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Decree n° 2021-835 of 29 June 2021 on consumer information symbols indicating the sorting rule for waste resulting from products subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility

FRENCH REPUBLIC Ministry of the Ecological and Inclusive Transition
Initial version

Decree No of

on consumer information symbols indicating the sorting rule for waste resulting from products subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility

NOR: […]

Public concerned: producers of products placed on the market for household use and subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility.

Subject: implementation of consumer information symbols indicating the sorting rule for waste resulting from products placed on the market for household use and subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility.

Entry into force: the text shall enter into force on the day after its publication. However, it provides for the gradual application of information symbols and the application from 1 January 2022, depending on the products and the work involved in developing these symbols.

Notice: the Decree lays down the conditions governing the application of the legislative provisions of the Environmental Code aimed at ensuring that any product placed on the market for household use and subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility, excluding household glass drinks packaging, is labelled with a symbol informing the consumer that the product is subject to a sorting rule and with information specifying the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product. As such, it specifies the procedures for applying Article L.541-9-3 of the Environmental Code. It also sets out the conditions for the establishment of symbols to inform consumers that the products are subject to a deposit system, pursuant to Article L.541-10-11 of the same Code.

Public concerned: producers of products placed on the market for household use and subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility.
Subject: implementation of consumer information symbols indicating the sorting rule for waste resulting from products placed on the market for household use and subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility.
Entry into force: the text shall enter into force on the day after its publication. However, it provides for the gradual application of information symbols and the application from 1 January 2022, depending on the products and the work involved in developing these symbols.
Notice: the Decree lays down the conditions governing the application of the legislative provisions of the Environmental Code aimed at ensuring that any product placed on the market for household use and subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility, excluding household glass drinks packaging, is labelled with a symbol informing the consumer that the product is subject to a sorting rule and with information specifying the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product. As such, it specifies the procedures for applying Article L.541-9-3 of the Environmental Code. It also sets out the conditions for the establishment of symbols to inform consumers that the products are subject to a deposit system, pursuant to Article L.541-10-11 of the same Code.
References: the French Environmental Code, as amended by this Decree, may be consulted on the Légifrance website (http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr).

The Prime Minister,

On the basis of the report by the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition;

Having regard to the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union;
Having regard to Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services;

Having regard to Law No 2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on the fight against waste and on the circular economy, in particular Article 17 thereof, and the French Environmental Code, in particular Article L.541-9-3 and Article L.541-10-11 thereof;

Having regard to Notification No xxx sent to the European Commission on xxx;

Having regard to the observations made during the public consultation carried out between xxx and xxx, in accordance with Article L.123-19-1 of the Environmental Code,

Having regard to the Environmental Code, in particular Articles L. 541-9-3, L. 541-10-11, R. 541-12-17, R. 541-12-18 and R. 543-54-1;
Having regard to the observations made during the public consultation carried out between 29 June to 20 July 2020, in accordance with Article L.123-19-1 of the Environmental Code,
Having regard to the opinion of the National Council for the Evaluation of Standards (CNEN), issued on 23 July 2020;
Having regard to the notification No 2020/410/F sent to the European Commission on 30 June 2020 and the Commission’s reply of 1 October 2020;
Having heard the Council of State (public works division),

Hereby decrees:

Article 1

Section 1(7) of Chapter I of Title IV of Book V of the regulatory part of the Environmental Code is amended as follows:
Section 1(7) of Chapter I of Title IV of Book V of the regulatory part of the Environmental Code is amended as follows:
(1) The heading of the subsection is replaced by the following:

1. The title is amended as follows: ‘Consumer information symbols on the sorting rule for waste resulting from products subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility’;
‘Subsection 7
‘Consumer information symbols on the sorting rule for waste resulting from products subject to the principle of extended producer responsibility’;

2. Articles R.541-12-17 and R.541-12-18 are replaced by Articles R.541-12-17 to R.541-12-23 as follows:

‘Article R.541-12-17. – The symbol provided for in Article L.541-9-3 is defined in the Annex to this Article and attached to the information referred to in Articles R.541-12-18 and R.541-12-19 .
'Art. R. 541-12-17– The symbol provided for in Article L.541-9-3 is defined in the Annex to this Article'

