Packaging: what France’s AGEC law actually requires in 2026

France’s AGEC law (No 2020-105, anti-gaspillage pour une économie circulaire — against waste and for a circular economy) stacks several obligations on food packaging, which came into force on different dates. This guide covers what applies in practice in 2026, not the whole text — the law also contains parts unrelated to packaging (repairability index, food waste) that are not covered here.

The Triman logo and sorting information: mandatory, but not everywhere

The Triman logo — a French marking — signals that a product is subject to an extended producer responsibility (EPR, in French REP) scheme and must be sorted. It must be accompanied by sorting information specifying, product by product, how to separate the components of the packaging (body, cap, lid film).

• Mandatory for all packaging subject to an existing EPR scheme — which covers almost all food packaging placed on the market in France.
• The Triman logo alone is not enough: the associated sorting information (often a pictogram or a text statement) has been required since 1 January 2022 for almost all the categories concerned — packaging that displays the logo without this detail is not compliant.
• Exception: packaging too small to carry the full information can move it to a digital medium (website, app) reachable through an identifier on the product — a relevant solution for a small pack where the text physically does not fit.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR): who must contribute

Under French law, any business that places a packaged product on the French market must join a producer responsibility organisation (éco-organisme) approved for the household packaging stream, and pay a financial contribution calculated on the quantities and types of packaging placed on the market. Three points that are often poorly anticipated:

• The exemption threshold is low — contrary to a widespread belief, a very small business in principle remains liable; the real exemptions are marginal and do not automatically exempt a small producer who sells direct.
• The contribution varies with the recyclability of the packaging — a single-material, easily recyclable pack costs less in contribution than a complex multi-material pack, which gives a concrete incentive to simplify the design.
• The declaration is periodic, not one-off — a change of range or of packaging format during the year must be reflected in the next declaration, not only in the year of the change.

Single-use plastic: what is already banned

The ban on single-use plastic is advancing in successive stages rather than all at once. Already affected, according to the timetable set by the successive implementing decrees: plastic packaging for certain fresh unprocessed fruit and vegetables below a weight threshold (with exceptions for fragile produce that justifies packaging), disposable tableware in dine-in catering, and several categories of single-use plastics targeted by the European “SUP” directive — a directive, not a regulation: Directive (EU) 2019/904 of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, which applies in France through its transposition into national law. The precise list changes by ministerial order (arrêté) — check the version in force when designing a new pack rather than relying on a text that is already dated.

Common mistakes

• Applying the Triman logo without the associated sorting information — the most widespread mistake, often inherited from a packaging artwork not updated since the obligation came into force.
• Not joining a producer responsibility organisation in the belief that the small size of the business exempts it — to be checked case by case, not assumed.
• Designing complex packaging without anticipating the extra contribution linked to its low recyclability, discovered only at the first declaration.
• Relying on a dated legal text without checking the most recent implementing decrees, particularly for the phased ban on single-use plastic.

Checklist

1. Check that the packaging carries the Triman logo and the complete sorting information.
2. Confirm membership of a producer responsibility organisation approved for the household packaging stream.
3. Recalculate the EPR contribution after any change of packaging format or material.
4. Check the single-use plastic ban timetable applicable to the product category concerned, at the design date.
5. Provide a digital medium for the sorting information if the packaging is too small to display it in full.