“The anti-waste law for a circular economy intends to accelerate the change in production and consumption models in order to limit waste and preserve natural resources, biodiversity and the climate.” ecologie.gouv
The AGEC law aims to transform the daily lives of French people by changing their lifestyles in order to move towards a more sustainable model of society. From now on, it prohibits professionals from destroying their unsold goods without first attempting to resell, donate or recycle them.The text involves both professionals, manufacturers and distributors, as well as consumers, with the aim of better informing them and encouraging them to act on their consumption habits. The law is at the heart of the circular economy, aimed at building new consumption habits, a more sustainable and responsible economy, striving for renewable production. The AGEC law focuses on 5 main areas of action: phasing out the use of disposable plastic, improving consumer information, combating waste and promoting circular reuse, taking action against programmed obsolescence, and producing better.Article 35 Entitled The “Fight for reuse and against waste” initiative introduced the obligation to give priority to reuse through donations to associations working to combat precariousness, reuse or recycling. By 2020, the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) estimated that the impact of the law on donations could increase by a factor of 10. The ban on destroying non-food products without first trying to give them away should encourage companies to give more, on pain of heavy fines by the end of 2022. Unfortunately, 6 months after the law came into force, the expected results have yet to be seen.There are two reasons for this :
VSEs and SMEs are often unaware of the law and their obligations. According to a study byADEME80% of companies are still unaware of the AGEC law, and what it entails for them. They have a real need for support in organising their donation or recycling process. The major groups have taken up the issue and structured their approach to meet their legal obligations. However, they were already active in in-kind sponsorship and simply adapted their approach. This has had little effect on volumes. So what can be done to move things forward? There is only one solution: evangelisation. The government, while initiating the process, seems reluctant to communicate on it, waiting for the market to regulate itself through sanctions, because no one is supposed to ignore the law. CircularPlace has decided to take the matter in hand and launch a Webinar programme from September 2022, to make sure that everyone is aware of the risks they are running. Stay tuned, more information is coming soon!