‘For the packaging mentioned in paragraph 1 of L.541-10-1 and the packaging made available to consumers by a catering business as referred to in paragraph 2 of L.541-10-1, and excluding glass drinks packaging, this symbol shall be affixed to the packaging.
‘Article R.541-12-18. – Any producer responsibility organisation set up pursuant to Article L. 541-10 shall draw up the information specifying the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product, as mentioned in the second paragraph of Article L.541 -9-3, within three months from the date of its first approval.' It shall transmit its reasoned proposal to the Ministers responsible for the Environment and Consumption after consulting its stakeholder committee. The proposal shall be deemed to have been forfeited from the date of its acceptance by the Ministers or, failing that, if neither of the Ministers has objected to it, on the expiry of a period of two months from the later of the two dates of receipt. Otherwise, or at the reasoned request of the ministers, the eco-organization shall send a revised proposal within one month that takes into account their comments.
‘'Where several eco-organisms are approved for the same product category, they shall coordinate in order to formulate a joint proposal."
‘'This information may be defined, where necessary, by a joint order of the Ministers responsible for the Environment and Consumer Affairs following the opinion of the Inter-filer Committee on Extended Producer Responsibility." Where applicable, it replaces the information established by the eco-organism.
‘The producer responsibility organisation may also revise this information at any time under the conditions mentioned in the previous paragraph.
‘The producer responsibility organisation shall publish this information on its website and inform its members from the date of the aforementioned decision. Provided that they decide to apply it before that deadline, producers who have transferred the extended responsibility obligation to an eco-organism shall apply the signage and that information no later than 12 months after the date on which it is acquired. This proposal may also provide that products manufactured or imported before this deadline are granted a period for the sale of existing stocks not exceeding 6 months from the deadline.

‘Article R.541-12-18. – Any producer responsibility organisation set up pursuant to Article L. 541-10 shall draw up the information specifying the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product, as mentioned in the second paragraph of Article L.541 -9-3, within three months from the date of its first approval. It shall transmit its reasoned proposal to the Ministers responsible for the Environment and Consumption after consulting its stakeholder committee. The decision is deemed to have been taken if there is no opposition from one of the ministers within two months of receipt of the proposal. Otherwise, or at the reasoned request of the ministers, the producer responsibility organisation shall send a revised proposal within one month that takes into account their comments.
''Art. R. 541-12-19– Producers who set up an individual system must provide information specifying the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product, as

‘The producer responsibility organisation may also revise this information at any time under the conditions mentioned in the previous paragraph.
mentioned in the second paragraph of Article L.541-9-3, as part of their application for approval."
'‘It shall apply the signage and information no later than 12 months from the date on which its approval was issued." That information may also provide that products manufactured or imported by the producer before that deadline are entitled to a period of disposal of stocks not exceeding six months from that date.
He may, on his own initiative, or, where requested by the Minister responsible for the environment or the Minister responsible for consumption, revise that information under the conditions specified in the first paragraph of section R. 541-12-18.

‘The producer responsibility organisation shall publish this information on its website and inform its members from the date of the aforementioned decision. The producer responsibility organisation’s proposal must provide that the use of the symbol and of the information applies to producers of the products concerned who have transferred to them the obligation mentioned in paragraph I of Article L. 541-10 at the latest 12 months after this date. This proposal may also provide that products manufactured or imported before this deadline are granted a period for the sale of existing stocks not exceeding 6 months from the deadline.
“Art. R. 541-12-20.-Producers of products subject to an extended liability system in France may replace the signage defined in the appendix to article R. 541-12-17 by another common signage regulated by law by the European Union or by another Member State of the European Union, in accordance with the principle of mutual recognition provided for in Articles 34 and 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as soon as this other signage informs the consumer that the products concerned are subject to sorting rules and are compulsory." Producers may also replace the information referred to in Article R.541-12-18 with other common information regulated by another Member State of the European Union, provided that this other information specifies the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product, that it is compatible with the conditions provided for in Article R.541-12-18, and that its application is compulsory.

‘When several producer responsibility organisations are approved for the same category of products, they shall collaborate to draw up a joint proposal.
Article R. 541-12-21.-The signage provided for in the first paragraph of Article L. 541-9-3 shall be added to the information referred to in the second paragraph of that article.
‘'For the packaging referred to in paragraph 1 of Article L. 541-10-1 and for those made available to consumers in the course of a catering activity referred to in paragraph 2 of that article, this sign shall be affixed to the packaging, excluding glass beverage packages."
‘'This signage and information may be affixed in the form of stickers."
'‘Where the surface of the largest side of a product or its packaging is less than 10 square centimetres and no other document is provided with the product, the signage and information may appear on a dematerialised medium." Where the area is between ten square centimetres and 20 square centimetres, only the information may appear on a dematerialised medium.

