Supporting professional integration with a bread recycling project in France

“Pain pour deux mains” ("Bread for Two Hands"): a new bread recycling project in the north of France geared toward disadvantaged job-seekers.

The Air Liquide Foundation is helping the association Chantier d’Insertion Professionnelle Relais Emploi Solidarité (CIPRES) diversify its activities. After working on construction and land management projects for 20 years, CIPRES launched a new bread recycling program for unemployed women.

Long-term unemployment

The Pas-de-Calais region (north of France) is one of the areas of France most hard-hit by unemployment. In 2017, the unemployment rate reached nearly 12%, compared to the national rate of 9.4%. Social and professional integration acts as a springboard for disadvantaged job-seekers, allowing them to reach new heights and regain their self-confidence. In service of this goal, CIPRES provides individuals on government assistance with "fixed-term integration contracts" (Contrats à Durée Déterminée d’Insertion) in construction and rural & natural development, allowing them to rejoin the social fabric.

Cipres

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© CIPRES Association 

Bread recycling: a new integration program

CIPRES has decided to develop an additional program that focuses on women, who are typically underrepresented in the association’s other programs. The project aims to turn stale bread into breadcrumbs that can be used as animal feed (for cows, pigs, etc.), and is set to produce 1 ton per day. The program welcomes eight persons throughout the year, for a period lasting anywhere from 6–24 months.

Project benefits:

  • develops an activity that is part of the circular economy
  • provides a practical solution for food waste that recycles unsold or unused bread from bakeries, supermarkets, cafeterias, etc.
  • provides disadvantaged job-seekers with the opportunity to acquire skills, facilitating their return to employment

By working in logistics, production and sales, participants in this integration program can acquire expertise that will significantly aid them in finding a new job, particularly since versatility is the name of the game in the workshop: everyone has to be able to do everyone else's job.

How is the Air Liquide Foundation involved?

The Air Liquide Foundation helps acquire the equipment needed for the dry bread milling machine.