Paris (AFP)
The National Assembly voted unanimously on Friday to ban the destruction of non-food items, such as hygiene products and textiles, which will have to be donated or recycled from 2022, a key measure of the project. anti-fouling law.
For essential hygiene products (soap, toothpaste, hygienic protection ...), the donation to associations and other structures of the solidarity economy will be mandatory and recycling prohibited.
"This is a major step forward" against the "all disposable", welcomed the LREM deputy Jean-Charles Colas-Roy Isère, describing the terms of this ban: at the latest in 2022 for products falling under existing polluter-payers (PWRs) and by 2024 for all other products.
The device, voted in first reading, joins the measures already in force against the destruction of food products.
According to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, every year, 630 million euros of non-food products are destroyed, the largest share in the field of hygiene and cosmetics.
This ban, "this is a very strong signal that we send to professionals, including platforms" as Amazon, said the rapporteur Véronique Riotton (LREM) with AFP. Consensual in the hemicycle, the measure was greeted by members of all sides.
For its application, it will be necessary to monitor the possible "edge effects", in the border areas, with the possibility of going to destroy its unsold products in neighboring countries.
"The edge effects will be limited, it's always scary, but in every measure there may be, and I think they will be minimal," said MEP LREM Célia de Lavergne.
An LREM amendment aligning the tax regime of the gift with that of destruction was also adopted unanimously. Currently, the destruction of unsold products enjoys a tax advantage since companies are not required to pay VAT in the first case when they must do so in case of donation.
Minister Brune Poirson gave a "very favorable" opinion, noting that companies like Amazon suggest that they are "obliged to destroy their unsold products because of VAT".
The Assembly also voted to create a "national anti-food waste label", which was worn by socialist Guillaume Garot. It aims to encourage practices such as gleaning in the fields, the processing of "ugly" fruits and vegetables and the promotion of "virtuous" businesses or restaurants.
© 2019 AFP