France

Policy Framework

• ▶ National Action Plan
• ▶ Legal Framework
• ▶ Indicators and/or Targets
• ▶ Technical Standards, Guidelines and Methodologies

National Action Plan

Name(Year):
● Action Plan for the Marine Environment (Marine Strategy Framework Directive – MSFD)

Brief description:
the MSFD aims at protecting more effectively the marine environment across Europe by achieving the good environmental status of the EU marine waters. The comprehensive document identifies the main pressures such as marine litter. EU member States have drawn up a program of measures to attain good environmental status. The first cycle of the program closed in 2021, the second cycle is now being applied.

Name(Year):
● Biodiversity plan: Target - “0 plastic reaching the sea in 2025”

Brief description:
the biodiversity plan has been published in 2018. It sets up the national strategy to protect biodiversity. It tackles multiple aspects of the national environmental policy such as climate adaptation and plastic reduction.

Name(Year):
● National Roadmap against Marine Litter “0 plastic reaching the sea 2019-2025”

Brief description:
the objective of this roadmap is ambitious: ending the dumping of plastic waste at sea by 2025 by implementing 35 actions aiming at preventing plastic pollution and raising awareness. This national roadmap translates the biodiversity plan into concrete actions.

Name(Year):
● National Roadmap for a circular economy
(https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/fr/node/783)

Brief description:
it aims at achieving a transition towards a circular economy by providing national citizens with the means to adopt a more sustainable consumption and make progress in waste separation.

Name(Year):
● National “3R” strategy on single use plastic packaging

Brief description:
this strategy has been adopted by decree on April 2022 and defines actions and measures to implement the 3R objectives for 2025 as specified by the “3R” Decree for reduction, reuse and recycling of single use plastic packaging for 2021-2025; and presents a vision for reaching the goal to eliminate all single use plastic packaging by 2040

Legal Framework

Name(Year):
● The legislation for energy transition for green growth (2015)

Brief description:
The legislation for energy transition for green growth (2015) set up the prohibition of non-compostable plastic bags for 2017 and progressively extended recycling to all plastic packaging by 2022.

Name(Year):
● The legislation for Reclaiming biodiversity, nature and landscapes law (2016)

Brief description:
The legislation for Reclaiming biodiversity, nature and landscapes law (2016) has set up a ban for microbeads in cosmetics for 2018 and a ban for cotton-buds in 2020.

Name(Year):
● The legislation for trade relations balance in the agricultural sector and healthy and sustainable diet (EGAlim, 2018)

Brief description:
The legislation for trade relations balance in the agricultural sector and healthy and sustainable diet (EGAlim, 2018) has planned a ban on plastic stirrers and straws in 2020, and a ban of food containers in collective catering for 2025.

Name(Year):
● The legislation against waste and for a circular economy (2020)

Brief description:
The legislation against waste and for a circular economy (2020) has defined a goal of zero single-use plastic by 2040, with targets for deposits, recycling and reuse. This law is notably based on the principle of extended producer responsibility, according to which producers are responsible for financing or organizing the prevention management and clean-up of waste from their products.

Name(Year):
● “3R” Decree for reduction, reuse and recycling of single use plastic packaging for 2021-2025 period

Brief description:
This executive decree has been adopted in April 2021 in the context of the legislation against waste and for a circular economy, it defines 3R objectives for single-use plastic packaging for the period 2021-2025 which are: reduce, reuse and recycle.

Indicators and/or Targets

■ Plastic recycling:
Indicators: proportion of recycled plastic
Targets (if any): 100% recycled plastic by 2025

■ Plastic use reduction:
Indicators:
proportion of reduction for single-use plastic packaging (expressed as tonnages of incorporated plastic / reference year 2018)
Targets (if any):
20% reduction target for single-use plastic packaging by 31st December 2025, taking into account that at least 50% of this target must be achieved through the reuse of packaging

■ Plastic leakage:
Indicators:

1. EU : number of litter items for 100 meters of beaches
2. OSPAR : plastic particles present in fulmar stomachs
3. In the framework of the Marine Framework Directive environmental objectives have been defined with as target a decrease in the amount of litter found in the marine environment. Concerning the reduction of the input and presence of land-based litter found at sea and on the coastline, the indicator is the quantities of litter of terrestrial origin most represented on the seabed and on the coastline. Relatively to the reduction of the input and the presence of litter at sea from maritime activities, uses and facilities, the indicators are the quantities of the most represented litter from the main maritime activities on the coastline and on the seabed and the quantity of wastes collected in fishing ports from maritime fishing activities.
4. proportion of reduction for single-use plastic and maritime items related, on beaches

Targets (if any):

1. A threshold has been defined at the EU level and it sets a target for good environmental status of a maximum of 20 litter items for 100 meters of beaches.
2. At OSPAR, an indicator analyses the plastic particles present in fulmar stomachs with the aim of finding no more than 0.1 g of plastics in stomach of less than 10% of fulmars. 2 other indicators concern marine litter on seafloor and the ingestion of litter by sea turtle. (France also applies the indicators of the Barcelona convention which are relatively the same as at OSPAR).
3. OSPAR contracting parties set the aim to reduce single-use plastics (SUP) and marine related items on beaches by 75% by 2030.

