JCDecaux initiates the roll-out of next-generation public toilet facilities for the City of Paris

JCDecaux SE (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, announces the roll-out of the next-generation public toilet for the City of Paris, enhancing the service it provides to citizens as well as the millions of tourists at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In 2022, JCDecaux – a global-leading player, the inventor of the self-cleaning public toilet and the current operator of 435 facilities – was commissioned by the City of Paris to replace and modernise its facilities, following a competitive tender process that began in August 2020. The roll-out began after a 2-year manufacturing process.

More hygienic, more eco-friendly and with a higher capacity, these new facilities will gradually replace the current models to promote universal access to hygiene services in the public realm.

The toilets will be installed by early July 2024 on all the Olympic Games sites. Installation of the remaining models will take place from September 2024 to May 2025.

JCDecaux and its partners Enedis and Eau de Paris (Paris Water) will replace around 10 toilets a week, located throughout the districts of Paris, to ensure consistently high service quality in each of the city’s districts. Facilities will be removed and installed at night, to avoid disturbing traffic and pedestrian flows. The new installation will perfectly fit the current footprint.

Combining technology and manufacturing performance to serve Paris, Parisians and its visitors
Thanks to its 40 years of industry experience, JCDecaux harnessed the expertise of its fully-integrated teams in R&D, engineering, ergonomics, design and operations to jointly develop a facility that caters to every need of the City of Paris. The all-new model will operate faster, with hands-free interfaces and equipped with a second urinal cabin. JCDecaux was supported by an industrial value chain across France, mainly comprising SMEs, to manufacture facility parts assembled at its manufacturing centre in Les Yvelines.

The completion of these new self-cleaning public toilets represents an achievement, both from a technological and manufacturing standpoint. The Group overcame numerous challenges, whether technical, ecological or societal, to deliver an even higher quality service for Parisians and visitors alike.

With functionality as a top priority, JCDecaux’s teams designed a toilet facility with a spacious main cabin that enables universal access and a second urinal cabin, respecting the same footprint as the current facility. The waiting time between each visit to the main cabin is now reduced by a third, with the time between a customer leaving the toilet and it being available for the next customer reduced to just 30 seconds. During this time, the toilet cabin is cleaned and disinfected for the comfort of the next user. The urinal cabin is disinfected immediately after each user visit and available immediately with no waiting time. As a result, the capacity of the automatic public toilets in the capital will be doubled to accommodate 870 users simultaneously, while the availability of the service will be multiplied by four, making it the largest network of public toilets in any city worldwide.

Priority number two was low-impact. JCDecaux’s engineers developed a system that cuts water consumption by almost 2/3rds and electricity consumption by 1/3rd compared to the current position. In addition, JCDecaux focused on reducing the weight of the facilities to shrink CO2 emissions during manufacture and transportation by opting for lighter materials with an optimised design. As a result, compared to the previous cycle, this new facility’s manufacturing phase halves the impact of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Replaced toilets will be refurbished before being redeployed to other markets in France or internationally. Cleaning and maintenance operatives, who are pivotal to ensuring service quality, will now use cargo bikes during servicing, in an effort to promote environmentally-friendly practices and zero traffic congestion. Repairs requiring spare parts will be carried out by operatives driving electric vehicles.

A project championing universal access to hygiene in the public realm
Thanks to JCDecaux’s teams, the new facility has innovative features to encourage best-in-class hygiene standards.

• All customer interfaces will operate hands-free.
• The facility’s external fountain and wash-hand sink include a detergent dispenser, enabling all users to wash their hands when they are in the public space.
• The toilet bowl is washed and disinfected after each use, while an innovative cleaning process uses water economically to fully clean and remove any rubbish left on the floor.
• A free-of-charge app will also enable users to check the availability of facilities in their area, the shortest route to reach them and other useful information.
• The public will be able to report any vandalism or maintenance requests in real time so JCDecaux’s teams can respond as quickly as possible.
   

Design that respects the heritage of Paris
Patrick Jouin, who designed the French capital’s current fleet, was tasked with creating the new facility’s aesthetics, aligning the silhouette with the existing model. This enables the easy identification of the service by the public, seamlessly integrating into the Parisian cityscape and providing an elegant, sleek and timeless aesthetic with this subtle redesign. Particular care was taken with the roof to provide a visual amenity with the surrounding buildings.

Readily accessible facilities
The new toilets fully comply with NFP 99-611, which is the go-to standard for public sanitary facilities. They are fitted with a "C" type cabin, allowing ample space for a person in a wheelchair to make a complete turn and leave the wheelchair on its side if moved on to the toilet seat. The facility’s multiple features serve to guarantee greater access. These include level access, hands-free buttons positioned at optimal height, large mirrors, accessible coat-hooks, a washbasin, a detergent dispenser and hand dryer, and adaptive lighting. In addition, a standard-compliant (NF S32-002) remote control provides instructions for people who are visually or hearing impaired. Externally, these messages guide users to the toilet (within a 5-metre radius), updating them on availability (vacant/cleaning underway/occupied). Inside the facility, operating instructions are given next to each of its amenities. The second urinal provides the added advantage of increasing capacity for people with reduced mobility as they use the main cabin.

Patrick Jouin, the Designer behind the new facility, said: “Working in tandem with JCDecaux, we enter a new era for the French capital’s cityscape. True to the aesthetics of our initial model, this next generation of public toilets takes on a sleek design, with a more distinctive silhouette designed to interact with Paris’ iconic urban infrastructure including its Morris columns and Wallace fountains. All features harmoniously fit to scale.”

Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “As the French capital prepares for the arrival of millions of visitors this summer, we are proud to initiate the roll-out of a new generation of self-cleaning public toilets. In line with our commitments, we installed the first of these new models on schedule. I want to commend this achievement from an industrial and operational perspective, and sincerely thank all of our teams and partners who worked tirelessly for the duration of this initiative. For more than 40 years, JCDecaux has strived to promote public hygiene, drawing on its founder’s invention of the first-ever self-cleaning toilet in 1981 with the two inaugural models installed in Paris’ Beaubourg district. Backed by its unique expertise as designer and operator, JCDecaux currently manages the world’s leading network of automatic public toilets, with 31 million users per year. Our toilets in Paris serve more than 15 million users each year. Thanks to this new model, Paris will benefit from the most innovative and greatest capacity fleet in the world. We remain convinced of the growing use of these facilities, with increased universal access to hygiene in the public realm.”