With rare exceptions, traders were no longer allowed to sell fruit and vegetables in plastic packaging since July 2023.
But in a twist, the Council of State recently canceled this ban.
Large retailers, consumers, environmental NGOs and farmers are angry.
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Agriculture under pressure: anger rumbles again
Government decree number 2023-478, born on June 20, 2023 and then officially adopted on the following July 1, is no more. Its text stipulated, within the framework of the Anti-waste and circular economy law, known as Agec, “the obligation to present for sale fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables without packaging made entirely or partly of plastic”. But last November 8, disaster: the Council of State canceled this ban in the name of a “substantial defect” of procedure. At issue: the non-compliance of this measure with a European regulation on restrictions on single-use packaging harmonized between EU member states still being developed, as it is supposed to come into force by 2030.
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The Council of State postpones the end of plastic packaging for fruits and vegetables
In the alleys of the Carrefour d'Orsonville (Yvelines), where a TF1 team goes in the report to be found in the video at the top of this article, things are already grimacing. “Are we going to go back and change habits again?”asks a department manager in a sarcastic tone. “When fruits are packaged, we often don’t see those that are damaged”points out a customer. “We had to develop new cardboard packaging, so that we and the consumer could see the quality of the productshows our camera Bertrand Swiderski, sustainable development director of the Carrefour Group. For us, it is impossible to go see our partners and tell them 'sorry, we made a mistake, we're going to go back to plastic'.“
Cellophane, less effective and (much) more expensive
Pascal Dupré, a bean producer who invested 500,000 euros in a machine to replace his plastic bags with paper, doesn't understand either, going so far as to consider going back: “Our old packaging, polypropylene, a mono-material, was simple, effective, functional and very, very easy to use. While the cellulose hydrate paper bag that we put in place does not work, it works. opens too easily, and costs five times more. We worked all year for nothing, even to lose money, and that's scandalous!
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One last adjective that Manon Richert, head of communications for the environmental association Zero Waste France, also takes up, but for other reasons: “This decision is a very bad signal, which consists of telling plastic producers 'continue to produce as you have been doing until now'.” All these little people can nevertheless cling to one hope: the return of plastic to our shelves is not yet certain, the government is already working on a decree aimed at banning it again, and the publication of which is planned for the end of the year. While waiting, this time, for validation from the European Commission before entry into force.
