POTENTIAL FOR DEVELOPING PACKAGING REUSE IN FRANCE

Case study

Context

France’s Anti-Waste Law for a Circular Economy (AGEC), enacted on 10 February 2020, and Decree No. 2022-507 of 8 April 2022, set a binding trajectory for packaging reuse: 5% of packaging placed on the market had to be reused by 2023, rising to 10% by 2027. This obligation applies to every producer placing packaging on the market, across all sectors and materials, in a context where no consolidated national data on actual reuse levels existed at the time.

ADEME needed a sector-by-sector picture of what made reuse possible or not: which reuse models already existed (bulk sale, deposit schemes, refill systems, shuttle packaging between businesses), which regulatory, technical, logistical or economic barriers limited their wider adoption, and above all, what level of reuse each industry could realistically reach in the short term (2027) and over the medium to long term. Without this detailed mapping, ADEME had no objective basis for prioritizing its actions, guiding professional trade bodies in drafting their own roadmaps, or assessing the likelihood of reaching the national 10% target.

Our approach

GATE C, working alongside I Care by BearingPoint, carried out an in-depth literature review covering French and European regulation, lessons learned from neighboring countries (Germany, Belgium, Denmark), and a body of more than 39 life-cycle assessments comparing reusable and single-use packaging. This was complemented by 77 semi-structured interviews conducted with professional trade federations (36% of respondents), manufacturers (17%), specialized reuse and recycling operators (17%), packaging producers (11%), foodservice operators (8%), eco-organizations (7%), and retail chains (5%). Together, this work produced, for each of 47 sub-sectors spanning ten major product families (from fresh food to industrial and commercial packaging), a detailed profile of existing or feasible reuse models and the associated barriers and enablers, classified by regulatory, economic, logistical, technical, or consumer-behavior nature.

Building on this qualitative material, GATE C designed an original quantification methodology, cross-referencing 2018 market-placement data declared to CITEO with sector-specific assumptions validated by expert input, to translate each identified barrier or enabler into a percentage of reuse potential. This quantification was carried out across two distinct time horizons: a short-term potential (2027), conditioned only on measures that can be mobilized quickly, and a medium-to-long-term potential, conditioned on the prior rollout of a structuring action plan (packaging standardization, pooled washing infrastructure, R&D on closure and labeling systems). Cross-referencing these potentials with the actual packaging volumes placed on the market by sector then made it possible to identify which sectors would contribute most decisively to reaching the national target, an analysis that had not existed in any prior work.

Results

47 sub-sectors analyzed in detail, covering the full scope of household (B2C) and industrial and commercial (B2B) packaging placed on the French market.

77 interviews conducted across the entire reuse ecosystem, from institutional catering to IBC manufacturers.

A B2C reuse development potential estimated at around 10% by 2027 and up to 25% over the medium to long term, provided the cross-sector action plan is deployed.

Priority sectors identified for their decisive contribution to the national target: institutional catering (potential above 80%), beverages sold in the hospitality channel, fruits and vegetables, and several grocery product families (rice and pasta, cereals, coffee and tea).

In B2B, reuse already well established, with more than 1.5 billion industrial and commercial packaging units reused every year in France, and development potentials exceeding 80% for pallets and IBC containers.

A cross-sector action plan and 47 sector-specific profiles delivered to ADEME, designed to guide professional trade bodies in drafting their 3R roadmaps and to provide, for the first time, an evidence-based view of the realistic path toward the regulatory target of 10% reused packaging by 2027.