By Lise Kiennemann
CLAMART, France, Oct 2 (Sciences Po) - It is a place of a double renaissance: on the one hand, for recycled tarpaulins or advertising banners, and on the other, for those who transform them into bike bags or wallets.
As part of a nationwide government project under which long-term unemployed earn the French minimal wage for working on local projects, a workshop from Clamart, a suburb in the southwest of Paris, recycles materials that companies cannot use anymore.
In this workshop called “Rayon Vert” (“Green Spoke”), all of the four couturiers are people who have long been facing difficulties in finding jobs. They are now in charge of giving a second chance to out-of-date advertising banners. A few snips and stitches later, these become unique accessories, including pencil cases, tote bags or bike seat covers, that are then sold online or on markets.
"We seek to enhance the skills of our employees to facilitate their professional integration but also to offer a caring working environment to these people who often have a complicated history," Peggy Leblond, their technical supervisor, said.
"Rayon vert" is one of the about 1,900 “Ateliers et chantiers d’insertion” ("integration workshops and projects") subsidized by the state in France. In this country that has been recording high unemployment rates since the 1980s, these workshops were created, in 2005, to bring job seekers experiencing social and professional difficulties back into the labour market.
And while French unemployment is now at a 40-year low of 7.2 %, this initiative is still seen as a solution to further reduce this rate. In 2022, more than 63,000 people were employed in such workshops to work on environmental or communal projects, such as maintenance of green spaces, public works or city cleaning.
One of the advantages of the program is its 22-hour contracts. In “Rayon Vert”, two of the four employees are single mothers who long struggled to find jobs that would be compatible with their family lives.
But what makes these workshops unique is also the psychosocial support employees receive on top of their training. Thanks to the association, Sami Molazada, an Afghan political refugee who arrived in France three years ago, learned French and found a place in a residence.
And this model bears fruit. Of the ten employees who completed their training since 2017, seven found a job, and one was admitted into skills training. “Rayon Verts”' results are even more conclusive than at the national level. In 2021, about 25% of the employees who had just left one of these structures were found to be employed, according to a report from the French General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS).
Andreas Queller, an employee who is about to leave, says he is “finally” looking to the future "with serenity". "I have long been told that I didn't have enough experience. Now, I have a good professional background," he said.
Beyond providing them with new sewing skills, this job allow many of them to regain the self-confidence needed to succeed in the labour market. "Before I would look at job offers and not even dare apply. Now I do, even if I don't get a call back in the end," Bashra Khelfi, one of the employees, said.
But for Leblond, the success of “Rayon Vert” does not only lie in these individual stories. “We are helping individuals while trying to change the society as a whole by showing that many objects can be given a second life,” she said.
One of the materials they recycle the most are “kakemonos”, a japanese term which refers to vertically hanging advertising banners commonly used in trade fairs and which resemble calligraphy scrolls.
In 2022, “Rayon Vert” produced over 2,000 accessories from materials about to be wasted.
Comments