Among the new rules is a ban on wrapping fruit and vegetables in plastic. The ban applies to packages under 1.5 kilos, reports AFP.
Apples, cucumbers, lemons, oranges and tomatoes are among the 30 different varieties that are embraced by the ban.
President Emmanuel Macron calls the ban “a real revolution” and said it showed that the country has committed itself to ending all use of disposable plastic by the year 2040.
It is estimated that around 37 percent of fruit and vegetables in France are sold wrapped in plastic.
The government estimates that the new rules will lead to one billion fewer plastic packaging a year.
Environmentalists say the new law does not go far enough. Olivier Chollet in Plastick Attack refers to the many exceptions that have been made. It writes Liberation.
Nectarines and peaches will be allowed to wrap in plastic until mid-2023, while strawberries and raspberries will be exempted until 2026.
Reactions from the food industry
The large supermarket chain Casino says that they will now sell tomatoes in cardboard boxes and give customers bags of paper or cellulose.
Other manufacturers say the new rules were introduced without talking to the industry. They also say that the rules will make the goods more expensive.
Interfel – the French organization for fruit and vegetable producers – points to practical problems.
They point out that France exports large quantities of apples to Britain and the British still want their fruit wrapped in plastic.
The company Pomanjou grows 40,000 tons of apples annually in the Loire region. Over the past three years, the company has switched to 100 percent cardboard packaging.
A representative of the company says that the transition to cardboard has increased the prices of packaging by 20 to 30 percent.
Cucumbers wrapped in plastic in a store in Paris on New Year’s Eve. From 1 January, it is no longer allowed to wrap cucumbers in this way.
Foto: Thibault Camus / AP
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Slogans in car ads
Requirements are also introduced that car advertisements on TV, radio, internet and posters must contain slogans that advocate alternatives to cars. Examples of slogans are:
- “For short trips, choose to walk or bike”
- “Think of car sharing”
- “Take public communication every day”
Violation of the rules can lead to fines of up to 50,000 euros – half a million kroner – per advertisement.
The advertising rules come on the basis that the transport sector accounts for 31 percent of CO₂ emissions in France, writes ABC.
No more free plastic toys
The measures introduced on 1 January are part of the fight against plastic. Last year, straws and plastic cutlery were banned, as well as containers for takeaway food and drinking cups made of Styrofoam.
It was a ban that applied to the whole EU, but now the French go further than the rest of the union.
Later in 2022, more rules will be introduced:
- Drinking fountains must be set up in public places to reduce the use of plastic bottles.
- Weekly magazines and news magazines sent by post can no longer be wrapped in plastic.
- Fast food restaurants like McDonalds are no longer allowed to give away free plastic toys.
During 2022, telecommunications and Internet providers must also give customers an estimate of how large emissions of greenhouse gases come from the use of the Internet and mobile phones.
Other countries follow
Opinion polls have shown great support for the measures. In a measurement performed by Ifop in 2019, 85 percent of those surveyed said they were in favor of a ban on the use of disposable plastic.
Several other European countries have said they are planning similar measures to meet the emissions commitments they made in connection with the climate summit in Glasgow in November.
Spain announced before Christmas that it will ban plastic wrapping of fruit and vegetables in 2023.
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