As from 1 January 2007, the law introduced the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle for clothing, household linen and footwear sold in France. This requires that producers contribute to the waste management of the items they place on the market for consumers.

EPR is based on the “polluter pays” principle: companies, i.e., the persons responsible for placing certain products onto the French market are responsible for the entire life cycle of these products, from their design stage right up to the end of their service life.

EPR transfers all or part of waste management costs to producers.

In order to fulfil their obligations producers have the choice of either creating collective, non-profit-making organisations, called eco-organisations, or forming their own individual system.

For further information on this topic do not hesitate to go the ADEME’s website