The Government of France confirmed on 5 September 2022 that from 1 January 2024, the separation of bio-waste at source will be mandatory.
The country’s Environment Ministry explained that bio-waste is: “non-hazardous biodegradable garden or park waste, food or kitchen waste from households, offices, restaurants, wholesale, canteens, caterers or retail stores, as well as comparable waste from food processing plants.” This is according to Article L. 541-1-1 of the country’s Environment Code.
From 2024 French households will have to separate food waste for recycling (picture: Shutterstock)
Explaining the concept of “bio-waste” in more detail, the government said it means all biodegradable products, products that can be decomposed naturally by living micro-organisms; and by “at source”, means a sorting process carried out directly in households, in restaurants, canteens, businesses, parks and gardens.
Bio-waste represents 30% of the contents of French people’s waste, the government noted.
Agricultural
Food waste – which belong to the family of bio-waste – will be subject to ‘agricultural’ recovery (composting, spreading product or through the generation of methane gas for capture) to allow appropriate spreading on the ground.
The bio-waste plans originate from a February 2020 law against waste and for the circular economy which stipulates that all individuals should have a practical solution for sorting their bio-waste at source from January 1, 2024. Each household will therefore sort its food waste in a dedicated bin, a “bio-bucket”, which will be collected by collection trucks dedicated to bio-waste.
Local communities will have to study and identify the most relevant solutions for sorting food waste at source, the government said.
Funding
As part of France’s Economic Recovery Plan, the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) has a budget of 100 million Euros to help these communities and businesses develop source sorting of bio-waste.
Useful link
www.gouvernement.fr/actualite/le-tri-des-dechets-alimentaires-generalise-au-31-decembre-2023
