The Anti-waste and Circular Economy Bill (La loi contre le gaspillage et à l’économie circulaire) is a newly adopted French law that extends the existing ban on food waste (introduced in France in 2016), to all non-food products. The Anti-waste and Circular Economy Bill will come into force in 2021 and will prohibit disposal, i.e. depositing in landfills and incineration, of all products. Instead, all companies, including producers, distributors, retailers, and on-line trading platforms will be required to donate or recycle all their unsold stock. France is the first country in the world to introduce such legislation, with the implementation schedule planned for 2021-2023. The bill will apply to all products with existing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) collection and recycling channels (e.g. packaging, batteries, medicines, tyres, paper and newspapers, textiles and shoes, furniture, household appliances) from the end of 2021. The remaining sectors (e.g. professional packaging, building products or materials, toys, sports and leisure articles, DIY and garden articles, drain oils, cigarette butts, chewing gums, sanitary textiles (wipes, paper towels, cottons, etc.), and fishing gear) will be required to comply by the end of 2023 at the latest. In addition to reducing waste, the bill is based around other key areas of concern such as eliminating disposable plastic, improving information for consumers through environmental, durability and repairability labelling; better production methods that incorporate end of life solutions and fight against planned obsolescence; and developing networks and infrastructure for re-use.(1-6)
ANTI-WASTE AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY BILL
