Waste: As of January 1, non-food unsold may no longer be destroyed

Electrical and electronic products, batteries, textiles, furniture, ink cartridges as well as hygiene and childcare products are in particular concerned by the measurement.

Le Monde

After sales, flash sales and other destockings, some € 2 billion of goods remain unsold. From 1 January 2022, these products will no longer be destroyed by incineration in France.

This measure, from the Anti-Gaspillage Act, is intended to “oblige producers, importers and distributors to re-use, reuse or recycling unsold food products”, to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions and create New solidarity, recalled the Ministry of the Ecological Transition, Friday, December 10th.

Are relevant by measuring electrical and electronic products, batteries, textiles, furniture, ink cartridges as well as hygiene and childcare products, food conservation and cooking equipment, products of Awakening and leisure, as well as books and school supplies.

Donations to charitable associations

The law provides for fines “up to 15,000 euros per breach and legal person”, in case of inspection of the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) , reminds the department. Some of these products, which do not yet benefit from the extended liability of the recycling producer (RPP), have until December 31, 2023 to comply.

Many channels have already anticipated since the promulgation of the law (February 10, 2020) and its application decrees (in December 2020).

The public authorities particularly insist on hygiene and childcare products, including 9% of unsold, “while three million French people deprive themselves of basic hygiene products and 1, 7 million women do not have sufficient hygienic protections “.
In addition to being concerned with the prohibition of destruction, these products “will have to be subject to priority of a donation” to charitable associations, declares the department. An initiative that “makes many products more accessible to families in precarious situations” and who “will create new solidarities,” said the Minister for the ecological transition, Barbara Pompilili, cited in the press release.

/Media reports.