■ Beach Cleanup:
Indicators:
The French Ministry of ecological transition is developing a national charter “Plastic waste-free beaches for eco-exemplary coastal communities”. It enables coastal municipalities to make a commitment to preserving their beaches from plastic pollution, through 15 concrete actions of awareness raising, clean-up and prevention of marine litter on their beaches. It promotes alternatives such as water fountains, or deposit systems, or actions including manual cleaning of beaches. It should be noted that this charter is not mandatory and remains flexible: each municipality carries out as many actions as possible (not mandatory).
 
Targets (if any):
100% of coastal municipalities committed to the charter by 2030

■ Others
Indicators:

1. % of reused packaging
2. % of plastic bottles collected

Targets (if any):

1. 10% of reused packaging by 2027
2. 77% of plastic bottles collected by 2025.

Brief description:
▶ Examples of targets for the legislation against waste and for circular economy :

1. 5% of reused packaging by 2023
2. 10% of reused packaging by 2027
3. 50% less single use plastic bottles by 2030
4. 100% recycled plastic by 2025
5. 20% reduction target for single-use plastic packaging (expressed as tonnages of incorporated plastic / reference year 2018) by 31st December 2025, taking into account that at least 50% of this target must be achieved through the reuse of packaging
6. 77% of plastic bottles collected by 2025.

▶ Targets for marine litter reduction :

1. EU:
   A threshold has been defined at the EU level and it sets a target for good environmental status of a maximum of 20 litter items for 100 meters of beaches.
   In the framework of the Marine Framework Directive environmental objectives have been defined with as target a decrease in the amount of litter found in the marine environment. Concerning the reduction of the input and presence of land-based litter found at sea and on the coastline, the indicator is the quantities of litter of terrestrial origin most represented on the seabed and on the coastline. Relatively to the reduction of the input and the presence of litter at sea from maritime activities, uses and facilities, the indicators are the quantities of the most represented litter from the main maritime activities on the coastline and on the seabed and the quantity of wastes collected in fishing ports from maritime fishing activities.
2. OSPAR:
   OSPAR contracting parties set the aim to reduce single-use plastics (SUP) and marine related items by 50% by 2025 and 75% by 2030, on beaches. Another indicator analyses the plastic particles present in fulmar stomachs with the aim of finding no more than 0.1 g of plastics in stomach of less than 10% of fulmars. 2 other indicators concern marine litter on seafloor and the ingestion of litter by sea turtle. (France also applies the indicators of the Barcelona convention which are relatively the same as at OSPAR).

Technical Standards, Guidelines and Methodologies

Topics: ■ production / manufacturing ■ leakage monitoring

Brief description:
Leakage monitoring :
OSPAR guidelines on beach litter monitoring must be followed in order to properly quantify and classify the litter collected (“Guideline for Monitoring Marine Litter on the Beaches in the OSPAR Maritime Area”)

• ▶ As part of the National Roadmap against Marine Litter “0 plastic reaching the sea 2019-2025”, a “guideline on the fight against illegal waste dumping and abandonment” was published in 2020, aimed primarily at local authorities.
• ▶ EU guidelines on the monitoring of marine litter in Europeans Seas (JRC Technical Report 2023)

Production / manufacturing :

• ▶ Within the framework of the roadmap for circular economy : definition of standard ranges of reusable packaging for the catering sector, as well as for fresh products and drinks;

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Measures

Measures across Value Chain

Actions for encouraging sustainable / circular product design

Policy actions for encouraging plastic alternatives, recycled materials at production stage.

Steps taken towards restricting microplastics in products.

Reduce single-use plastic (shopping bags, straws etc.) by regulations or voluntary measures

Introduce Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

Improve waste management and recycling system

Promoting plastic waste re-use, recycling and recovery opportunities

Install capturing trap/filter on drainage/river

Conduct clean-up activities in rivers/ wetlands/ beaches/ coasts/ coral reefs/ sea floor, involving local communities involving local communities

Product Specific Measures: ALDFG

Taken/to be taken National Level Action and/or Community Level Action on Clean sea initiatives including ghost net retrieval, ocean-bound plastics etc.

Taken actions for preventing abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) being generated.

Created/creating collection/recycling mechanism for ALDFG

Partnership and Innovation

Boost multi-stakeholder involvement and awareness-raising

Encourage/ Incentivize action by private sector companies to reduce/ sustainably manage their plastic waste.

Encourage public awareness on MPL issues through formal education system and/or curriculum for

Promote innovative solutions through Research & Development

Monitoring, Data Management, Understanding Flow of Plastics/MPL

Conduct Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of plastic products. What are the challenges if LCA is not conducted?

