How does the waste management system reorganised in response to a disaster? A case of the Roya Valley (France) after storm Alex

The present paper, based on a field study in the Roya Valley (southern France) following storm Alex (2020), aims to analyse the reorganisation of the waste system in response to a disaster: new stakeholders enter the system, while others become inoperative, new places serve waste management, etc. The study employs functional analysis to examine the evolution of the waste system across six timeframes of natural risk management: peacetime, pre-disaster alarm, disaster impacts, emergency, rehabilitation, and recovery.

The results illuminate the reorganisation of waste actors following a crisis and their difficulty in intervening in rapidly changing and unexpected situations. They also highlight the challenge for disaster stakeholders in incorporating environmental considerations into their practices. The findings contribute to the ongoing discussion on the transformation of waste and disaster stakeholders' duties, professions, and practices in a global context characterised by rapid change uncertainty.