Overview
- Emmanuel Macron, who presided a Council of Ecological Planning Tuesday at the REuse Expo in Paris, directed the government to start consultations on a deposit‑return system for plastic bottles.
- The talks aim to map a path to a 90% bottle collection rate by 2029 and to 2030 recycling goals, not to decide a plan today.
- France recycles only about 23% of collected plastic and, the presidency says, pays roughly €1.5 billion a year in EU penalties for missing targets.
- Major associations of mayors and intercommunal bodies rejected the idea as a “false deposit,” warning it would cut income from current sorting streams and shift costs to local services.
- Under the model being studied, shoppers would return empty bottles at supermarket machines or bins and receive small refunds or vouchers.