21. Sep 2016

France bans plastic disposable serviceware as of 2020

As part of the its new Energy Transition for Green Growth Act, France has passed a law banning plastic serviceware, that will go into effect in 2020. The aim: to promote a circular economy of waste disposal, “from product design to recycling.”

Exceptions will be made for items produced from bio-sourced materials that can be composted in a domestic composting unit.

According to a news item from the Associated Press (12.09.2016), France is pushing ahead as the first country to introduce a blanket ban on plastic dishware. It comes after Paris hosted a landmark conference last year on fighting global warming, and as the Socialist government tries to push France toward the forefront of environmental progress.

Pack2Go Europe, the trade association representing European food and beverage service, and convenience packaging manufacturers, immediately responded, saying that the decree infringes EU law – which guarantees packaging access to market through the EU’s general rules on free movement of goods and, more specifically, through the EU’s packaging & packaging waste directive.

Eamonn Bates, the secretary general of Pack2Go Europe, told the Associated Press that his organization will challenge France’s ban.

“We are urging the European Commission to do the right thing and to take legal action against France for infringing European law,” he said. “If they don’t, we will.”
He also said the ban "will be understood by consumers to mean that it is OK to leave this packaging behind in the countryside after use because it's easily bio-degradable in nature. That's nonsense! It may even make the litter problem worse."

Supporters of the ban wanted it to be introduced earlier, possibly as soon as 2017. However, calling it an "anti-social" measure Ségolène Royal, the French environment minister, initially opposed the ban, arguing that families struggling financially make regular use of disposable serviceware. This caused the ban to be postponed until 2020. (KL)

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