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Taken in application of the law on energy transition for green growth, decree no. 2016-288 of March 10, 2016 has supplemented the environmental code and imposed a new obligation to sort waste at source for paper, metals, plastics, glass and wood.
New obligation to sort waste
Paper, metal, plastic, glass and wood waste must now be sorted at source, separately from other waste. However, they can be kept together in a mixture, subject to subsequent recovery.
Small-scale producers, i.e. those producing less than 1,100 liters of such waste per week, are exempt from this obligation. Please note that if several producers/holder on the same site are served by the same waste management service provider and produce a total of more than 1,100 liters, they fall within the scope of the decree.
Producers or holders of such waste must collect it separately from other waste, so that it can be sorted and recycled at a later date.
They must either :
- recover this waste themselves;
- sell this waste to the operator of a recovery facility;
- sell this waste to an intermediary involved in waste collection, transport, trading or brokerage. With a view to recovery.
In the latter two cases, before March 31st each year, producers or holders will receive from the operators of the recovery facility or from intermediaries involved in waste collection, transport, trading or brokerage, a certificate (paper or electronic) stating the quantities in tonnes and the nature of the waste entrusted to them during the previous year.
The sorting of office paper waste will be phased in gradually, depending on the number of people on site.
Sorting will be mandatory according to these deadlines:
An order dated April 27, 2016 specified the socio-professional categories covered by the obligation to sort office paper.
These include
- craftsmen,
- retailers and similar,
- managers of companies with 10 or more employees,
- the liberal professions,
- public service executives,
- teachers, scientific professions.
For the purposes of this obligation, office paper waste is :
- printed paper waste,
- waste from press publications,
- shaped paper waste,
- waste from envelopes and mailers,
- waste graphic paper.
Producers or holders who do not treat this waste on site organize its collection separately from other waste. This enables them to be sorted and recycled at a later date.
These new regulatory obligations relating to the circular economy and waste prevention and management have been supplemented by other provisions designed to combat waste and promote comprehensive, coherent approaches: from product design to recycling.
For example, the introduction of an obligation for certain distributors of construction materials, products and equipment to take back waste.
The following distributors are concerned:
- wood and building materials intermediaries,
- wholesale of wood, building materials and sanitary appliances,
- wholesale of plumbing and heating hardware and supplies,
- non-specialized wholesale.
With a distribution unit larger than 400 m². Distributors with annual sales in excess of 1 million euros.
These distributors are obliged to take back waste from the same types of construction materials, products and equipment. Whether this waste is distributed within the distribution unit or within a maximum radius of ten kilometers.
If the waste is taken back outside the distribution unit, a visible sign on the distribution unit and on its website, where one exists, informs waste producers or holders of the address where the waste take-back site is located.
To simplify the management and traceability of your waste, we advise you to use waste management software, which will centralize all the necessary information, flows and documents on a single platform.