SMD3 - Additional charges

We run a gite and have a SIRET number, Auto Entrepreneurs. We took over from the previous home owners and accepted that we had two sets of bins. We did not think much about this even though we have had to pay double the annual standing charge.
Recently our village needed to make a decision whether our refuse would be collected from a point very near our properties (Door to Door) or if we should take it to central refuse area located on the edge of the village and empty into a community container. The vote was in favour for ‘Door to Door’. The annual charge for this being higher. We voted for the latter but we were out voted, the argument being old residents could not take the refuse so far. So all the bins are now bar-coded and the amount of times they are emptied is recorded and any additional emptyings above the allocated number will incur additional charges. We accept this and we are very frugal with our refuse production. Now for my gripe.

This year was a trial run by SMD3 and not charged by the new system, just recorded by their system to give everyone an idea ready for the new charges to start next year. We managed to Not to use the extra Business bin and thought that this would be good for us next year. We decided that we could manage without the ‘Extra’ Business bins. We calculated that it would be better financially for us to use only our normal bin and if when we had gite guests and we needed to have additional emptyings we would just pay for this on top of the standard charge. We contacted SMD3 to ask them to cancel the extra bins only to be told due to the fact that we were a business with a SIRET number, we had to have the extra bins and we have no choice in the matter. So we have to pay 2 annual standing charges Private & Business. We only have guests for a few months in the Summer so most of the time the bins are in storage but trying to explain this to SMD3 does not help change the situation.

Has anyone else come across this situation? We have yet to find out if ALL SIRET number holders are in this situation or whether it is specific to certain businesses.
SMD3 say we cannot get out of this until we cancel our business!

I would appreciate it if any replies would STAY ON TOPIC.

Yes. We managed to avoid it in the end it but were initially told when applying to renovate the workshop as a gĂźte that would have to pay two sets of refuse charges, plus two TV licences, plus two everything else! And CFE on top!

@gregca
I’m wondering if you can “cancel” the tag for your private residence 
 using the business one for both properties


Our commune is just beginning this saga and I know that not every householder has (as yet) “applied” for the electronic tag.

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The system is up and running in our commune with the card required to swipe open the ultra dechettes bin. The trouble is that very often the cards will not work which has resulted in black bags dumped alongside the bin. The foxes are loving it, great system!!!

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Our neighbour (with 2 gites) also has to pay for a ‘business’ tag.
At least your commune got a vote, ours did not. We have to go to the new location bins.
I will say its cleaner and tidier than it used to be with black sacks / yellow sacks in open big wheelie bins.

Tags were needed here last week, for the first time

OH helps the oldies with their stuff as they can’t open the “traps” in the big bins
 he told me that the dratted cards worked eventually, but only with perseverance

(the oldies adore him - their hero :rofl:)
We don’t have black-sack stuff but got a tag just for dechetterie use as and when


Councils are trying a similar thing in Sussex, our friend with a converted Oast had to have a commercial bin (bloody huge) so cancelled his domestic waste from his house, took ages and arguments but he won through in the end.

Short answer, if you have a SIRET, then you are potentially a business waste user. The unfortunate part for you is that the bins were already allotted to that business use.
Other than closing the business, then redeclaring a new one at some stage in the future e.g. 1st Jan, without requesting a business bin from SMD3, I don’t really see a way around your quandary. Of course, if you want to advertise the güte with the mairie or tourist office, they might force you to provide business waste disposal facilities, and you’d be back to square one.

Thank you for all the replies so far.

My annoyance is that why should I pay for something that I do not use?

It appears to me that this is yet another of the negative things that happens in France.
Are we being penalised just for having a business? If we show that we are not using the bins (which is the case) why should we have to pay?

