As a private company accredited by the French public authorities to install, organise and optimise sorting and selective collection of household packaging, Eco Emballages, its Green Dot logo (“Point Vert”), and its publicity on TV seems to have a prominent place in the environnmental cause in each housing.

In fact, 55% of the French population place “recyclability” as the first criterion for a respectful packaging environment (survey IFOP for AC - The French and packaging of food products-febuary2012). In 20 years, selective sorting became a real phenomenon of society. Thanks to the commitment of everyone across the Green Dot recycling has helped to preserve natural resources, create business and jobs, and bring the act of sorting in every home.
3 million tons are recycled each year, and about 40 million tons in 20 years.


1) French Legal Context

In accordance with the article L541-2 of the Environmental French Code: “Any person who produces or possesses waste under conditions likely to produce harmful effects (…) and, in general, to harm human health or the environment, is obliged to dispose of it or have it disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, under the conditions required to avoid the said effects.

The disposal of waste includes the operations of collection, transport, storage, sorting and treatment required for the recovery of reusable elements and materials or energy, as well as for the deposit or discharge into the natural environment of all other products under the conditions required to avoid the nuisances mentioned in the previous paragraph.”

According to the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility, the article L541-10 of the same Code indicate that the manufacture with a view to sale and putting at the disposal of the user of waste-generating products may be regulated in order to facilitate the disposal of the said waste.
The producers or importers of these products are obliged to pay for or contribute to the disposal of the waste generated by them.

Also, as an importer Nissan West Europe is facing its French legal environmental obligation to report and contribute to the eco-organization “Eco emballage”. Because of that, Nissan West Europe have to declare the weight and composition of their products’ packaging sold to household (which mean not "professional user") in order to paid a contribution.

Many issues are raised:

- What is the weight of the packaging of our products?

- Their composition/compound (plastic, cardboard)? The weigh of each material?

- How many of our products have been sold to household?


2) What is the scope of intervention ?

- For whom ?, for what?

The French market consists of metropolitan France, departments and regions overseas (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Martin, Mayotte) and duty free zones and boarding these territories. Since 1 January 1993, companies that are on the market packaged products consumed or used by households must provide for the waste management of these packages.

The producers have to contribute for all packaging of products on the French market, on their behalf, branded or unbranded, the packaging products made on their behalf (subcontracting), and for packaging of the products they manufacture on behalf of a registered dealer.
The distributors are involved as a importers for packaged products introduced (from a country of the European Union) or imported into the French market (mainland and overseas).
Importers or introducers are concerned for the packaging products purchased directly from abroad-in and out of the European Union, and sold on the French market.

Moreover, have to contribute, the responsible for the first placing on the packaged product market, if there is a lack of identification of the manufacturer or the introducer / importer.

The contribution concerns the household packaging. First of all, what is household ? Any person who consumes or uses for private purposes (food, entertainment, etc..) a packaged product sold or offered by a company.
Then, is a household packaging within the meaning of article R. 543-55 of the Code of the environment any package of a product sold or distributed for free to a household, which is placed on the market for the consumption or for use of the product contains by a household;

Once the company will sign the contract with Eco-emballages, it may be affixed to its packaging the “Green Dot” logo. This logo means that the company putting this product on the market contributes financially to its related waste management. It is not a sorting instruction and it does not mean that the product or the package should be sorted separately, nor that it will be recycled.

For the automotive industry whose main activity is the importation and sale of a vehicle, comply with French regulations is laborious. The accuracy of information to be collected in order to report to Eco emballages is very difficult to obtain (weight, composition of each reference of parts and accessory sold to household).