.svg)
The first step was taken on January 1, 2020, the date from which the provision of certain single-use plastic products has been banned in France. The bans were initially planned in :
- law no. 2015-992 of August 17, 2015 - the energy transition for green growth
- law no. 2018-938 of October 30, 2018 - EGALIM law
It was only on December 24, 2019 that the conditions for implementation were specified with Decree no. 2019-1451 on the ban on certain single-use plastic products.
Here is the list of products banned for availability on January 1, 2020:
Disposable plastic cups, glasses and plates for the kitchen, straws, cutlery, steak spades, disposable glass lids, meal trays, ice-cream tubs, salad bowls, cans and beverage stirring sticks, except those that can be composted at home and are made, in whole or in part, from bio-based materials or considered as packaging.
Single-use plastic packaging
Among this list of products, those considered "packaging" will also be banned from July 3, 2021. France is aligning itself with European Directive no. 2019/904 of June 5, 2019 on reducing the environmental impact of certain plastic products. Member states therefore have longer to transpose these provisions.
Packaging definition
"Any product made up of materials of any kind intended to contain and protect goods ranging from raw materials to finished products, to enable their handling and routing from the producer to the consumer or user and to ensure their presentation. All disposable items used for the same purpose are to be considered as packaging", cf. European Directive 94/62/EC of December 20, 1994 on packaging and packaging waste.
Thus, for the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition (MTES), a cup is packaging if it is filled or designed to be filled at the point of sale or free provision. Consequently, hot or cold beverage cups supplied in vending machines, will be affected by the single-use plastic ban on July 3, 2021.
Lastly, the exemption granted to products that can be composted at home and are made, in whole or in part, from biobased materials will no longer apply as of July 3, 2021.
End of single-use plastic by 2040 and other targets
With the entry into force on February 12, 2020 of Law n°2020-105(*) known as the Anti-Waste Law for a Circular Economy, even more ambitious targets have been set for the fight against plastic pollution in the environment.
The law calls for an end to the marketing of single-use plastic packaging by 2040, with a target of 100% recycled plastic by January 1, 2025. "As a reminder, single-use plastic packaging is packaging made entirely or partially from plastic and which is not designed, created or placed on the market to accomplish, during its lifetime, several journeys or rotations by being returned to a producer to be refilled or reused for a use identical to that for which it was designed."
By 2040, targets for the reduction, reuse and recycling of these single-use plastics are set by decree for the period 2021-2025, and every five years thereafter. To achieve these targets, a national strategy is drawn up before January 1, 2022, setting out the necessary global or sectoral measures. This strategy is drawn up in consultation with the industrial sectors, local authorities and associations concerned.
Other targets have been set, such as reusing 5% of packaging by 2023 and 10% by 2027. In 2021, a reuse and reuse observatory will be tasked with assessing the relevance of reuse and reuse solutions, and defining a national trajectory for increasing the share of reused and reused packaging.
The law thus reaffirms the ban on a long series of single-use plastic products: disposable cups, glasses, plates, straws, cutlery, confetti, polystyrene containers, etc., in a timetable set between 2020 and 2023.
To keep you informed, you can consult the FAQ (2017) on limiting disposable plastic kitchen cups/glasses and plates from the Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire (MTES).
MTES is working on updating it to make it easier for you to understand which products are covered by the new bans.
(*) The anti-waste law for a circular economy introduces numerous new provisions in the environmental code concerning :
- national waste prevention and management policy
- improving consumer information
- to combat waste
- to combat plastic pollution in the environment
- of producer responsibility for products that generate waste
- to combat illegal dumping
With 130 requirements, the Anti-Waste Law for a Circular Economy notably takes up measures from the Circular Economy Roadmap (FREC) presented in May 2018, which proposed 50 measures in favor of a 100% circular economy. Its implementation will require the signing of more than 40 decrees. The government also plans to take measures by ordinance between now and August 2020 to transpose European directives, including Directive 2019/904 of June 5, 2019 on reducing the impact of certain plastic products.