We do have a another issue with SMD3 relating to our domestic bin but I think that this can be saved for another day.

surely the two things can be sorted
 cancel the domestic bin


we all produce “rubbish” of one sort or another and it all has to be dealt with


we pay although we do not produce a black-sack as such

we feel that what we pay goes towards the costs of recycling glass/paper/etc which we do use

and it means we are covered for the occasional dechetterie usage which is a godsend on occasions


All households HAVE to pay for the waste collection. On your Taxe Fonciere this appears as TEOM or Taxe Ordures Menageres.
From next year that will disappear and you will have to pay SMD3, there is no way out. Many who do not produce ‘black bin rubbish’ have asked but have been told they still have to pay.
There is quite a lot of local animosity to SMD3, see these links (in French):

Facebook, if you have access

Edit: I don’t know why the link shows as German, but it takes you to the correct page!

must confess, at one meeting SMD3 definitely told us someone could “share” a bin or tag with a neighbour if both only had a small amount of dechets


seems a good idea as each would pay 50% of the tag price

SMD3 are well known for being economical with the truth, especially in public meeting in order to not upset the residents there!

Basically paying Taxe Fonciere means you will have to pay SMD3. It is considered a tax and they have every household’s details from the Tresor Public.

It is fair to add that it has recently dawned on Maires and elected officials that SMD3 are not giving value for money and at least two Mairies have opened up complaints books for residents to sign. Likely others may well follow suit.

It is all a bit of a carve up really. The board and president of SMD3 are all elected officials from different communes, including a few maires, who saw the potential and set up SMD3. They subsequently ‘persuaded’ their fellow maires to sign up to SMD3 without much consultation with their electors. Very few communes did not sign up, Bergerac being the largest. Although they may now be falling into line as well.

The local group I linked to above has been growing and now has quite a large following, and they have joined with other groups nationwide too. Whether they have any effect remains to be seen.

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Intrigued what you do with things not recyclable ? Surely they go into the black sack ?

SMD3 have been discussing things for years

thus, when they promised me (in front of a room full of witnesses) that they would weigh my dechets and only charge me for the weight I put into black-bag bin
 I started to change my lifestyle
 looking very carefully at packaging etc etc


Frankly, if it can’t be recycled, I don’t buy it


the fact that they’ve reneged on every promise, makes me glad I’ve taken such pains to minimize my impact on the environment
 so something good comes out of the SMD3 mess


Again some good and helpful replies. This really is a nasty can of worms! Not what I leave in my bin although some of our gite guests have managed to do this (in our BIO bin destined for our compost heap not for SMD3 to deal with.

So from the replies it appears that SMD3 do not want to reduce waste and thus help the environment otherwise they would welcome offers for homes to share bins and for people like me to ask for half the number of bins. Money is all it is about, do I need to even state this. Angry yes but what can we do about it. Do these meeting ever change anything? Is there an alternative choice to SMD3 out there?

Personally we have approached SMD3 on a different matter and this was also met with quite terse and unfriendly reply from them. In posts on other subjects I have mentioned that we have a severely disabled and blind daughter. She will soon be sixteen years old but due to her disabilities which are many she will always require nappies. We try to limit the number which she uses but it still varies between 4 on a good day to 10 on a bad day. This has been the case for 16 years! These are the main items which fill our bin. We are very good recyclers but we cannot do anything about the nappies. We asked SMD3 if the could help us with this and give us any dispensation due to our situation. We received quite negative and unhelpful response from them stating that they had no control over this and it would take a change in the government policy on the matter before they could help us. This seems to me to just be an easy to pass the buck and the blame why they would not help us.
So we have to spend a lot of money buying the nappies (no help here either) and then spend more money to dispose of them! Now maybe people will understand why I am angry and upset with this situation. We have a lot of problems and worries to deal with and this just compounds things.

have you checked with your GP 
 re her need for nappies
 might be available on prescription

SMD3 are supposed to make special arrangements for disposal of nappies/incontinence/whatevers
 are you being offered this ???

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Does your daughter get APA? There should be an element for incontinence protection.

Not sure about disposal tho’, but as Stella says this is special waste so there should be special arrangements for an adult. Not at all the same as a baby which is short term. Disgraceful if not!

Hello Jane what is APA?