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France

Packaging waste by waste management operations (env_waspac)

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National Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS)

Compiling agency: Ministry for the Ecological Transition 

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France uses as mainly method the placed on the market approach based on production/import statistics to quantify the packaging waste generated. These data, mainly, come from INSEE (annual production surveys realised by branch of activity according to the Prodcom nomenclature) and from the customs service. These data are supplemented by data from surveys conducted by national sectorial federations of packaging, most often annually, to their members and by other studies or surveys realised in order to collect data required in the framework of the Directive 94/62/EC and the Decision 2005/270/EC.

France uses recycling data collected by PROs in the framework of the EPR scheme which covers household packaging and has set up many reporting campaigns from recycling plants in order to collect recycled packaging waste data. When data cannot be measured at calculation point, the derogation to make use of average loss rates has been applied.

France applies the new calculations rules according to Decision 2005/270/EC. 

30 June 2025

We take into account the amount of wooden packaging that is repaired for reuse in the calculation of the targets laid down in point (f), point (g) (ii), point (h) and point (i) (ii) of Article 6 (1) of Directive 94/62/EC. The adjusted rate is 37,1%.

We take into account the amount of metals in incineration bottom ash (IBA) for calculation of the targets.

France collects data from:

  • producers of empty packaging placed on the market in France (empty packaging produced and placed on the market in France, packaging elements intended to be incorporated into another material sector produced and placed on the market in France)
  • importers and exporters of empty packaging
  • importers and exporters of filled packaging
  • professional federations
  • PROs
  • waste operators
  • recycling plants

INSEE data: The statistical population is made up of all legal units in the industrial economic sectors (sections B to E of the NAF rev. 2), as well as non-industrial legal units with a secondary activity relating to industry.

Placed on the market approach: Total packaged products placed on the national market for the first time by all economic operators

Treatment: Treatment plants treating nationally generated packaging waste" or “sorting plants” (it depends if data is available at calculation point).

France including French overseas departments.

Calendar year

The main issue of the data accuracy concerns the foreign trade statistics, which rely on a mandatory but declarative basis. A few products' codes data are identified as abnormal and should be treated before use (in this case we mainly reconduct the previous year value as the delay for the official data correction is not compatible with the deadline for the reporting to the EC ; this process nevertheless ensures that next year data should be correct as the declarant of the erroneous data is made aware of the problem). Most of the time, the problem affecting a NC8 code is limited to the trade with a specific country inside this NC8 code. 

Moreover, many PRODFRA quantities (10 digits production codes from INSEE based on PRODCOM codes) became unavailable in 2021, 2022 or 2023. We managed to get an overall value for the PRODCOM code which is in fine more accurate than summing PRODFRA tonnages where some codes could be unavailable (in this case we've been reconducting the previous year value).

 

INSEE data: Production volume depends on the products (defined by the PRODCOM list – see tables in the section 3.3). If data are exclusively available in units and no conversion in mass is possible (example: steel and aluminium INSEE data), we use data from sectorial professional organizations.

Customs data: All data are available in mass.

Reporting data: Tonnes

See sections below.

Data used come from many sources:

  • INSEE (French National Statistical Institute): INSEE data (production volumes) are used to quantify empty packaging quantity produced in France, placed on the market and exported from which we deduce the quantity of empty packaging exported (based on CN-codes)
  • Customs: Customs data are used to quantity filled packaging flows (based on the use of HS* codes), empty packaging flows (based on CN codes) and exported industrial paper and cardboard packaging recycled abroad,
  • National sectorial federations,
  • SYDEREP (national declaration system for PROs),
  • Citeo and Léko (French PROs),
  • ADEME - National Agency for Ecological Transition,
  • Recycling plants in France (Glass processing plants, paper mills, plastic material regenerators),
  • Plastic waste exporters.

Data are reported to Eurostat and disseminated every year.

Final data for year n are available at the reporting deadline (n+18m). 

Not applicable.

INSEE data: the results are always published in pairs: results from year N and year N-1 with nomenclature N. Comparison over 2 years, down to the finest level, is therefore guaranteed. However, no further retropolation is made. Temporal comparisons can be made over 2 consecutive years for the PRODFRA level.

 

Customs data: Controls ensure the internal consistency of the data presented on the site (i.e. arithmetic and accounting equalities are checked). The concepts and nomenclatures used comply with international standards, if they exist. When national needs impose specific nomenclatures or treatments, their compatibility with international standards is guaranteed. With this same concern for transnational comparability, France's foreign trade statistics are the subject of regular comparisons with the equivalent statistics of countries which have trade with France. The continuity of the series published on the site is guaranteed. When changes cause breaks in the time series, the series are, if possible, backcasted. If this is not the case, the break is reported and explained.

 

Reporting data: Every year a comparison between N data and three previous years data is made. However, we don’t proceed in further retropolation, excepted in specific case.

 

Many breaks in series between 2022 and 2023 data:

- For every materials (excepted “plastics”): foreign trade of filled packaging is based on the foreign trade of products itself with the application of a ratio on the quantity of packaged goods and a ratio on the weight of the packaging with respect to the weight of the goods. Most of those ratios on the weight of the packaging were updated.

- For "plastics": Extrapolation of non-household plastic packaging waste declaration is based on a new source (Eurostat data of PELD exported from France : Eurostat database on EU trade by HS2-4-6 and CN8 (ds-045409)). Agricultural PELD non-packaging waste exported, household PELD films identify by EPR and estimated PELD production wastes are subtracted from PELD exported from France, and compared to non-household PELD declared to get extrapolation multiplying factor applied to the other plastic flows.

- For "wood":

  • Between 2021 and 2022, the main source of data shifted from INSEE to the FNB (French Wood Federation). The overall number of pallets is close between the two data sets but the FNB provides a realistic breakdown by type of pallets and enables the removal of pallets that doesn't undergo a preparation for reuse but are resold directly (that represents ~31% of the whole pallets). In 2023, repaired pallets are now accounted directly from the FNB (adjusted with the INSEE data evolution) instead of taking a part of the total amount of pallets which is assessed less precise.
  • Only Euro pallets were considered as reusable until 2022 data. From 2023 data, a portion of each kind of pallets is accounted as reusable.
  • Until 2022, only pallets were considered as reusable wood packaging. From 2023, cable drums are also accounted as reusable (sales packaging), but no information could have been collected on rotations.

- For “aluminium”: The reusable aluminium packaging are based on CO2 gas cylinders, faced data confidentiality issues (only a few actors) until 2022 data, but could have been estimated for 2023 data. (moderated impact)

- For ”glass”:

  • Until 2022, the accurate management of the destinations of stocks was too complex to rely on the glass manufacturer's declarations: reliable data from the EPR scheme (not including the stocks) were used for the household, and non-household data was the 2020 one adjusted for 2022. To avoid this issue, 2023 POM is based on household EPR 2023 POM and renewed 2022 non-household POM (to which we add the change observed on POM households between 2022 and 2023), instead of packaging production.
  • In 2023, for the first time, output of cullet preparation from the glass manufacturer's declaration could have been used for both non-household and household glass packaging recycled in France, completed by EPR data for household exports and glass manufacturer's declaration for non-household exports.