‘This information may be laid down, where necessary, by a joint decree of the Ministers responsible for the Environment and Consumption after consulting the inter-sector commission. If necessary, it shall replace the information prepared by the producer responsibility organisation.
“Art. R. 541-12-22.- Producer responsibility organisations and producers who set up an individual system shall make this information available to the public electronically, free of charge, and in an open, easily reusable format that is usable by an automated processing system.

‘Article R.541-12-19. – Producers who set up an individual system must provide information specifying the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product, as mentioned in the second paragraph of Article L.541-9-3, as part of their application for approval.
''Art. R. 541-12-23.-The signage and information drawing the attention of consumers to the fact that certain products are the subject of a deposit device pursuant to Article L. 541-10-11 are governed by this subsection."

‘Article R.541-12-20. – Producers of products subject to an extended liability system in France may replace the symbol referred to in Article R.541-12-17 with another common symbol regulated by another Member State of the European Union, in accordance with the principle of mutual recognition provided for in Articles 34 and 36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, provided that this other symbol informs the consumer that these products are subject to sorting rules and that its application is compulsory. Producers may also replace the information referred to in Article R.541-12-18 with other common information regulated by another Member State of the European Union, provided that this other information specifies the methods for sorting or bringing in waste resulting from the product, that it is compatible with the conditions provided for in Article R.541-12-18, and that its application is compulsory.

‘Article R.541-12-21. - The symbols informing consumers that the products are the subject of a deposit system pursuant to Article L.541-10-11 are set out in the conditions provided for in this subsection.

‘Article R.541-12-22. - Producer responsibility organisations and producers who set up an individual system shall make this information available to the public electronically, free of charge, and in an open, easily reusable format that is usable by an automated processing system.

‘Article R.541-12-23. - For the application of the third paragraph of Article L.541-9-3, the harmonised system referred to is that defined in Article R.543-54-1.’
‘'Article R.541-12-24. - For the application of the third paragraph of Article L.541-9-3, the harmonised system referred to is that defined in Article R.543-54-1."

Article 2

By way of derogation from the provisions of the first paragraph of Article R.541-12-18 of the Environmental Code, the producer responsibility organisations approved on the date of publication of this Decree shall transmit the information mentioned in said Article to the administrative authority before 1 January 2021; where the stakeholder committee has not yet been set up, the inter-sector commission shall instead be consulted at the referral of the Minister for the Environment.
Any approved eco-organisation on the date of publication of this decree shall transmit its proposal for information in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of Article R. 541-12-18 of the Environmental Code, within three months of the publication of this decree.
Every producer who has set up an individual system, approved on the date of publication of this decree, shall forward his proposal for information to the Ministers of the Environment and Consumer Affairs within three months of the publication of this decree.

Article 3

Producers may apply the provisions of this Decree before 1 January 2022. Otherwise, products subject to an extended liability system that are placed on the market for household use before this date shall continue to be governed by the provisions of Articles R.541-12-17 and R.541-12-18 of the Environmental Code in their wording in force on the date of publication of this Decree until 31 December 2021.
Producers, whether they have transferred their extended responsibility obligation to an eco-organism or set up an individual system, may, if they so wish, apply the provisions of this Decree before 1 January 2022. Otherwise, products subject to an extended liability system that are placed on the market for household use before this date shall continue to be governed by the provisions of Articles R.541-12-17 and R.541-12-18 of the Environmental Code in their wording in force on the date of publication of this Decree until 31 December 2021.

Article 4

The Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition and the Minister of the Economy and Finance shall be responsible, each within the scope of their respective competences, for the implementation of this Decree, which shall be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.

Dated
Annex

Article

ANNEX
Common set of symbols mentioned in Article R.541-12-17

You can view the entire text with its images from the extract of the authenticated electronic Official Journal accessible at the bottom of the page

Dated 29 June 2021.

Jean Castex
By the Prime Minister:

Annex
The Minister for the Ecological Transition,
Barbara Pompili

Common set of symbols mentioned in Article R.541-12-17
The Minister for the Economy, Finance and the Recovery,
Bruno Le Maire