includes Neo-Eco, Halage and ECT. It develops a pooling of skills and resources. The aim was to validate the manufacturing process for a new fertile substrate. A growing medium made entirely of recycled products: inert soil, crushed concrete and green waste compost.

The conviction of « Les Faiseurs de Terre » is that this fertile, recycled, local and supportive substrate should become the basis for the greening of territories. And that it can be a powerful vector for the development of training and jobs.

Enhancing the value of the fertile substrate manufacturing process

This demonstrator is financed by Plaine Commune and the « Faiseurs de Terre ». It is the result of 2 distinct initiatives: Plaine Commune’s consultations and reflections on urban metabolism, and more specific exchanges between the 3 consortium members on technosols.

The aim of this initiative is to experiment, test and approve the conditions and methods for creating a fertile substrate. This standardized substrate is ideal for a wide range of uses in green spaces and nature areas. In this way, the steering committee defines a technical and scientific framework for the experiment.

Land Makers » training is an integral part of this project. This is a skills training program aimed at people on the move. This training is fully associated with the demonstrator and constitutes its human resource.

A project that encourages the greening of territories

This demonstrator is part of a circular economy approach to materials and urban greening. Indeed, the fertile substrate produced by the « Earth Makers » is entirely derived from recycled materials.

• Crushed earth and concrete from urban construction sites
• Green compost is produced from urban vegetable waste.

In this way, the demonstrator intends to formalize full product traceability, from the waste producer to the reuse site.

Finally, through this experiment, the « Earth Makers » aim to produce fertile substrate locally, to match the urban metabolism of the Ile de France region. This substrate is intended to be used as a planting medium for both large and small projects in the area. This will give us the means to limit the environmental aberration of importing massive quantities of topsoil.