France’s Anti-waste Law for Circular Economy (a.k.a. AGEC law) passed in April of 2022 and affects all companies selling products in France. More formally known as Decree 2022-748, it covers all producers, importers, and dealers, including e-commerce platforms with products in the French market, and requires these products’ be labeled with certain environmental and recycling information. This article covers:

1. What is Decree 2022-748 of the French anti-waste law (AGEC law)?
2. When must companies comply with AGEC?
3. What industry-specific requirements are there for compliance with AGEC?
4. Why use QR codes for compliance with AGEC?
5. How to use QR codes for AGEC

Decree 2022-748 under the French Anti-waste for a Circular Economy Law (AGEC) was created with the intention to improve information transparency on waste-generating products and to promote circularity of those products. According to the French Government:

Decree 2022-748 makes it mandatory for this information to be made available for customers at the time of purchase. According to article R541-222 of the environmental code, producers, importers, and any marketer of products covered in article R541-221 must provide the consumer, at the time of purchase, with information that includes product environmental qualities and characteristics. This information must be provided free of charge and any related costs must be paid by the producer. Not surprisingly, this information must be provided in French.

While all waste-generating products will need to provide these new, mandatory information points, Article R541-221 offers examples of the kinds of products that must provide this information. The decrees specify exactly what is necessary for which products and industries, and when those requirements go into effect. 

Article R541-222 states that all of the mandatory product information related to environmental qualities and characteristics must be made available on a dedicated website or web page. This information should be titled: “fiche produit relative aux qualités et caractéristiques environnementales”/“product sheet relating to the qualities and environmental characteristics”. 

Article L541-9-1 refers to this requirement in stating that the relevant product data must be made available electronically, in a format that is “easily reusable, and usable by an automated processing system in aggregated form.” QR codes are an accepted solution for meeting this requirement.

The French government is also taking an aggressive stance on a common claim made on consumer products. Article R541-223 of decree 2022-748 states that mentioning “biodégradable” (biodegradable), “respectueux de l’environnement” (respectful to the environment) or any other comparable environmental claim will be strictly forbidden.

Decree 2022-748 came into effect already on March 1st, 2022, but according to the French government, products and packaging had a stock run-off period until January 1st, 2023. Environmental label requirements thereafter have been and will continue to be enforced progressively starting with the biggest companies and working down to SME’s and other small businesses:

Note that as of January 1st, 2024, the following product categories were to comply with the respective regulations stated in decree 2022-748:

1. Building products and materials
2. Toys
3. Motor vehicles: Passenger cars, vans, motorbikes, quads

Most, if not all, industries are affected by the new environmental labeling law. Decree 2022-748 concerns all producers, importers, and dealers (including e-commerce) of waste generating products and packaging. Not every industry or product type has the same set standards to comply with, but the consequences of non-compliance can be significant. Article L. 541-10-3 states the method for calculating fines:

In total, Decree 2022-748 includes 11 industry-specific regulations for environmental labeling requirements:

Industries to comply: Electrical and electronic equipment

The first point of compliance communicated in section 1 of Decree 2022-748 is a repairability index added to the product in accordance with the information given in article L541-9-2. According to article L541-9-2, producers, importers and distributors of electrical and electronic goods have to digitally showcase a repairability index of the product at hand. This index aims to score the product’s sustainability from 1 to 10, according to the criteria shown in article R541-214 . This must be brought to consumers’ attention at the point of purchase.

From January 1st, 2024, producers, importers and distributors of electrical and electronic goods are required to showcase a durability index and the parameters to establish it. According to article L541-9-2, this index includes new criteria such as the robustness of the product, or it replaces the already existing repairability index, although no further information is given on the exact criteria as of the writing of this article. You’ll want to check the latest decree changes to be sure.

Industries affected: packaging, all

Decree 2022-748 states that consumer information regarding packaging compostability must be made available on the packaging at the point of purchase. If the packaging is made from compostable materials, producers, importers and distributors are obliged to mention a statement: “emballage compostable” (compostable packaging).

Industries affected: Packaging, printed paper, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and accumulators (such as rechargeable electrical power storage), containers of chemical products, furniture, textile products (clothing & footwear), sports and leisure items, DIY equipment, motor vehicles.

According to section 1 of Decree 2022-748, companies that fall under this regulation must express a statement containing the percentage amount of recycled material in the form: “produit comportant au moins [%] de matières recyclées”  (product comprising of at least [%]  recycled materials).

Industries affected: construction products subject to environmental declaration 

To be in compliance with the labeling requirements from Decree 2022-748, companies affected by this regulation must make information on use of renewable resources available to consumers at the time of purchase. The information conceived must be in line with the environmental declaration under article R. 171-17 of the construction and housing code. This is an extensive list of 16 labeling requirements. Representatives from the affected industries are advised to read thoroughly through these materials to maintain or develop compliance.

Affected industries: Packaging

According to decree 2022-748, consumer information on the possibility of packaging reuse must be made available at the point of purchase. Packaging that is considered reusable should contain a statement: “​​emballage réemployable” (reuseable packaging) or “emballage rechargeable” (refillable packaging)

Industries affected: Packaging, printed paper, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and accumulators, containers of chemical products, furniture, textile products (clothing & footwear), sports and leisure items, toys, DIY equipment, motor vehicles

According to Decree 2022-748, the recyclability and amount of recycled material must be conveyed to be in line with the environmental labeling laws. 

