Any producer, importer or distributor of goods that eventually become waste, falls under the French Anti-Waste-Legislation for a Circular Economy (AGEC). Since the 29^th April 2022 such goods need to display certain criteria upon the impact of both goods and their packaging upon the environment as stipulated in Decree 2022-748. The scope of goods is defined by Article R541-221  and L541-10-1 of the Code d’Environnement.

In line with the principles upon consumer empowerment and education of the Circular Economy Action Plan II of the European Union and also in line with the European legislation, the French consumer is to be informed about core sustainability criteria of a product and its packaging that he is about to purchase. The regulation of Decree 2022-748 is thus targeting at goods and packaging destined to private households (b2c). The information to the private household/ the consumer has to take the entire life cycle of both product and packaging into consideration and not only the end of life phase. In order to avoid confusion or misleading information, any qualification labellings such as “respectful to the environment” are generally prohibited.

Article R541-222 of the code d’environnement clearly states that the information has to be be made available on a dedicated website and should be titled: “fiche produit relative aux qualités et caractéristiques environnementales”/“product sheet relating to the qualities and environmental characteristics”. 

The consumer shall be informed about a specific set of environmental criteria. The emphasis of those criteria varies per industry depending on the relevance of the criteria within the life cycle of the goods and their packaging:

• repairability and durability rules apply particularly to electrical and electronic equipment
• compostability & possibility to re-use rules apply particulary to packaging
• rules upon recycled materials & recyclability apply to packaging, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries &          accumulators, furniture, textile products, sports & leisure equipment and vehicles.
• rules upon the use of renewable resources apply to construction equipment
• the obligation to display the presence of precious materials and rare earths apply particularly to electrical and electronic equipment and vehicles
• the requirements to inform upon traceability and presence of plastic microfibres apply for clothing, footwear and household linen.

Decree 2022-748 was implemented on 1^st March 2022, but existing stocks could be exhausted until the 1^st January 2023. Since the 1^st January 2023, companies with an annual revenue that exceeds 50 million EUR and a sales volume of at least 25.000 units on the French market have to comply with Decree 2022-748.

From the 1^st January 2024 onwards this scope is narrowed to companies which revenues exceed 20 million Euro and that put a volume of at least 10.000 units on the French market. Furthermore, building products, toys and motor vehicles are covered by Decree 2022-748 starting that date.

Eventually on the 1^st January 2025, the ultimate scope will cover any actor which revenue exceeds 10 million Euro and who puts at least 10.000 units on the French market.