What you need to know about the anti-waste laws in France: The AGEC (anti-gaspillage pour une économie circulaire) law was passed on 10 February 2020. Amongst other things, it’s aims are mainly:
- to remove disposable plastic;
- to better inform consumers;
- to combat waste and promote re-use;
Today, several measures are already part of the daily life of the French:
Stop/reduce the use of plastic
- Prohibition of certain single-use plastic products (plates, straws, cups, cutlery, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene boxes).
- End of disposable dishes in restaurants, especially fast food, for meals eaten on site.
- Removing plastic packaging around fruits and vegetables that can be sold in bulk.
Information on sorting and sustainable products
- Improvement of recycling signage.
- Generalization of the collection of plastic packaging in the yellow recycling bins.
- Implementation of the repairability index: In 2020 in France only 40% of faulty electrical and electronic devices were repaired. In order to reduce waste, the government aims to increase this proportion to 60% within five years thanks to the establishment of a repairability index to be displayed in stores.
- The repairability index is a mandatory note to appear on the products at the time of purchase.
- Requirements for manufacturers to publish detailed information on the environmental characteristics of products (e.g. for textiles, geographical traceability of manufacturing stages).
Reducing waste
- Prohibition on disposing of unsold non-food products.
A second life for products
- Implementation of the “repair bonus” for electrical and electronic devices.
- Implementation of in-store take-back of several everyday objects: furniture, toys, sports and leisure items, DIY and gardening items.
10 upcoming actions between 2023 and 2025
- A new sustainability index on electronics. From 2024, the repairability index becomes a sustainability index taking into account 3 criteria: robustness, reliability, scalability. The first products concerned will be smartphones, televisions and washing machines.
- Printing cash receipts on demand for small daily purchases, starting in spring 2023.
- A new circular economy sector for professional packaging (pallets, films, boxes, etc.)
- Expand the deployment of sorting bins in public spaces.
- Implementation of a strategy to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic packaging (3R strategy).
- Implementation of a roadmap 2023-2028 specific to the textile sector: better collection, better recycling, better repair, developing the second life of textiles, supporting virtuous companies that respect environmental labels.
- Develop solutions for plastic microfiber filters on washing machines to prevent the release of microplastics that pollute the ocean.
- To provide the French with a solution for collecting food waste to convert this bio-waste into biogas or compost that is useful for the circular economy of the territories.
- Deploy eco-design bonuses and rebates to incentivize manufacturers to make their products more sustainable and recyclable.
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