French EPR schemes: the full list and how EPR fees are calculated

As of 28 September 2026, ADEME (the French Agency for Ecological Transition) lists 19 extended producer responsibility (EPR, REP in French) schemes, from yoghurt packaging to pleasure boats, taking in tyres, toys and concrete blocks. In each scheme (also known as an EPR stream), the company that places a product on the market finances its end of life: it pays an EPR fee (éco-contribution) to one of the 28 producer responsibility organisations (PRO, éco-organisme in French) approved by the State, according to a fee schedule (barème) that varies with the product, its weight and its materials. These fees reached €2.8 billion in 2024, and ADEME counted 226,000 member producers in 2025.

Many companies first come across the subject when a PRO writes to them, when an online marketplace asks for an identifier, or when professional (B2B) packaging comes into scope on 1 January 2027. The questions are always the same: which EPR schemes you fall under, which PRO to join and what it costs. The answer depends first on the product, then on the fee schedule of the PRO you choose.

1What is an EPR scheme?

An EPR scheme covers a family of products whose waste management is, by law, the responsibility of the companies that place them on the market. The principle is set out in Article L. 541-10 of the French Environmental Code, and the list of schemes in Article L. 541-10-1. It applies the polluter pays principle to consumer products and professional products alike.

The producer: whoever places the product on the market

The Code defines the producer as any person who develops, manufactures, handles, processes, sells or imports a product subject to EPR. In practice, it is the company that places the product on the French market for the first time: a manufacturer established in France, an importer, a brand that has products made under its name, or a distance seller established abroad. A distributor that resells a product already declared by its supplier does not pay a second time, but may be required to take back used products from its customers.

PRO or individual compliance scheme

Almost all producers join a PRO: a non-profit organisation, set up by producers and approved by the State for 6 years at most, to which each producer transfers its obligation in return for a financial contribution. A few choose an approved individual compliance scheme instead and organise the take-back of their own products: ADEME lists 27 of them in 2026, 20 of which are run by car manufacturers; the others cover electrical equipment and, since July 2026, reusable pallets and crates managed as a pool.

Where several PROs share a scheme, a coordinating body allocates the collection obligations among them and acts as the single point of contact for local authorities, as OCAD3E does for electrical equipment and OCAB for construction products.

EPR fee and éco-participation

The EPR fee is the amount a producer pays its PRO for each product or each tonne placed on the market; Ecomaison and ecosystem call it the éco-participation. Under Article L. 541-10-2, it covers the prevention, collection, transport and treatment of waste, net of the revenue from recovery. For household electrical equipment, the amount is shown on every invoice on top of the price and passed on unchanged to the final customer, with no discount possible (Article L. 541-10-20).

2The full list: 19 EPR schemes in force on 28 September 2026

ADEME lists 19 approved schemes, up from 12 in 2020: the AGEC law (France's Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Act) of February 2020 created 8 of them, and 2 older schemes merged in 2024. Article L. 541-10-1 lists 21 categories of products, 2 of which are yet to be implemented.

The original schemes, from 1993 to 2019

The first scheme grew out of a decree of 1992 on household packaging and has operated since 1993, as has the scheme for unused medicines. Next came portable batteries (2001), tyres (2004), electrical equipment (2005 for professional equipment, 2006 for household equipment), end-of-life vehicles (2006), and textiles and graphic papers (2007). The 2012 wave added furniture, household chemical products and the sharp medical devices used by patients who treat themselves, and pleasure boats completed the series in 2019.

The 8 schemes created since the AGEC law

The AGEC law extended the principle to products never covered before: tobacco products in 2021, to reduce cigarette butt litter; toys, sports and leisure articles, DIY and garden articles and lubricating oils in 2022; construction products and materials, operational in 2023; catering packaging in 2024, the first part of the professional packaging scheme; and wipes in 2025, as single-use sanitary textiles.

Schemes provided for but not yet operational

Of the categories written into the law, 2 have no approved PRO as of 28 September 2026: synthetic chewing gum, provided for from 2024 but with no implementing decree, and fishing gear containing plastic, for which the decree was published on 5 August 2025. Above all, on 1 January 2027 the professional packaging scheme will extend to cover all pallets, films, crates and drums, a change of scale described in our article on EPR for professional packaging.

3Which PROs are approved for each scheme, and where can you choose?

The EPR schemes are served by 28 approved PROs, 6 of which operate in several schemes, according to ADEME. Each scheme has between 1 and 4 of them, and that number determines whether the producer can choose its PRO.

