Joining a producer responsibility organisation, the simplest solution to comply with the regulations
A producer responsibility organisation (PRO) is a State-accredited collective organisation that fulfils all the legal EPR obligations of its members on their behalf.
In joining a PRO, you:
- Outsource the organisation of collection and treatment of your products;
- Pool the costs with other producers;
- Delegate the reporting of your data to ADEME;
- Can obtain support with the design of environmentally sustainable products;
- Meet your regulatory obligations while avoiding the long and complex procedure of applying for accreditation.
This is the solution the vast majority of companies choose nowadays, because it is simple and reliable.
View the list of accredited PROs
Individual compliance scheme: a customised but more demanding option
By setting up an individual compliance scheme you can meet your obligations yourself, without calling on a PRO.
To obtain accreditation, however, you must:
- Put together an accreditation application, which will be submitted to the administrative authorities for approval;
- Set up a system to manage the collection and treatment of the waste arising from your products;
- Guarantee compliance with the regulatory targets set by the EPR scheme specifications;
- Provide complete funding for the scheme, from collection to treatment;
- Submit a detailed report to ADEME each year, to enable the State to assess the efficiency of your individual compliance scheme. You will also have to be available during the preparation of reporting campaigns and the data quality control phases;
- Agree to your individual data on market placement, prevention, collection and treatment being published annually by ADEME, in accordance with article L. 541-10-14 of the Environmental Code.
An individual system is best suited to companies with the capacity to manage EPR end-to-end.
It is meant mainly for those that maintain a direct link with their customers (e.g. for the maintenance of professional equipment) and that are able to recover all of their products at the end of their useful life (rented products, for example).
It may enable the company to ensure the availability of parts that it will reuse to maintain its equipment.
Consulter la liste des systèmes individuels agréés
How do you set up an individual compliance scheme?
The French Anti-Waste Act for a Circular Economy (‘AGEC Law’) made the procedure for accrediting individual schemes much more complex and restrictive than the previous procedure, which involved simply sending a certificate of commitment.
It is regulated by:
- Articles R.541-133 to R.541-136 of the Environmental Code for the accreditation procedure itself;
- Articles R.541-137 to R.541-145 for the operating conditions to be complied with.
Compiling and submitting the application
If you opt for an individual compliance scheme, you must put together a comprehensive accreditation application. This application must provide clear proof that your system will satisfy all the obligations and meet all the targets set out in the specifications of your EPR scheme.
To date, individual compliance systems have been accredited in just three EPR schemes: vehicles, batteries and electrical and electronic equipment.
The procedures for submitting accreditation applications differ from one scheme to another:
- For vehicles and electrical and electronic equipment, the application must be sent to the administrative authority in charge of examining such applications, which spans the ministries for the Ecological Transition and for the Economy & Finance. Applications can be sent electronically to this [email protected]
- For batteries, applications must be filed via the website www.demarches-simplifiees.fr.
Your application will only be examined if it is complete.
While you are waiting for accreditation to be granted, you will still have to prove that your company is complying with the regulations. To do this, you will have to join one or more PROs depending on the number of EPR schemes concerned.
Specifications
- Batteries : specifications defined by the order dated 27 March 2025.
- Electrical and electronic equipment: specifications defined by the order dated 27 October 2021.
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Vehicles: specifications defined by the order dated 20 November 2023
Individual compliance systems may be accredited in the other EPR schemes. Do not hesitate to consult the specifications for accreditation in each scheme.
To find out more about individual compliance schemes, go to the section on this topic on the ministry website.
PRO or individual scheme: the rebate system
In some cases, a producer that has joined a PRO can undertake, at its own expense, the separate collection and treatment of waste and products covered by the EPR scheme concerned.
The PRO can apply a rebate to the EPR fees paid by this producer when the scheme’s specifications provide for this arrangement.
It is regulated by article R.541-120 of the Environmental Code.
At the end of November 2025, just six schemes were concerned: building construction products and materials, professional packaging, household packaging and graphic papers, electrical and electronic equipment, furnishing elements, and tyres.
In practice, the system is currently not widely used by producers that have joined a PRO. Several conditions must be met in order to benefit from it:
- The producer must undertake to meet the waste management targets set by the PRO;
- The rebate amount is calculated taking into account the costs borne by the PRO for similar operations;
- The rebate cannot exempt the producer from penalties related to EPR fee modulation.
Joining a producer responsibility organisation: the most common way to comply with regulations
In most cases, joining a PRO is the simplest, quickest and safest way to comply with your EPR obligations.
It enables you to do so without having to set up your own complex system to collect, process, track and report data.
Which is why the vast majority of producers covered by an EPR scheme choose this option.
View the list of accredited PROs to find the ones that correspond to your EPR scheme(s).