How good are the French at recycling?

Local France

04-04-2025

France had to pay the EU €1.6 billion in 2024 for failing to adequately process household plastic packaging, a report published last summer revealed.
The report, by the General Inspectorate for the Environment and Sustainable Development in June 2024,
highlighted 'major delays' in plastic and aluminium recycling
.
'Collection targets … are not being met in two-thirds of the sectors for which data is available,' it said.
The numbers
France has, historically, done notably worse than other European countries when it comes to recycling.
In 2020 it was one of only two EU nations – the other one was Malta – that failed to meet a target of recycling 22.5 percent of plastic packaging. France's recycling rate was 21.4 percent. The EU average at the time was 37.6 percent.
Overall, France was estimated to recycle around 23 percent of its plastic waste – falling to as low as 14 percent in the greater Paris region.
Nationwide, 42 percent of used plastic is burned and 35 percent ends up in landfill.
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Like many wealthy nations, France also exports several thousand tonnes of plastic waste to other countries, notably in Asia – a practice that generates transport emissions and increases the risk of plastic pollution.
A year before the report came out, delegates from 175 countries met in Paris for UN-sponsored talks aimed at reaching the world's first treaty on plastic pollution. France was one of the countries pushing at the cellophane summit for stronger measures to tackle the problem at source – by bringing down the amount of plastic produced, as well as what happens to it once it's thrown away.
Plastic use
But when it comes to plastic, recycling is only half the story - it's much better to produce as little plastic waste as possible.
And here France does well and is not -
in the global scheme of things - a major producer of plastic. The world's largest producer of plastic waste - by some distance - is China, followed by the USA.
But France still uses some 4.8 million tonnes of plastics every year, according 2023 figures from the Ministry for Ecological Transition. Almost half of that, around 2.2 million tonnes, is plastic packaging. Industrial and commercial packaging makes up around 1.2 million tonnes, while the rest comes from products used directly by consumers.
Anti-waste
Since the 1990s, France has introduced a number of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, which makes companies responsible for the waste management of products they put onto the market (most pay approved organisations to manage the waste).
And landmark legislation – the
Loi relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage et à l'économie circulaire
(law on anti-waste and towards a circular economy, also called "loi Agec") – was passed in 2020 and has been phasing in new measures up until 2026.
These measures range from individual-focused assistance like repair bonuses to regulations affecting companies and businesses, as well as local recycling rules.
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How France's anti-waste law works
The law has five primary goals: to move France away from single-use plastics – starting in 2020 with plastic plates, cups and cotton buds – raise public awareness of recycling and recycling systems, decrease waste, act against programmed obsolescence, and generally to produce better, longer lasting environmentally-friendly items.
The goal is to phase out the sale of single-use plastic by 2040. These principles apply to producers as well as consumers, with financial incentives for manufacturers that adopt eco-friendlier materials.
And, on January 1st, 2024,
'compost obligatoire' rules
came into effect – placing an obligation on local authorities to offer easy-to-use means by which households can compost vegetable peelings, fruit cores and food scraps.
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A little over a year later, however, only 40 percent of the population have easy access to local composting systems, according to the French Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe); while there seems to be little uniformity over methods.
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EXPLAINED: Rules on recycling in France
So how do you recycle in France?
Those are the rules, the regulations and the goals. But what about the on-the-ground practicalities of being environmentally conscious, doing your bit, and recycling?
France is – belatedly – trying to make recycling easier and offering more options for household recycling - although the exact rules and facilities on offer depend on the local authority in your area.
Most local authorities supply separate bins for recyclable and non-recyclable waste, or often a choice of bins at communal areas.
Most paper – including newspapers and magazines – cardboard, direct mail, plastic and metals can be deposited in dedicated bins – usually with yellow lids.
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Green measures are also a key part of electioneering in France. To benefit from campaign expense reimbursements, paper used for flyers and election materials must be ecological and meet two conditions. The paper must contain at least 50 percent recycled fibre and be certified by the FSC, PEFC or equivalent bodies.
The words '
ne pas jeter sur la voie publique
' must also be clearly visible, in order to deter littering – don't worry, you're allowed to throw them straight into your recycling box.
Glass should be deposited in a special bin – usually with a green lid. You should find a glass recycling bin at your nearest supermarket or municipal waste disposal centre, or on street corners if you are in a town or city. You can rinse them out before getting rid of any glass jars or bottles, but this is not a requirement.
You can leave old, unwanted clothes at a Relais collection point, typically in the same area as your communal recycling containers. There are more than 47,000 collection points located around France. To find one near you, click
here
.
Batteries and electric lights may be recycled at collection points in supermarkets, or at communal recycling areas.
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What you need to know before going to a French recycling centre
Supermarkets and recycling centres have collection points for old mobile phones, including smartphones. You can also mail your phone to
jedonnemontelephone.fr
. When your smartphone is collected, it is dismantled to source reusable parts.
France's circular economy law enables citizens to return a used appliance to their distributor when buying an updated, more modern version of the same item. Otherwise collection points may be found in supermarkets.
The conclusion
France has come a long way along the environmentally conscious path. But, as it has slowly discovered, making rules isn't the same as successfully implementing them.
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Do the French just not care enough about recycling?
Having, apparently, been surprised that people won't necessarily go out of their way to recycle, they're finally starting to make it much easier for them to do so.
Still, there's a long way to go. A long way.