Schemes where the producer can choose its PRO

In 7 schemes, several PROs compete on the same products: Citeo, Adelphe and Léko for household packaging and paper; ecosystem and Ecologic for electrical equipment; Ecomaison, Valdelia and Valobat for furniture; Aliapur, France Recyclage Pneumatiques and Tyval for tyres; 4 PROs for construction products; Batribox and ecosystem for batteries; and Ecomaison and Valobat for DIY and garden. Professional packaging will become the eighth on 1 January 2027, with Citeo Pro, Léko Pro and Twiice.

In the other schemes, a single PRO covers each product category: Refashion for textiles, Ecomaison for toys, Ecologic for sports and leisure, Cyclevia for oils, Cyclamed for medicines, Dastri for sharp medical devices, APER for boats, Alcome for tobacco, Citeo Soin & Hygiène for wipes and Recycler Mon Véhicule for vehicles. Chemical products have 3 PROs, each covering its own category: EcoDDS, Pyréo for pyrotechnics and Ecopae for small fire extinguishers.

PROs active in several schemes

Ecomaison is approved for furniture, toys, 2 DIY and garden categories and one construction category; Valobat for construction, furniture and DIY; Ecologic for electrical equipment, sports and part of DIY. The sector continues to consolidate: Corepile merged with ecosystem in the summer of 2025, as the portable batteries scheme became the batteries scheme on 18 August 2025 under the EU Batteries Regulation.

Approvals for 8 schemes expire at the end of 2027

An approval lasts 6 years at most, and each renewal comes with new specifications: collection targets, fee schedules and modulations may change. On 31 December 2027, the current approval period ends for 8 schemes: electrical equipment, construction, toys, sports and leisure, DIY and garden, oils, medicines and chemical products. It is also the time to compare PROs, since the law requires the PRO you leave to transfer the unused share of the contributions.

4Who counts as a producer, and how many EPR schemes apply?

The question arises product by product, and the answer is often more than one scheme: according to ADEME, 41,000 of the 226,000 member producers fall under several schemes.

Manufacturer, importer, brand or platform

A producer is whoever places a product on the French market for the first time, whatever the sales channel. A retailer that has goods made under its own brand is the producer of those goods, an importer is the producer of what it brings into the country, and an online marketplace is responsible for the EPR obligations of the sellers it hosts if they are not compliant (Article L. 541-10-9). Since 10 July 2026, a company not established in France must also appoint an authorised representative established in France, for every scheme.

One product, several EPR schemes

A single item often triggers several schemes, because the product, its battery and its packaging each fall under a scheme of their own. ADEME gives the example of a smartphone, which is subject to the schemes for electrical equipment, batteries and household packaging; a sofa delivered in film and cardboard falls under furniture and packaging; a battery-powered toy robot moves out of the toys scheme and into the electrical equipment scheme. Each scheme means a membership, a declaration and an identifier.

One unique identifier and one declaration per scheme

Membership gives the producer the right to one unique identifier (identifiant unique, or IDU, also known as unique identification number or UIN) per scheme: the EPR registration number issued by ADEME, to be shown in the general terms and conditions of sale (CGV in French) and on the website. The producer then declares what it has placed on the market to each PRO, quarterly or annually depending on the scheme. Failing to join can expose a company to an administrative fine of up to €7,500 per unit or per tonne, a periodic penalty payment of up to €20,000 a day and a further €30,000 if it has no identifier (Article L. 541-9-5).

For sellers established abroad, our tool on the EPR authorised representative tells you in a few questions whether you are required to appoint one, and makers will find the case of small businesses in our article on the obligations of a micro-business.

5How are EPR fees calculated?

Each PRO publishes an annual fee schedule: the EPR fee is the number of products or tonnes declared, multiplied by the corresponding rate, then adjusted by bonuses or penalties. The rate must cover the waste management costs of the scheme, and each PRO sets its own.

Per unit, by weight or as a flat fee

PROs do not all charge on the same basis, and a producer active in several schemes combines them:

• Per unit in furniture, toys and electrical equipment, by product type, material and weight band: each product reference is given a code and a rate.
• By weight and per unit for household packaging: at Citeo, a rate per kilogram, by material, from 2 cents for glass to €2.10 for PVC, with small amounts per packaging unit added on top.
• Per tonne for professional packaging: the Citeo Pro 2027 rates, published on 5 October 2026, are €281.84 excl. VAT per tonne of plastic and €35.47 excl. VAT per tonne of paper and cardboard.
• As a flat fee for small volumes: €110 excl. VAT a year at Citeo below 10,000 units sold, and €22 excl. VAT per band of 100 pieces at Ecomaison for toys below 15,000 pieces.

