From this Saturday (1st), the sale of fruits and vegetables in plastic packaging is prohibited in France. This is yet another measure taken by the government to reduce the production of plastic waste in the country.
With the decision, vegetables such as cucumbers or broccoli can no longer be sold in supermarkets wrapped in cellophane. Fruits such as apples or kiwis cannot be sold in plastic bags or containers.
The measure should change the sale of about 30 types of fruits and vegetables, marketed mainly by large distributors. According to the Heinrich Boll foundation, 37% of fruits and vegetables consumed in France are packaged in plastic.
The decision is part of the anti-waste law approved in early 2020, which, among other measures, prohibited the sale or delivery of disposable plastic cutlery and cups.
change to role
The food industry had two years to adapt to the new rule. The Lou Légumes company, which produces 8,000 tonnes of mushrooms a year in Brittany (western France), had to reorganize the entire chain to change its packaging.
“Mushrooms are a very moist product, so we did three years of testing until we found a suitable cardboard tray”, explains Emmanuelle Roze, director of the family business.
“Cardboard is four times as bulky. Our mushrooms are picked and placed directly on the trays. Therefore, we were forced to change our mushroom collection method. We have an increase in the packaging cost, we have an increase in the labor cost and this is not over yet, because we have to find a solution to remove the plastic-film that is there.”
Fines for those who do not respect the rule can reach 15 thousand euros (R$ 95 thousand).
The change generated protests in sectors linked to the produce. “We were never consulted,” Laurent Grandin, president of Interfel, an association for the fruit and vegetable sector in France, told the AFP news agency.
The costs, according to the official, are “insurmountable” for small companies, which will have to continue using plastic to protect exports, especially to the United Kingdom, one of the main customers of apple crops.
The Pomanjou company, which produces up to 40,000 tonnes of apples a year in the Loire valley, has launched 100% cardboard packaging over the past three years. However, packaging costs have increased between 20% and 30%, according to its representative, Arnaud de Puineuf.
The large supermarket group Casino, for its part, said it would now sell tomatoes in cardboard packages and provide customers with paper or cellulose bags.
The presidential decree, however, makes exceptions: products sold in packages weighing more than 1.5 kg may continue to use plastic. Sensitive fruits, which need extra protection, such as blackberries, will also be exempt from the measure now.
In these cases, the industry will gain an extra period to adapt, which could last until 2026, according to the economic newspaper JDD.
End of stranded product destruction
At the beginning of the year, another rule of the anti-waste law comes into force in France: the ban on the destruction of unsold products.
With this, companies will no longer be able to burn or destroy clothes, furniture, toys and hygiene products that they were unable to sell. Known practice at times of exchange of collections, for example, to avoid loss of market value.
The measure aims to avoid waste, but it can encourage donations to associations that help needy people.
.
