Mandatory eco-design in France

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France commits producers to sustainable eco-design

A new development in the French Circular Economy Act (AGEC) requires all distributors from a total of 16 product categories to prepare a prevention and eco-design plan. Eco-design, also known as ecological design or sustainable design, is an approach to designing products, services and processes that incorporates environmental impacts into the design process from the outset.

The development and implementation of the prevention and eco-design plan results from a provision of the AGEC law of February 10, 2020 and Decree No. 2020-1455 on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Article 72 of the AGEC Law and Article L. 541-10-12 of the Environmental Law require manufacturers to prepare a five-year plan aimed at reducing the use of non-renewable materials, maximizing the integration of recycled materials, and improving the recyclability of each product.

Five-year plan for more recycling transparency

In France, EPR obligations apply to a total of 16 categories:

Packaging, batteries, waste electrical equipment, textiles, graphic papers, toys, furniture, sport & leisure articles, DIY & garden articles, medical devices, lubricants, unused medicines, chemical products, construction products, tobacco and sport boats.

Anyone marketing products to France in one or more of these categories has to prepare a prevention plan. Different deadlines apply depending on the product group and system. With the expiration of the deadline, the plans must be submitted to the relevant take-back systems and must be updated regularly. Prevention plans must be revised every five years. Every three years, each take-back system publishes a summary of its members’ plans, which are made available to the public.

The Léko, Screlec, Ecologic, Valdelia, Refashion, Ecomaison and Citeo systems support their members in the preparation of the initial prevention and eco-design plans by providing a framework for the different product categories as well as design templates.

Downloads

• To the template and guide of Léko (category packaging), Screlec (category batteries), Ecologic (categories waste electrical & sport & leisure equipment) & Valdelia (category furniture)
• To the template and guide of Refashion (category textiles), Ecomaison (categories building materials, toys & furniture) & Citeo (categories packaging & graphic papers).

Eco design conserves resources

Prevention plans of this type put visions from eco-design into practice. Eco-design is an approach to designing products, services and processes that incorporates environmental impacts into the design process right from the beginning.

The goal of eco-design is to create products and services that are sustainable by conserving resources, minimizing waste and pollutant emissions, and reducing environmental impact throughout their life cycle. Eco-design takes into account all phases of product design, including material selection, manufacturing processes, transportation, use and disposal.

Eco-design not only offers environmental benefits but can also provide economic advantages by reducing material and energy costs as well as improving brand image. Therefore, eco-design is an important approach for companies that want to offer sustainable products and services. With BUTT Media GmbH, a sustainable eco-design agency is part of the Raan Corporate Group. The Hamburg-based creative team conceptualizes visual communication strategies and implements them together with partners from recycling, recyclables technology and environmental management.

RecycleMe offers the right services

RecycleMe experts will be happy to help you draw up your prevention plan. In a first step, we analyze the products that you, as a producer on the French market, need to include in the prevention plan. Your responsible contact person is very familiar with the EPR guidelines and the current amendment to the French law on recycling (AGEC). In the last step, we also take care that your finalized prevention plan is submitted correctly and on time to one of the take-back systems you are already licenced with.