At the beginning of 2020, the so-called “anti-waste law” was adopted. One of the consequences of this text: the ban on the sale in plastic of a good number of fruits and vegetables, as of January 1, 2022. In fact, this implementation has experienced several twists and turns, which continue to this day. From the conceptualization of the text, the pure and simple prohibition is avoided: exceptions are introduced, as well as chronological stages, aimed at facilitating a progressive prohibition.
The initial approach was to give producers and distributors a longer period to conceptualize packaging or a way of selling the most fragile fruits and vegetables without plastic and limiting their degradation, as reported by our colleagues from Ouest France. Thus, the deadline marking the start of the ban on plastic packaging for raspberries or blueberries, for example, was initially set for June 30, 2026.
Indeed, the list of fruits and vegetables initially exempted from the rule has been challenged several times before the Council of State, by various associations. On Friday, December 9, the Council of State announced its judgment on the illegal nature of this list. In the press release, we can read that the Council considers that some of the fruits and vegetables on the list “do not present a risk of deterioration”, as reported by BFM.
The executive will therefore have to redefine the said list, this time based on the real needs of the distribution of fruits and vegetables considered fragile. In the meantime, the decree stipulating the ban on the sale of fruit and vegetables in plastic packaging is cancelled. Once the text is rewritten, products that have hitherto been exceptions to the rule will probably no longer be exempt.
Find below the list of fruits and vegetables that can no longer be sold in plastic packaging.
