Green Crew Hero, Benoît Magne, Founder of Fin de Déchets
Green The Bid Crew Heroes is a series that highlights individuals who bring sustainable practices on set and seek to inspire others to do the same. Production can’t happen without crew-members, and the same is true of their support of Green The Bid.
Here Green The Bid’s Jessie Nagel talks to Benoît Magne, founder of French sustainable production solutions company, Fin de Déchets .
J.N. Tell us a little about yourself.
B.M. My name is Benoît Magne, I am 38 years old, and I used to work as a set PA for around 10 years. I created the company “Fin de Déchets” in the beginning of 2020. “Fin de Déchets” can be translated as “End of Waste” or “Hungry of Waste”. In French, the pronunciation of Fin (the end) and faim (hunger) are very close. My company is a waste management company that helps production to sort their waste on set, recycle and reuse more. We allow film production, from small crew to big Hollywood companies, to recycle more than 50% of their waste, from organic waste to plastic wrap, cardboards, Polystyrene, cans, metals, paper cups, electronic waste, sprays, paints, wood, and we give them a monthly waste report so the crew can know the ratio of recycling on their shoots.
I was alone with a truck at the beginning and we are now 8 people and 3 trucks. We ‘ll move at the end of the year to a 400 sq m2 property, in order to develop the re-use of art department waste. I have worked on approx 70 projects, mainly platform & TV series, along with 15 or so commercials.
J.N. Where are you based and what societal changes do you see happening in people’s daily lives when it comes to the waste and resuse?
B.M. I am based in Villetaneuse, a city in the northern suburbs of Paris. In this area we are close to a lot of studios and rental equipment services. Since my start two years ago, you can feel, but not yet see, that recycling, reuse or upcycling will be more and more important in the next few years. The government and a lot of cities are searching for solutions that can reduce the waste that goes straight to landfill. Architects and designers are eager to use waste as resources. But a lot of people are still thinking of waste as garbage that has to disappear quickly, they still don’t understand that it is a resource for other people. So there is a lot of education to do in order to link the waste as resources to the people (or companies) that need it.
J.N. What first inspired you to start your company?
B.M. The first idea of the company was when I was riding through the Sahara desert from Morocco to Senegal and there were no solutions for your waste. Even though you try to reduce waste as much as possible, when you throw something in a trash can in a small shop in the middle of nowhere you understand the concept of “footprint”. The plastic problem there is overwhelming. The people burn their plastic waste in their backyard. So after this trip I decided to do something in recycling and upcycling waste.
J.N. When do you typically get involved in a production and what is your starting point?
B.M. Usually they call me in preproduction, 5/6 weeks before the first day of shooting. But more and more I work at the beginning of preproduction in order to put recycling bins in production offices and construction/art department office. And sometimes other productions call me at the last day of pre-production because everything is ready and they are thinking, “what if we try to recycle our waste?” so you have to be ready in 24 hours!
J.N. When it comes to environmental sustainability, what are some of the things you’d like to see adopted by all productions?
B.M. I think they will have to create a job for someone who will be in charge of sustainability for the production : transportation, Energy, waste… Because location managers, unit managers, production designers have so much to do that they will often forget to work in a sustainable way, even if they want it.
So that means also that I would like for the producers or tv channels/platforms to look for results for sustainability in their productions, not just pay the bills and see how it goes. They have to say to the crew that there is a goal to reach in sustainability (i.e. reduce 10% or 30% carbon emissions, waste…)
J.N. Why did you decide to become a member of Green The Bid?
B.M. I think it’s great to look for solutions globally. If something is working in L.A or New York or London, it might also work in Paris ! Since the industry has to shift quickly into a more eco-friendly environment, all the good ideas have to be shared.
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