Extended Producer Responsibility is now one of the major pillars of the ecological transition in France, and it’s grown well beyond packaging.
The EPR schemes now number 19, covering everything from everyday consumer packaging to construction waste, cigarette butts, and used medications.
This article presents all 19 in a structured way, grouped by the kind of product they cover, so you can quickly find the ones relevant to your business.
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🎯 TL;DR: The 19 EPR Schemes in France
- France now has 19 distinct EPR schemes, from household packaging to tobacco products and single-use sanitary textiles.
- The largest by volume are household packaging (EMPAP), construction products and materials (PMCB), and WEEE.
- A company selling multiple product categories can be subject to several schemes at once, each with its own eco-organizations and rules.
- New schemes keep being added, toys and professional packaging are among the more recent additions, so it’s worth checking this list periodically even if you were compliant last year.
Short answer: France’s EPR system covers 19 product categories, each with its own scheme, eco-organizations, collection network, and eco-contribution rules. If your company places any physical product on the French market, it’s worth checking this list against your catalog: packaging, electronics, furniture, textiles, and DIY products are the categories that catch the most companies off guard, since they’re easy to overlook if you assume EPR only means packaging.
🔍 How We Checked This
The scheme count, launch years, and eco-organization names reflect the situation at the time of writing. New schemes and eco-organization approvals are added regularly, so for the current, authoritative list, ADEME’s EPR sectors portal is the reference to check against your own product catalog.
📦 High-Volume EPR Schemes: Packaging, Construction, and Single-Use Plastics
Household packaging and single-use plastics
The Household Packaging and Graphic Papers scheme (EMPAP) is one of the oldest and largest in the French EPR system. Several million tons of cardboard, glass, plastic, and metal packaging are placed on the market by producers every year. EMPAP applies without a minimum threshold, so every producer has to register from the first unit sold. Eco-organizations like Citeo coordinate collection through the yellow recycling bin and fund the sorting centers that separate materials to optimize recycling.
Single-use plastics (SUP) have drawn particular attention since the 2019 European directive. This category covers cups, cutlery, plates, straws, and other items meant for one-time use. French regulation, reinforced by the AGEC law, aims to gradually ban or replace them with reusable or compostable alternatives, and producers of these items carry increased eco-contributions that fund awareness campaigns and public-space cleanup.
Construction waste (PMCB)
The Construction Products and Materials scheme (PMCB) was one of the major EPR extensions of 2023, with a progressive ramp-up running through 2026. Its volumes far exceed those of other schemes: the construction sector generates millions of tons of waste every year from construction, renovation, and demolition sites. Materials covered include insulation, floor coverings, joinery, sanitary ware, and a long list of secondary work products.
Approved eco-organizations like Valobat or Ecominéro run a network of free take-back points at distributors and professional waste sites. A November 2024 decree expanded this by allowing collection points located up to 5 km from points of sale, which makes logistics easier for tradespeople and construction companies. Hazardous waste like asbestos and lead gets particular attention to ensure it’s traced and treated safely.
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🪑 EPR Schemes for Equipment and Household Technical Goods
Furniture
The furniture EPR scheme favors reuse before recycling, in a logic of preserving resources. Functional furniture collected through waste sites or in-store take-back gets directed to social and solidarity economy structures that refurbish it before resale. The main eco-organization here, Eco-mobilier, funds these reuse actors and builds partnerships with charitable associations. Furniture that can’t be repaired goes through a dismantling process that separates its materials: wood gets shredded into recycled particle board, metals are melted down, and textiles can be turned into insulation or fuel.
WEEE and batteries
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is technically complex, given the diversity of components and the presence of hazardous substances. A smartphone, for example, contains precious metals (gold, silver, palladium), rare earths, and specialized plastics that all require sophisticated treatment. Eco-organizations in the WEEE scheme, like Ecosystem or Ecologic, organize in-store collection (one-for-one take-back) and collection at public waste sites.
Batteries and accumulators sit in a separate scheme because of their hazardous nature and the value of the materials they contain. Lithium, cobalt, and nickel in electric vehicle or cordless tool batteries justify serious investment in recycling infrastructure, and European regulation keeps raising collection and recycling targets to limit the extraction of primary resources and reduce these products’ carbon footprint.
🧸 EPR Schemes for Everyday Consumer Goods and Leisure
From textiles to toys
The textile EPR scheme, extended to shoes and household linen, is seeing rapid growth in the volumes it collects. Collection points keep multiplying across the country, managed by eco-organizations like Refashion, which fund the sorting, reuse, and recycling of used clothing. Textiles in good condition supply second-hand shops, while damaged items get turned into industrial wiping cloths or insulating fiber.
Toys are a more recent scheme, introduced by the AGEC law. The category spans everything from stuffed animals to electronic toys, each needing its own treatment: simple plastic toys can be shredded and recycled, while electronic toys join the WEEE scheme so their electronic components and batteries get recovered properly.
