Overview
- The Conseil d’État annulled the January 2025 implementing decree for a drafting defect, stripping out the definitions that underpinned enforcement of the plastics ban.
- Plastalliance, the plastics industry group that brought the case, says the move effectively lifts the practical ban and returns material choices to local authorities, while ministries had not responded at the time of reporting.
- The 2018 Egalim law set a ban on plastic foodware starting January 1, 2025 for school and university catering and early childhood settings, and the 2020 Agec law extended it to pediatric, obstetrics, and maternity services, with small towns given until January 1, 2028 to comply.
- The annulled decree had defined “plastic containers” to include items made fully or partly of plastic used for cooking, reheating, serving, and eating, including dishes and cutlery, a scope a former minister had warned went beyond what the law allowed.
- The ruling follows a 2024 victory by Plastalliance against a decree on plastic packaging for fresh produce, signaling an industry legal strategy that could force a new decree or even a legislative fix before the ban can be enforced again.