Conduct Material Flow Analysis (MFA) on plastics. What are the challenges if MFA is not conducted?

Conduct monitoring / estimation / scientific research on leakage of plastics/microplastics to the natural environment and/or flow of ocean surface. What are the challenges if these actions are not conducted?

International Collaboration

Participate in international cooperation through international

Support target region by your international cooperation initiatives/projects: South, Central and Southeast Asia

Challenges

■ Recycling system improvement

■ Lack of financial incentives for technology development

Specific Challenges:
Nuance: the strategy France 2030 plans to fund 300 million euros to the plastic recycling industry (action: strengthen investment in the recycling chain and incorporation of plastics).

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Best Practices

■ National level ■ Local/community level ■ Private sector initiative ■ International initiative

1. National level
Description:

1. The prohibition of single-use plastic items (which are most found in the marine environment) is a good way to develop alternatives, to avoid plastic litter by tackling the pollution at source and to provide citizens with a safer choice of products and develop new habits of consumption. It is also very coherent with a better use of resources and the implementation of a circular economy.
2. A citizen science platform is very useful to give a clear idea of all the clean-ups that occur and of the quantity (and qualification) of litter collected. Such a platform is a way to share the good guidelines to conduct clean-ups (to preserve biodiversity and the nesting of birds, etc.) and to communicate on this issue and on actions and link the population who wants to get involved to the NGOs already in place.
3. The Ministry is developing the national charter “Beaches without plastic waste”. Coastal municipalities are invited to sign this charter in order to implement 15 concrete actions of awareness raising, clean-up and prevention of marine litter on their beaches. It is useful to shed a light on good practices, improve communication between municipalities and realize an annual evaluation of the actions.
4. The extended producer responsibility schemes allows to finance the collection and recycling of certain waste. They can be particularly relevant when certain wastes are most found whose collection can be difficult to put in place (for instance: cigarette buds).
5. The 2020 legislation against waste and for a circular economy creates a re-use observatory that will be responsible for assessing the relevance of reuse solutions from an environmental and economic point of view, for defining the national trajectory aiming at increasing the share of reused packaging on the market in relation to single-use packaging. It will also be in charge of supporting, in coordination with eco-organizations, experiments and the deployment of the resources needed to achieve the objectives defined in the terms of reference.
6. The law of February 10 2020 relative to the fight against waste and the economy circular foresee that sites producing, handling or using plastic pellets, and transport of pellets be endowed of equipment and procedures to prevent the loss and leaks granules of plastics industrial that represent a part microplastics susceptible to be found in the environment. It also foresees setting the implementation of regular inspections by independent-certified organizations, the first audit reports will be published this year (Decree n°2021-461 of 16 April 2021 relative to the prevention of losses of granules of industrial plastics in the environment)

Local/community level
Description:

1. An efficient waste management and fight against littering (fine)
2. Awareness raising: since 2017, some municipalities have been implementing awareness-raising campaigns through the installation of "Here begins the sea" signs near sewer drains, in order to encourage citizens to dispose of their waste in the appropriate facilities and thus prevent litter.
3. Municipalities have put in place nets to prevent litter from reaching the sea and rivers.
4. Within the framework of the government's Recovery Plan, more than 200 million euros have been earmarked for the plastics sector over the period 2020-2022 to support companies and local authorities in their efforts to reuse and recycle (ORPLAST is one of them).

Private sector initiative
Description:

1. Development of links with the industrial sector: the “National Pact on plastic packaging” allows a commitment from the companies and the implementation of recycling, reusing and reducing plastic packaging targets. Moreover, an exceptional financial support scheme for the sale of recycled materials (to compensate the difference between the price of recycled materials and virgin materials” has been implemented by the ADEME at the end of 2020, enabling 60 projects to be supported. In 2021, the ADEME has also launched the ORPLAST project, a financial scheme aiming at increasing the incorporation of plastic recycling raw materials by plastic manufacturers as a substitute for virgin material by supporting feasibility/test studies and investments (adaptation of equipments, etc…).
2. The Clean Sweep Operation is an international program for the actors of the plastic industry, and designed to prevent the loss of plastic pellets in the aquatic environment. It provides companies a guide with good practices to follow.

International initiative
Description:

1. Participation to meetings and working groups (UN, G7, G20, RSC, EU, etc)
2. France organized in 2017 and 2019 a workshop to share results and methodologies of existing projects analyzing riverine plastic pollution. In 2024, France participated in a workshop on riverine plastic pollution, organized by the regional seas conventions around Europe. Harmonized methodologies are needed for a long-term plastic pollution monitoring in rivers and should help assess measures efficiency. The outputs of this workshop was an exchange of knowledge, improved relations between researchers and NGOs running riverine litter monitoring projects

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Futher Information

Anti waste law for a circular economy
https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/loi-anti-gaspillage-economie-circulaire
https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/sites/default/files/anti-waste_law_in_the_daily_lives_of_french_people.pdf