For some years now, EU Member States that failed to meet the EU's recycling target of 50 percent for plastic packaging have had to pay a levy to the EU. This so-called ‘plastic tax’ is intended to create an incentive to reduce the proportion of non-recycled plastic waste. 

In 2023, for example, France paid around €1.5 billion to the EU because its recycling rate for plastic waste was only 25.9 per cent. 

As a result, calls to transfer at least a part of this financial burden to manufacturers and retailers have become increasingly loud. 

In this context, the draft of finance law for 2026, which was submitted to the French National Assembly for review in October last year, included a plastic tax. However, the plan to introduce the plastic tax was rejected shortly afterwards by the National Assembly's finance committee on the grounds that companies already bear a considerable financial burden under extended producer responsibility. Furthermore, the strong increase in contributions to extended producer responsibility organizations in recent years has not led to any significant improvement in terms of achieving recycling targets.  It therefore remains to be seen which path the French legislature will take in the future. 

We would be happy to support you in assessing the current developments.