Worked examples at 2026 rates: chair, toy, smartphone, bottle

In furniture and toys, the modulation is built into the rate: the code assigned to a product depends on its main material, its certification and any recycling disruptors. Under Ecomaison's 2026 toys fee schedule, a baby walker of 5 to 7 kg pays €0.58 excl. VAT in polypropylene and €1.40 excl. VAT without a main material, which is 2.4 times as much. At ecosystem, a smartphone pays €2.44 excl. VAT if its battery is removable and €2.54 if not; at Citeo, a 44 g shampoo bottle costs 3.6 cents, or twice as much if it is black and cannot be detected by optical sorting.

At Projet Celsius, we find that the most common mistake is to treat the EPR fee as a fixed tax, when it is decided at the design stage: on a chair sold at 50,000 units a year, the gap between the 2 ends of the fee schedule exceeds €46,000, and the law provides for stronger modulations where targets are not met. An eco-design process (in French) or a first product LCA (in French) can put figures on these trade-offs before the bill of materials is frozen, as it can for packaging; for furniture, the same material data also feed the environmental score for furniture (in French).

EPR fee modulation: bonuses and penalties

Since the AGEC law, Article L. 541-10-3 requires EPR fee modulation (also called eco-modulation) according to the product's environmental performance: recycled content, durability, repairability, recyclability, hazardous substances and, since the law of 8 July 2026, carbon footprint and harm to biodiversity. Bonuses and penalties may exceed the amount of the fee, and a bonus can reduce it to zero or below; at the producer's reasoned request, they are capped at 20% of the selling price excl. VAT, and at 50% for textiles.

According to the overview published by ADEME in 2026, 15 of the 19 schemes applied bonuses or penalties in 2025, and since January 2026 a ministerial order of 5 September 2025 has required the PROs of 8 schemes to reward the use of recycled plastic. The heaviest penalties are in textiles: since 1 September 2026, the penalty targeting ultra-fast fashion can reach €12 per garment.

6EPR fees reached €2.8 billion in 2024

PROs collected €2.8 billion in 2024, against €182 million in 2000 according to ADEME: the bill has grown 15-fold in 24 years, as new schemes were created. Of this total, €1.2 billion was passed on to the local authorities that collect and sort waste.

Household packaging accounts for 43% of the total

The breakdown is highly concentrated: household packaging and paper alone account for €1.20 billion, or 43% of the total, ahead of electrical equipment (€393 million), furniture (€359 million) and construction (€261 million). The 6 schemes created by the AGEC law and active in 2024, excluding construction, from tobacco to catering packaging, account for €209 million between them.

From €1 to more than €7,000 a tonne

Construction accounts for 89% of the tonnes placed under EPR in 2024, 182 million out of 204 million, but for less than 10% of the money: its average fee is €1.4 per tonne, for products made mostly of concrete, mortar and aggregates. Further up the scale, a tonne of household packaging costs €189 and a tonne of portable batteries €561, while a tonne of needles and lancets from patients who treat themselves costs more than €7,000, for lightweight infectious waste (in French) collected in secure containers.

What the money collected pays for

The law lists what the fees must cover: prevention, collection, transport, treatment, clean-up of abandoned waste where the specifications provide for it, and data management. It also requires 2 funds: a repair fund, which supported 344,000 repairs in 2023 through 3,600 labelled repairers, and a reuse fund, financed by at least 5% of contributions for electrical equipment, furniture, textiles, toys, sports and DIY. At Ecomaison, 93 cents of every €1 go towards collection, reuse, repair, recycling and support for partners, in line with the right to repair (in French).

7Reforms expected in 2027, in France and in Europe

By the end of 2027, the professional packaging scheme scales up, the construction and textile rules are under review, and the European Commission is preparing an overhaul of EPR frameworks.

Professional packaging on 1 January 2027

After 2 postponements, the scheme will cover all professional packaging from 1 January 2027: pallets, films, crates, big bags and drums. Citeo Pro, Léko Pro and Twiice have been approved since June 2026 and ADEME asks companies to join before 31 December 2026. Citeo Pro published its 2027 fee schedule on 5 October 2026, as detailed in our article on EPR for professional packaging. The unique identifier for this scheme will not be issued before January 2027, as our article on the identifier explains, and these obligations come on top of those of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

Construction and textiles: 2 overhauls in preparation

The construction scheme is being overhauled: a decree and a ministerial order were put out to consultation from 23 April to 19 May 2026 and drew 1,469 comments, but neither had been published as of 28 September 2026; our article on the EPR scheme for construction products and materials (PMCB) (in French) tracks their progress. On the textile side, new specifications and a draft decree on textile accessories and footwear were put out to consultation in July 2026, while Refashion's approval runs until the end of 2028 and the ban on destroying unsold textiles has applied to large companies since July 2026.

