The draft Law on the circular economy and the fight against waste has entered the National Assembly after a controversial debate in the Senate.
The text of the law of circular economy (LEC, for the acronym in Spanish) promulgated by Brune Poirson, Secretary of State of the French Ministry of Ecological Transition, came out considerably strengthened from its passage through the Senate. Representatives of local administrations, waste managers and, ultimately, senators, have largely modified the text which has gone from 13 to 77 articles and sub-points.
The Secretary of State, Brune Poirson, will try to reintroduce the deposit to recycle drink containers, deleted by senators in favor of a reuse deposit. A controversial issue in the neighboring country that reduces the visibility of the significant advances contained in the text. One of them is the improvement of information to the consumer about the product he plans to buy. To combat the planned obsolescence of products, packaging will have to provide information on the repairability index from 2021, and subsequently, by 2024, a durability index. For household appliances and some electronic products, a “use meter”.
The expected sorting gesture must also be indicated by the Triman logo, if the product is capable of being sorted separately (and not only if it is capable of being recycled). The green dot must be abandoned (two green and white arrows that indicate the payment for the provision of a service that the affiliated packaging company performs to an eco-organization such as Eco-emballages for the recycling of the packaging and thus comply with legislation), a source of consumer confusion.
The bill also provides reinforce the goal of reducing waste produced: 15%, in volume, between 2020 and 2030. Around 5% by weight of household waste will have to be reused. The senators tackled single-use plastics, even going so far as to ban the free distribution of plastic bottles in public facilities and commercial premises. In shops and stores, consumers can serve products in bulk, in a "visibly clean and suitable" container (at the merchant's discretion).
In the area of waste, the text of the bill strengthens and complements the Garot law that prohibits the destruction of unsold food by extending it to non-food products. Thus, electronic products, items returned or returned from online sales, textiles and other unsold stock can no longer be destroyed, but they must be donated, reused or recycled. Although traders through an international network are not prevented from exporting such non-perishable products elsewhere.
The governance and transparency of extended producer responsibility schemes (RAP) are strengthened. To the 14 main end-of-life product families managed or financed by their producers, six new ones are added: toys, wipes (extended to diapers), cigarettes, sports and leisure items, DIY and gardening products, and rubbers to chew Construction materials could be added if the targets to reduce illegal deposits and collect classified waste are not met by 2022. In addition, "during demolition work or significant rehabilitation of buildings, those responsible for the work must make a diagnosis related to the management of the products, materials and waste resulting from these works. This diagnosis provides the necessary information on products, materials and waste with a view to their reuse, as a priority, or when this is not possible, to their valorisation", the text states. The eco-organisms (scrabs as they are known in Spain) will have to publish the data on their performance and will be sanctioned in case of non-compliance with their objectives.
The use of recycled materials is recommended in all segments. "To achieve the recycling objectives established by law (the subject of this news) or the law of the European Union and to support material recycling flows, the marketing of certain products and materials may be subject to the fulfillment of "a minimum percentage of incorporation of recycled material, with the exception of materials derived from renewable raw materials, as long as the general environmental balance of this obligation to incorporate a minimum percentage of recycling is positive", specifies article 7 of the project of law
In more general terms, the eco-design of products is rewarded by a bonus-malus system and penalized when ignored. The products that depend on a RAP scheme will have their ecological contribution modulated "based on environmental improvement criteria, which include the amount of material used, the incorporation of recycled material, the use of renewable resources, durability, compostability, repairability, the possibilities of reuse, recyclability, the absence of ecotoxicity and hazardous substances". The text goes further, as it requires that all producers and importers of products whose sales exceed 10,000 units or generate more than 10 million euros in turnover integrate into a recycling scheme or review the design of these products By default, they will be subject to extended producer responsibility schemes.
The draft law, currently at the disposal of the National Assembly, will be examined, in essence, by the Commission for Sustainable Development and Territorial Planning and, for the opinion of the Commission on Economic Affairs.
