The key ambitions of the household packaging and graphic papers EPR scheme are to: 

• Reduce the quantities of household packaging waste;  
• Develop solutions to reuse packaging across the territory of France, including building a network of reuse facilities;
• Support measures to improve the performance of household packaging and graphic paper collection and treatment;
• Organise the take-back and recycling of household packaging waste, especially plastics in the ‘flow under development’ category under the French materials standard  

Products concerned 

• Household packaging wherever it is consumed by households, either at home or outside the home;
• Printed papers, other than books, issued, including free of charge, by ordering parties or on their behalf, and graphic papers, intended for end users who produce household and similar waste. 

For household packaging 

• Any person that, in a professional capacity, packages their products or has them packaged for the purpose of placing them on the market;
• Any importer whose products are marketed in packaging;
• If the producer or importer cannot be identified, the person responsible for first placing these products on the market. 

For printed papers or graphic papers 

• Any ordering party¹who issues printed papers or has them issued, including free of charge, intended for end users² within the territory of France.
• Any person who places on the French national market graphic papers that are processed, manufactured, packed and intended to be printed by or on behalf of end users, and for which the collection and treatment of the resulting waste is the responsibility of local authorities and their groupings.

1. The person responsible for general promotional, advertising, information or commercial policy, or the person in whose name or under whose name this policy was implemented.
2. Natural person or legal entity that consumes a manufactured product placed on the market 

When a producer joins a producer responsibility organisation (PRO), it pays the organisation an EPR fee in return for the latter taking responsibility for its obligations relating to the products it places on the market.

This amount may be modulated upwards or downwards depending on the environmental characteristics of the products. A bonus rewards virtuous practices, while a penalty is applied to a product with characteristics that have a significant impact on the environment or human health.

Bonuses for household packaging

Applicable in 2025 

Penalties for household packaging

Bonuses for graphic papers

Applicable in 2025 

Penalties for graphic papers

Applicable in 2025 

Bonuses and penalties are cumulative for graphic papers. A product subject to a penalty can still benefit from a bonus. 

Producers, to enquire about the conditions you have to meet and the procedures you have to complete to benefit from a bonus, or check whether you are subject to a penalty, please contact your producer responsibility organisation.

Find out more about EPR fee modulation

The reduction targets were introduced by the 2024 spcecifications. Recycling targets for individual materials are also a new feature in the 2024 specifications, to reflect the EU targets. The methodology used to calculate the recycling rate is also changing, to align it with the EU methodology. 
 

Reduction targets 

Reuse targets 

In 2025, at least half of the reduction in the market placement of single-use plastic packaging (as a reminder, the reduction target is 20%) must be achieved through reuse operations. Therefore, in 2025, reuse operations must prevent the market placement of a quantity of single-use plastic household packaging equivalent to 10% of the quantity placed on the market in 2018. 

Recycling targets 

From 2025, the producer responsibility organisations will have to achieve a recycling rate for plastic packaging waste in the ‘flow under development’ category of 90%. This target is calculated as the quantity of plastic packaging waste sorted in accordance with the ‘flow under development’ standard and sent for recycling during the year, relative to the quantity of this waste collected by the PRO during the same period. 

Financial targets 

French regulations: 

• Specifications : Order of 7 December 2023
• Environmental Code:
  • List of EPR schemes : Article L.541-10-1
  • Waste prevention and management :  Points 1) and 5) of article L541-1
  • Provisions for packaging waste : Articles R.543-42 to R.543-56 and R.543-73
  • Provisions for graphic papers : Articles R543-207 to R543-213-1
  • Common provisions (household packaging and graphic papers): Articles R543-350 to R543-355
• Implementation of the merging of the graphic papers and household packaging EPR schemes : Decree no. 2023-906 of 28 September 2023
• Regulation on food packaging : Order of 20 July 2023
• Law merging the graphic papers and household packaging EPR schemes : Law no. 2023-305 of 24 April 2023
• Data reporting : Order of 12 December 2022
• AGEC Law (reuse targets and phase-out of single-use plastic) : Law no. 2020-105 of 10 February 2020
• LTECV Law (French Law on Energy Transition for Green Growth - plastic packaging sorting targets) : Law no. 2015-992 of 17 August 2015
• Grenelle II Law (household packaging sorting targets) : Law no. 2010-788 of 12 July 2010
• Grenelle I Law (recovery target) : Article 46 of Law no. 2009-788 of 3 August 2009
• Creation of the graphic papers EPR scheme : Decree no. 2006-239 of 1 March 2006
• Creation of the household packaging EPR scheme : Amended Decree no. 92-377 of 1 April 1992 7 
   (repealed)
   

European Union regulations  :

• Single-use plastics : Directive 2019/904 of 5 June 2019
• Packaging and packaging waste : Directive 94/62/EC amended by Directive 2018/852  

Prevention 

The producer responsibility organisations have an obligation to achieve the regulatory targets for reuse and reduction. As a minimum, they must put the following actions in place: 

• Define standard ranges of reusable packaging with a goal of ensuring operational readiness  
• Devote at least 5% of the total EPR fees to supporting the development of reuse solutions  
• Finance part of the costs of take-back operations for reusable packaging and its transport to a consolidation centre 

Collection

To collect and sort household packaging and papers, the producer responsibility organisations must implement the following actions:  

• For packaging and papers managed by the public waste management service, they contribute financial support and guarantee to take back the sorted flows
• Operational management on behalf of certain local authorities in overseas territories, at their request  
• For packaging outside the remit of the public waste management service, the PROs offer financial support to the organisations/establishments concerned and/or offer to ensure operational take-back for this packaging. 

Treatment 

The PROs must ensure the take-back and recycling of plastic packaging falling under the ‘flow under development’ (plastic films, dark and opaque PET, clear PET trays, PS/EPS, multi-layer trays and composite rigid packaging). They are hence responsible for developing the requisite secondary sorting and recycling schemes.  

The website Que faire de mes déchets/objets (“What to do with my waste and objects”) is designed to help individuals adopt best practices in terms of repair, reuse and recycling.  
It is based on a simple, intuitive search engine: by entering an object or waste item, users can find out how to dispose of it responsibly.  
An interactive map also shows them where they can find their nearest collection, repair and reuse points.