What is it?

The anti-gaspillage pour une économie circulaire (AGEC)law was adopted in 2020 in France to encourage businesses across various sectors, municipalities, and citizens to eliminate waste and adopt more circular practices. It involves a mixture of obligations, prohibitions, and incentives, including measures such as the world-first reparability index, bans on wasteful single-use products, the destruction of unsold goods and the uniformization of sorting bins. 

The law is valid for all goods sold in French Territory.

What's the goal of this law?

​This law aims to shift from the model of a linear economy (extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal) to a more circular economy with less waste.

How does it work?

The AGEC law is assembled around 5 key areas for action: 
• Eliminating single-use plastic packaging by 2040
• Providing better and more transparent information
• ​Limiting waste production and promoting reuse, recycling, and repair, including through donations to charitable organisations
• Taking action against planned obsolescence
• Improving production by promoting a better resource management system from the design stage

What do companies have to do?

Companies will be required to have a “product sheet on environmental qualities and/or characteristics” available to the customer, including: 

• Incorporation of Recycled Materials:

  • Products must contain a minimum of  % of recycled materials

  • This is verified by a self-declaration of material origin, or self-declaration on % recycled content or a GRS/RCS/RCC certificate
    
    

• Presence of Plastic Microfibers: 

  • The information must be available when the proportion of synthetic fibers> 50%

  • A statement informing that the product releases plastic microfibers into the environment during washing should be included
    
    

• Recyclability: based on its ability to be efficiently collected, sorted in recycling channels, and recycled on an industrial scale

  • Recycling capacity > 50%: product is “mostly recyclable”

  • Recycling capacity > 95%: product is “fully recyclable” 
    
    

When is it implemented?

• The law was put into action in 2020 for all producers, importers, and dealers (including e-commerce) selling their waste-generating products in France
• 1 Jan 2023: companies with annual revenue > EUR 50 million and at least 25k units of products in the French market 
• 1 Jan 2024:  companies with annual revenue > EUR 30 million and at least 10k units of products in the French market  
• 1 Jan 2025:  companies with annual revenue > EUR 10 million and at least 10k units of products in the French market  

How can MetrikFlow help?

MetrikFlow for Fashion and Retail empowers brands to comply with the new regulation. Our life cycle assessment (LCA) module evaluates the sustainability of fashion items and supports data collection for the requirements mentioned above. Our software solution supports product footprint calculations as well as Scope 3 emissions, making it an effortless process. Finally, we work alongside your company to support your journey towards net zero with actionable strategies.