France
France runs more EPR filières than any other market in our 31-country map. Sixteen product categories carry producer duties as of July 2026, fifteen of them live, and French EPR compliance still funnels through a single national register.
That register is SYDEREP, kept by the environment agency ADEME. One number, the IDU, proves you are in it.
The sixteen filières with producer duties
Fifteen filières are active and one, fishing gear, has its legal framework but no operating scheme yet. As of July 2026 that is the full list, from packaging to boats.
The core is old. Household packaging has run since 1993, textiles since 2007 as Europe's first textile EPR scheme, electronics since 2005.
The AGEC law then widened the system in one push. Toys, sports and leisure goods, DIY and garden tools, and construction materials all became filières between 2022 and 2023.
Two filières deserve a flag. Professional packaging (EPRO) has its schemes approved but its launch was postponed in June 2026, and no new date is fixed. Fishing gear has definitions in law but no approved scheme.
One register and one number
Every active filière reports into SYDEREP, and every producer carries an IDU, a unique identifier issued by ADEME since 2022, one per producer per filière.
You do not sign up yourself. Your éco-organisme, the French producer responsibility organisation, registers you in SYDEREP and sends you the IDU.
The IDU is not a formality you can park. It must appear in your terms of sale and on your website, and each filière you sell into needs its own.
Does this apply to you
Say you ship cookware from Poland to French homes. You place packaging, and the products themselves may fall under a filière, so you owe éco-contributions even without a French entity.
The same logic hits marketplaces. Since 2022 a platform is liable for its third-party sellers' EPR duties unless the seller proves compliance, which in practice means showing a valid IDU.
One point stays genuinely unsettled. France's rule letting foreign sellers appoint a mandataire was struck down by the Conseil d'État in November 2023, and the codified position since has not been consolidated. Check the current state before relying on it.
Where the money goes
ADEME charges nothing for the register itself. The cost of French EPR sits in the éco-contributions you pay your éco-organisme per unit placed on the market.
Those fees are modulated. AGEC ties primes and pénalités to design criteria, and from January 2026 a decree sharpens the modulation for recycled plastic content. Durable, repairable products pay less; hard-to-recycle ones pay more.
How France enforces it
Enforcement runs on administrative fines. Missing registration or a missing IDU can cost up to 30,000 euros, with penalties per unit or per tonne of up to 1,500 euros for individuals and 7,500 euros for companies.
The authorities can add a daily penalty of up to 20,000 euros until you comply. It rarely starts there, but the ceiling is real and written into the Code de l'environnement.
The dates ahead
The next moves are already dated, or honestly undated. As of July 2026:
- EPRO, professional packaging: schemes approved, launch postponed, no fixed date.
- PPWR, the EU packaging regulation, applies from 12 August 2026 across every member state.
- Fishing gear: framework set in 2025, an approved scheme is still pending.
France has no national deposit return system for bottles. A 2023 decision shelved the idea, and while the debate reopened in May 2026, nothing has been decided.
Frequently asked questions about EPR in France
What producers ask before they register, in short.
What is EPR in France?
A system of sixteen filières where producers finance the end of life of their products, run through éco-organismes and recorded in ADEME's SYDEREP register.
What is the French EPR number?
The IDU, a unique identifier issued by ADEME, one per producer per filière. Your éco-organisme obtains it for you, and it must appear in your terms of sale.
Who pays EPR in France?
Whoever first places the product on the French market: manufacturers, importers and distance sellers shipping to French customers from abroad.
Do marketplaces check EPR in France?
Yes. Since 2022 a marketplace is liable for its sellers' EPR duties unless the seller proves compliance, so platforms ask for the IDU.
Does France have a deposit return system?
Not a national one for bottles. France chose fee modulation over a consigne in 2023, and the reopened debate has produced no decision yet.
When does professional packaging EPR start?
The framework and three approved schemes exist, but the launch was postponed in June 2026 and no new date is fixed. Household packaging is unaffected.