The French Government has announced that it will harmonise the types of materials collected and the colour of bins, as part of its Circular Economy Roadmap.
This means that all French people will be given simple information to understand what can and can’t be recycled on packaging.
As a result, the Green Dot system, which was no longer mandatory anyway, will be dropped.
France will also aim to use 100% recycled plastic by 2025. It also wants to trial new ways of increasing recycling rates in urban and poorly performing areas by using the revenues from collected materials to fund environmental, health or community projects in those areas.
The tax system will also be changed to reduce the VAT rate for recycling and the taxes on landfill and pollution will be increased. Financial support will also be provided for three years to help French councils to implement incentive pricing to encourage better sorting.
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Extended producer responsibility will be increased to include packaging used in cafes, hotels and restaurants; toys; sporting goods; hobby and DIY and cigarettes.
An index of repairability on how to repair electrical goods will be introduced on 1 January 2020. A simple logo will be used to identify if an electrical product is easy to repair.
French Secretary of State to the Minister of State, Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition Brune Poirson said: “The urgency for humanity is to become aware of scarcity. If we continue on this rate of production and consumption, we will face a scarcity of resources.
“The Circular Economy Roadmap, which is a first step, must lead France towards a new model of society. It will allow everyone to innovate, to experiment. We will unleash opportunities and mobilise actors.”
This roadmap from the French Government, is intended to help the country meet its obligations as part of the European Union Circular Economy package.
It is hoped that the measures will lead to 300,000 new jobs, and an innovative start-up business culture to tackle some of these measures.
