French to levy penalties for using non-recycled plastic

FRANCE plans to introduce a penalty system next year that would increase the costs of consumer goods with packaging made of non-recycled plastic.

It formed part of a pledge to use only recycled plastic nationwide by 2025, an environment ministry official said yesterday. Brune Poirson, secretary of state for ecological transition, said the move was one of several to be implemented in coming years, including a deposit-refund scheme for plastic bottles.

“Declaring war on plastic is not enough. We need to transform the French economy,” she told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper.

Under the new plan, products with recycled plastic packaging could cost up to 10 per cent less, while those containing non-recycled plastic up to 10 per cent more, Ms Poirson said.

“When there’s a choice between two bottles, one made of recycled plastic and the other without, the first will be less expensive,” she said. Emmanuel Guichard, of the Elipso federation of plastic packaging makers, gave a cautious welcome to the plan. “For bottles, giving consumers a choice is possible. But we can’t forget other items – today there’s no recycled plastics available for yogurt pots,” he said.

Flore Berlingen, of Zero Waste France, said: “We’re hoping that companies play the game so that clients aren’t the ones penalised.”

The French government also aims to increase taxes on burying rubbish in landfills, while cutting taxes for recycling operations.

France is among several countries hit recently by a wave of “plastic attacks” – where shoppers dump all the packaging of their purchases outside stores.

“When non-recycled plastic will cost more, that will eliminate much of the excessive packaging,” Ms Poirson said.

France recycles around 25 per cent of its plastic, according to the 60 Million Consumers magazine. It has outlawed single-use plastic bags in supermarkets unless they can be composted. The Carrefour and E.leclerc supermarket chains are to quit selling plastic straws in the coming months, ahead of a law banning them by 2020.