Waste in western French Guiana: eight visits in Saint-Laurent, four Maroni villages at 1 cm

Background

The Communauté de communes de l’Ouest guyanais manages waste over a territory stretching from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni to the villages of the upper Maroni, linked to the coast by river or by plane. Its waste prevention and management department wanted to follow the storage facility on the Paul-Isnard road, in Saint-Laurent, in pictures, and to have a measured record of the treatment units of the river villages, near which unauthorised dumps also build up.

What we did

In Saint-Laurent, eight visits between 11 October 2024 and 6 July 2026, each with photos taken from the same positions for before/after comparisons, 360° panoramas, a hyperlapse and a series devoted to the vultures that frequent the site; since December 2024, every visit has also included a 3 cm orthophoto and its plan. During cell filling, from 4 November 2025 to 25 March 2026, two solar-powered time-lapse cameras filmed the sorting platform at the entrance and the cells at the back, so that the clearing of one could be compared with the filling of the others. On 4 November 2025 the Apatou waste collection centre was mapped in turn: 1 cm orthophoto and plan. From 2 to 4 February 2026, five areas in Grand-Santi, Maripasoula, Papaïchton and Loka: positions recomputed on the permanent GNSS network, 1 cm orthophotos and stored-volume calculations, delivered on 10 February with a written caveat: under vegetation, photogrammetric volumes are not reliable and a LiDAR survey would be better suited.

3 related missions in the log

1. February 2026

   LiDAR and photogrammetryFrench Guiana

   1 cm orthophotos and volume surveys of the waste sites of four Maroni villages

   Papaïchton, Maripasoula, Loka, Grand-Santi · CCOG

   From 2 to 4 February 2026, five areas in Grand-Santi, Maripasoula, Papaïchton and Loka, positions recomputed on the permanent GNSS network. Volume plans delivered on 10 February, with a written caveat on the reliability of volumes under vegetation; 1 cm orthophotos sent on the 11th.

   • 4 villages
   • 1 cm per pixel

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2. November 2025

   Site monitoringFrench Guiana

   Two time-lapses during cell filling and an orthophoto of the Apatou waste collection centre

   Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Apatou · CCOG

   Two solar-powered cameras installed in Saint-Laurent in early November 2025, on the sorting platform and at the back, by the cells: images from 4 November 2025 to 25 March 2026, edit delivered on 3 April. On 4 November, a 1 cm orthophoto and plan of the Apatou waste collection centre.

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3. October 2024

   Site monitoringFrench Guiana

   Monitoring of the Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni waste storage facility works

   Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni · CCOG

   Eight visits from 11 October 2024 to 6 July 2026 (December 2024, March, June and November 2025, January, April and July 2026): each time, photos from the same viewpoints, two 360° panoramas, a hyperlapse and a vulture series; a 3 cm orthophoto and a plan since December 2024.

   • 8 visits
   • 3 cm per pixel

   Read the article

All missions