The Circular Economy Act, expected in the autumn

EU law also applies to EPR: the PPWR, whose application timetable began on 12 August 2026, harmonises EPR for packaging in all Member States, and the Waste Framework Directive, revised in 2025, extends EPR to textiles across the EU by 17 April 2028 at the latest. The Commission has included in its 2026 work programme a regulation on the circular economy, the Circular Economy Act, which the Council of the EU describes as the comprehensive review of EPR frameworks, expected in autumn 2026.

The text had not been presented as of 28 September 2026, and its content is not yet known. The Council has already referred one matter to it: in June 2026, it discontinued negotiations on the suspension of the EPR authorised representative that a producer must appoint in each country where it sells without being established. Until then, the French schemes, their PROs and their fee schedules remain the rule.

8Key takeaways

• 19 EPR schemes are approved as of 28 September 2026, 8 of them created since the AGEC law; chewing gum and fishing gear still have no approved PRO.
• 28 PROs share them: the producer chooses its own in 7 schemes, and will do so in an eighth, professional packaging, from 1 January 2027.
• One product often falls under several schemes: the item, its battery and its packaging each have their own, with one membership and one unique identifier per scheme.
• The EPR fee multiplies quantities by the rate in the fee schedule, then applies bonuses and penalties: a chair of 5 to 7 kg pays €0.44 to €1.37 excl. VAT at Ecomaison in 2026.
• €2.8 billion was paid in 2024, 43% of it for household packaging, and the approvals of 8 schemes expire on 31 December 2027.

The first step is an inventory of what the company places on the market, scheme by scheme and packaging included. Our article on the EPR unique identifier covers the next step, and our PPWR support handles membership and declarations for packaging, household and professional alike.

Further resources

Frequently asked questions

1How many EPR schemes are there in France?

ADEME lists 19 approved EPR schemes as of 28 September 2026, up from 12 in 2020. The French Environmental Code lists 21 categories of products in Article L. 541-10-1, but chewing gum and fishing gear containing plastic do not yet have an approved PRO. On 1 January 2027, the professional packaging scheme extends to all non-household packaging, without creating a new scheme.

2Who has to pay EPR fees in France?

The producer, meaning the company that places a product on the French market for the first time: a manufacturer, an importer, a brand that has products made under its name or a distance seller established abroad, which must also appoint an authorised representative in France. A distributor that resells a product already declared by its supplier does not pay a second time, but must be able to give its customers the producer's unique identifier.

3How are EPR fees calculated in France?

The EPR fee is calculated by multiplying the quantities placed on the market, in units or tonnes depending on the scheme, by the rate in the PRO's fee schedule, then applying the bonuses and penalties of EPR fee modulation. Under Citeo's 2026 fee schedule, a 44 g polyethylene shampoo bottle, cap included, costs around 3.6 cents, or twice as much if the plastic is black and cannot be detected by optical sorting. Below 10,000 units sold a year, Citeo offers a flat fee of €110 excl. VAT.

4How do I choose a PRO in France?

In 12 schemes the question does not arise: a single PRO covers each product category. In the 7 where several are approved, compare the year's fee schedules, the flat fees for small volumes, the bonuses offered and the collection services. If you switch, the law requires the PRO you leave to transfer the unused share of the contributions.

5What is the penalty for not paying EPR fees in France?

A company faces an administrative fine of up to €7,500 per unit or per tonne of product, a periodic penalty payment of up to €20,000 per day and up to a further €30,000 if it is not entered in ADEME's register or does not display its unique identifier (Article L. 541-9-5 of the Environmental Code). Online marketplaces, which are responsible for the EPR obligations of sellers that are not compliant, may also suspend their listings.

6Is EPR harmonised across the EU?

Not yet: the EU requires EPR for packaging, electrical equipment, batteries and, by April 2028, textiles, but each country organises its own schemes, PROs and register. A producer that sells in several countries joins a PRO and declares in each one. The Circular Economy Act, expected in autumn 2026 and not yet presented as of 28 September, is due to revise all EPR frameworks.

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