Sports, leisure, DIY, and gardening
The sports scheme groups together heterogeneous categories that nonetheless share common durability and repairability issues. Items like rackets, balls, and bicycles often combine several composite materials that are genuinely hard to separate.
DIY and gardening tools combine metals, plastics, and sometimes electronics, which usually means manual dismantling to get the most out of recovery. This scheme’s gradual extension is designed to hold previously loosely-regulated sectors accountable. Producers now have to fund the collection and treatment of products with wildly different lifespans, from a gasoline mower used for fifteen years to a pool accessory replaced every season.
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🧴 Other Specialized EPR Schemes
Professional packaging
The professional packaging scheme, operational since 2024 and expanded in 2026, targets packaging used in industrial or commercial settings, mainly pallets, plastic film, and crates. Producers fund collection and recycling through dedicated eco-organizations, with a focus on reducing volumes and promoting reusable solutions.
Vehicles, tires, and boats
The End-of-Life Vehicles scheme (ELV) covers cars, vans, two-wheelers, and quadricycles, and has been in place since 2006; approved ELV centers depollute and dismantle vehicles to recycle metals, plastics, and fluids. Tires have been managed separately since 2004, with eco-organizations like Aliapur collecting used tires for recovery as granules or fuel. The pleasure and sport boat scheme, launched in 2019, organizes the deconstruction of boats to recycle hulls, engines, and equipment, with particular attention to their impact on aquatic environments.
Chemical products and oils
The chemical products scheme has managed the contents and containers of hazardous substances since 2013. Lubricating and industrial oils have their own scheme collecting used oil for regeneration or energy recovery, aimed at limiting risks to both the environment and health.
Health products and tobacco
Unused medications have been collected in pharmacies since 2009 for secure incineration, preventing water contamination. Sharp medical devices used by self-treatment patients, such as needles, go through specific collection boxes for treatment as infectious waste. The tobacco scheme, introduced in 2021, targets cigarette butts and filters to reduce their pollution, with awareness campaigns funded by producers.
📋 The Full List: All 19 EPR Schemes in France
| Scheme | Category | In place since |
|---|---|---|
| Household packaging and graphic papers (EMPAP) | Packaging | Historic scheme |
| Single-use plastics | Packaging | 2019 (EU directive) |
| Professional packaging | Packaging | 2024, expanded 2026 |
| Construction products and materials (PMCB) | Construction | 2023, ramping up to 2026 |
| Furniture | Household goods | Historic scheme |
| WEEE, electrical and electronic equipment | Electronics | Historic scheme |
| Batteries and accumulators | Electronics | Historic scheme |
| Textiles, shoes, household linen | Consumer goods | Historic scheme |
| Toys | Consumer goods | AGEC law |
| Sports and leisure equipment | Consumer goods | Historic scheme |
| DIY and garden products | Consumer goods | Historic scheme |
| End-of-life vehicles (ELV) | Vehicles | 2006 |
| Tires | Vehicles | 2004 |
| Pleasure and sport boats | Vehicles | 2019 |
| Hazardous chemical products | Chemicals and health | 2013 |
| Lubricating oils | Chemicals and health | Historic scheme |
| Unused medications | Chemicals and health | 2009 |
| Sharps medical devices (DASRI PAT) | Chemicals and health | Historic scheme |
| Tobacco products (cigarette butts and filters) | Chemicals and health | 2021 |
| Single-use sanitary textiles (wipes) | Consumer goods | Recent addition |
💡 Tip: go through your product catalog line by line against this table, not just your obvious “main” category. Companies regularly discover a secondary product line (a promotional item, a piece of packaging sold separately, an accessory) that quietly triggers a second EPR scheme they never registered for.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About EPR Schemes in France
How many EPR schemes exist in France?
19 at the time of writing, covering products from household packaging to tobacco filters. New schemes get added periodically, so it’s worth checking ADEME’s portal for the current count.
Can a company be subject to more than one EPR scheme?
Yes, and it’s common. A company selling packaged electronics, for example, can be subject to both the packaging scheme and the WEEE scheme for the same product.
Which EPR scheme has the largest volumes?
Household packaging (EMPAP) and construction products and materials (PMCB) are the largest by volume, with millions of tons placed on the market or generated as waste each year.
Do all EPR schemes have a minimum threshold?
No. Household packaging, for example, applies without any minimum threshold, meaning registration is required from the first unit sold. Other schemes provide exemption volumes for smaller producers.
How do I know which schemes apply to my products?
Start by mapping every product category you place on the French market against the list above, then confirm each match against ADEME’s sector-by-sector specifications, since edge cases (accessories, promotional items, packaging sold separately) are easy to miss.
Map Every Scheme Your Company Is Subject To
With 19 schemes and counting, French EPR is broad enough that most companies selling physical products end up subject to more than one. Getting a complete, accurate picture across every category you sell is the difference between smooth annual declarations and an unpleasant surprise during an audit or a marketplace check.
Start your free trial with Ekovio to map every EPR scheme your products fall under.
