Pinned by Brussels, France has announced a series of measures to try to improve the sorting and recycling of its household waste and packaging (AFP / Archives / Thomas SAMSON)
Yellow sorting bins in public places, return of the deposit on glass jars and bottles, incentives and financial penalties: pinned down by Brussels, France announced on Thursday a series of measures to try to improve the sorting and recycling of its household waste and packaging.
First concrete measure, announced Thursday by the Secretary of State for Ecology, Bérangère Couillard, during a telephone interview with the press: the return within two years of the deposit on glass food packaging.
Experiments will start next year in voluntary hypermarket brands that will take back reusable empty packaging.
At the same time, a fund of 50 million euros is intended to encourage producers of spreads, sauces or sodas to adopt standard and reusable glass containers instead of disposable plastic.
In France, the reuse of household packaging remains “far below 1%”, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, while the objective is to reach 10% of reused packaging in 2027.
Overall Paris was singled out at the beginning of the month by Brussels for its insufficient performance in terms of household waste management, especially on plastic packaging.
Only about 23% of plastic packaging is collected and recycled in France, with a bottle collection rate that peaks at 60% in 2021 and 2022, while the consumption of plastic bottles is up again by 4% in 2022, admits the Ministry.
However, the official objective is to get out of single-use plastic in 2040, and to reach 50% recycled plastic packaging by 2025.
“If we stay on this trajectory, at this rate, in 2029 we will not even reach the objectives set for 2025,” lamented the Secretary of State.
The “mother of battles is to reduce plastic production” added Ms. Couillard, who plans to “ban non-recyclable plastics by 2025”, citing in particular “sushi-type carbon black food trays” and the “expanded polystyrene and its white balls”.
On the plastic side, she also confirmed that the expected decision on the creation of a deposit for recycling on used plastic bottles had been “postponed” to “end of September”.
This postponement should allow, according to her, to “re-discuss different scenarios” between all the stakeholders: industrialists in the food industry, recycling, plastics, waste, communities, consumer associations, environmental NGOs, etc.
– “Bonus Malus” –
Since the vote on the law on the circular economy two years ago, and especially since the opening of a consultation on the deposit in January, a pitched battle opposes manufacturers of beverages and recycling to local authorities managing the centers of sorting of waste, around the property of used bottles, a highly coveted raw material.
If plastic bottle deposits were put in place, especially when leaving supermarkets, used bottles would escape the public service of sorting centres, which have nevertheless invested a lot in recent years to increase their sorting volumes and finance themselves from the sale of plastic bottles. plastic bales for recycling.
French Secretary of State for Ecology Bérangère Couillard at the National Assembly in Paris, June 20, 2023 (AFP / Ludovic MARIN)
Another measure, Ms. Couillard announced the gradual implementation of yellow bins for sorting recyclable packaging in the streets, tourist areas, businesses, and places open to the public, which have so far escaped the selective sorting of waste.
“In street bins we have trouble sorting and therefore ultimately recycling plastics,” she admitted. However, these bins collect a lot of recyclable bottles and cans, especially in places of passage and festive occasions, as well as in companies.
On the household side, the Secretary of State wishes to encourage “incentive pricing” for waste in order to make those who sort badly pay, or bonus-malus. “The more the French sort, the less they pay” she summarizes.
Incentive pricing already covers 7 million French people, in towns such as La Roche-sur-Yon, Besançon or in rural communities such as Dombe in Ain, she underlined.
© 2023 AFP
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