I. Introduction

In recent years, national laws focusing on circular economy requirements have increased substantially. Our network has already examined the significant accomplishments achieved in Italy due to the establishment of legally binding minimum environmental criteria.  Nonetheless, the Italian example is one of many in Europe from which we can learn or be inspired. The French legislative approach focusing on sustainable development and a circular economy appears just as innovative. This blog post will briefly discuss the French regulatory interventions on the circular economy and mandatory GPP criteria.

II.The French legislation

In 2019 the French Ministers of State and Ecological Transition and Solidarity presented a bill on the fight against waste and the circular economy to accelerate the change in production and consumption models to limit waste and preserve natural resources, biodiversity, and the climate.

Thus, in 2020 the law on the fight against waste and the circular economy “‘LOI n° 2020-105 du 10 février 2020 relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l’économie circulaire. JORF n° 0035 du 11 février 2020” has been enacted.

The bill results from nearly a year and a half of consultation initiated as part of the climate plan. It is based on four main objectives: eliminating waste to protect our natural resources, mobilizing businesses to change how we produce things, enhancing consumer education, and enhancing waste collection and preventing illegal disposal of waste.

Another goal of the law is to reinforce the polluter pays principle, which makes the manufacturer or distributor of a product responsible for financing its end-of-life, namely, the extended producer responsibility. Moreover, the law aims to promote products that are better for the environment. Manufacturers who design their products in an environmentally friendly way will receive a bonus on the contribution they pay for the management and treatment of the end-of-life of their products. Conversely, manufacturers who do not integrate eco-design into their production process will see this contribution increase with a penalty.

Several major product categories are currently concerned by this regulation: packaging, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, medicines, tires, household graphic paper, textiles and footwear, furniture, gas bottles, etc.

II.a. Scope and aim of the law

The French law on circular economy is structured into six titles. Title I, “Objectifs, stratégiques de gestion de la production de déchets (Articles 1 à 11)” opens with several long-term objectives, notably to promote an eco-design economy and reduce the volume of waste produced. Moreover, it demands further implementation decrees. Title II, “Information du consommateur (Articles 12 – 29)” contains numerous provisions aimed at strengthening consumer information on the durability and reparability of products, as well as the obligations of producers in making this information available to the public or to specialist repairers.

The law then continues with Title III “Favoriser le réemploi et la réutilisation ainsi que l’économie de la fonctionnalité et servicielle dans le cadre de la lutte contre le gaspillage (Articles 30 – 60)”, aimed at encouraging the reuse of products, prohibiting the destruction of unsold products, and encouraging their donation, particularly with regard to food products. It also contains provisions relating to public procurement in order to favour the purchase of products from reuse or recycling. Title IV,” La responsabilité des producteurs (Articles 61 – 92)” and Title V, “Lutte contre les dépôts sauvages (Articles 93 – 106)” contain specific provisions related to the extended producer responsibility and measures to fight illegal waste disposal. The law then closes with the final transitory provisions of Title IV “Dispositions diverses (Articles 107 – 130)”.

Pursuant to Article 4, the law aims to reach 100% of recycled plastic by 2025, and under Article 7, it will end the marketing of single-use plastic packaging by 2040.

Interestingly, Article 16 of the law introduces a repairability index. In particular, it demands producers, importers, distributors, or other market actors of electrical and electronic equipment to communicate free of charge to the sellers of their products as well as to any person who requests it, the repairability index of this equipment as well as the parameters having allowed to establish it. The manufacturer or importer is responsible for making this information available to the public electronically in an easily reusable format that an automated processing system can use in an aggregated form.

II.b. The GPP/CPP requirements

As mentioned above, the law also paid particular attention to public procurement and provided a dedicated article. Article 58 of the law provides that as of 1 January 2021, the goods acquired annually by the public authorities shall be obtained through the reuse or integration of recycled materials in proportions of 20% to 100% depending on the type of product. The list of products concerned and the percentages of recycled and reused products shall be fixed using a decree.

“A compter du 1er janvier 2021, les biens acquis annuellement par les services de l’Etat ainsi que par les collectivités territoriales et leurs groupements sont issus du réemploi ou de la réutilisation ou intègrent des matières recyclées dans des proportions de 20 % à 100 % selon le type de produit.

II. – En cas de contrainte opérationnelle liée à la défense nationale ou de contrainte technique significative liée à la nature de la commande publique, le pouvoir adjudicateur n’est pas soumis à l’obligation prévue au I.

III. – Un décret en Conseil d’Etat fixe la liste des produits concernés et, pour chaque produit, les taux pouvant être issus du réemploi, de la réutilisation ou du recyclage correspondant à ces produits”

These requirements were met with the enactment of a decree ’ Décret n° 2021-254 du 9 mars 2021 relatif à l’obligation d’acquisition par la commande publique de biens issus du réemploi ou de la réutilisation ou intégrant des matières recyclées’’.

The decree highlights that minimum proportions fixed for each product or category of products purchased shall be expressed as a percentage of the total expenditure (excluding tax) on purchasing each product or type during the calendar year.

The contracting authorities shall declare to the Economic Observatory for Public Procurement the proportion of their annual expenditure devoted to purchasing the products or categories of products listed in the annex.

The annex showcasing the products and product categories, including reused and recycled materials, and their minimum percentages are provided below.

III. Conclusion

The analysis above proves that the French lawmaker is taking serious steps towards more sustainable development and seeks to tackle climate concerns by setting highly ambitious objectives.

Interestingly, the law anticipates the EU’s 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan key actions, which, among others, foresaw a ‘right to repair’ as a set of rules to promote and facilitate the repair and reuse of products, even beyond the legal guarantee. The EU proposal for a Directive on standard rules promoting the repair of goods and amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, Directives (EU) 2019/771 and (EU) 2020/1828 has only been launched in March 2023.

Last but not least, decree n° 2021-254 demands the contracting authorities to consider the new mandatory circularity targets of reuse and repair and limits their discretion in the public tenders concerning the products listed in the Annex. Moreover, the amount of public spending employed for the Annex’s products must be reported to the Economic Observatory of Public Procurement (OECP), a French forum for consultation and exchange of information between the various players in public procurement.

Undoubtedly, the French example displays a strong national willingness to proactively intervene in achieving a circular economy and the European Union’s broader goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.