Recyclability is understood as “being the effective recycling capacity of waste from similar or identical products.” The recyclability of a product is assessed using five criteria:

1. The ability to be efficiently collected
2. The ability to be sorted in recycling channels
3. The absence of material limiting recycling
4. That the recycled material is greater than 50% of the total waste collected
5. The ability to be recycled on an industrial scale

The recyclability is calculated by grouping the assessment criteria to get a final score on recyclability.

Companies are required to include a statement on the recyclability of the packaging:

The information on recyclability must be made available to consumers in the form: “produit / emballage majoritairement recyclable.” (mostly recyclable product / packaging)

If more than 95% of a product is made from recycled material, the company may mention “produit entièrement recyclable” (fully recycled product).

If product packaging is recycled from the same or similar materials, the company may mention “produit / emballage recyclable en un produit / emballage  de même nature (product / packaging recycled from product /packaging of same nature)

Industries affected: Electrical and electronic equipment, motor vehicles

According to Decree 2022-748, information on the presence of precious metals must be made available to the consumer at the point of purchase. This is mainly in regard to the environmental impact of the extracting conditions of the following metals:

1. Gold
2. Silver
3. Platinum
4. Palladium

When the amount of any of these metals in a product exceeds a milligram, companies are required to provide a statement on the contents of these materials in the form of:

“contient au moins [X milligrammes] d’or, d’argent, de platine, de palladium” (contains at least [X milligrams] of gold, silver, platinum, palladium)

Industries affected: Electrical and electronic equipment, motor vehicles

Similarly to the section above, Decree 2022-748 specifies that the presence of rare earth elements must be made available to the consumer at point of purchase. This includes: scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium.

As with the above paragraph, when the amount of rare element material used in the product exceeds 1 mg, the presence of these rare elements must be expressed with a statement in the form of: “contient au moins [X milligrammes] de scandium ……. lutécium.” (contains at least [X milligrams] of scandium ….. lutetium)

Industries affected: Substances, mixtures and articles in quantities of more than one tonne per year that are considered hazardous within the scope of points 1, 2 and 3 of article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006  with the exception of medicine.

According to Decree 2022-748, consumer information on products containing a dangerous substance with more than 0.1% concentration by mass must be made available. This information must be made available in accordance with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), which has been in effect since 2006. However, with the implementation of decree 748-2022, this information must be stored in a government approved repository as well as made clearly available to the consumer at the point of purchase. 

There is an exception to making information available at the point of purchase. Decree 2022-748 argues that substances confirmed or suspected to contain endocrine disruptive properties, will need to provide a statement to the consumers no later than six months after identification of the substance as dangerous. According to Decree 2021-1110, substances mentioned in 1° and 2° of Article R. 5232-19 of the Public Health Code referring to Item L5232-5 must be split into two categories, based on the level of scientific proof:

1. Confirmed endocrine disruptive
2. Presumed endocrine disruptive

information on the toxicity of these substances can be made available after purchase, if the endocrine disruptive substance is identified after the purchase.

To comply with decree 2022-748, one of two statements must be applied:

When the relevant dangerous substance is listed in the first paragraph of article 59 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (page 44) referencing to article 57 (page 43) the statement must contain: “contient une substance extrêmement préoccupante” (Contains a substance of very high concern) alongside with the name of the present hazardous substance.

When the dangerous substance is not listed, the statement: “contient une substance dangereuse” (contains a dangerous substance) must be applied.

There is an exception as to how the information on hazardous materials is made available. 

Normally, information associated with the product must be made available on a web page. However, as you’ve read earlier in this article, according to Article 541-222, providing information on dangerous substances can be carried out by means of a dedicated application designated by order of the minister in charge of the environment. This application must convey the dangerous substances in circulation, and showcase which substances are tied to which products. When a web page must be established for at least one other environmental quality, a link to the application designated by the administrating body and conveying the hazardous materials is sufficient, negating the need to state the hazardous materials on the web page, so long as there is a link to said information.

Industries affected: Textile products for clothing, footwear and household linen

Consumer information on traceability must be made available for the products from the affected industries. According to Decree 2022-748, the country where the following operations happen, for ALL materials, must be included:

1. Weaving
2. Dyeing and printing
3. Assembly

For footwear:

1. Stitching 
2. Editing
3. Finished product assembly

This information is expressed by simply mentioning the country where the operation was undertaken in a step by step format.

Industries affected: Textile products for clothing, footwear, and household linen

Information on the presence of microfibers must be made available to consumers if the proportion of synthetic fibers in the product is more than 50%. According to decree 2022-748, a statement in the form of “rejette des microfibres plastiques dans l’environnement lors du lavage” (releases plastic microfibers into the environment during washing) must be made available to the consumer at the point of purchase.

The best conclusion is that using QR codes on products or product labels in combination with a software system built to satisfy requirements is the most convenient solution for compliance. Of all the industries affected, the fashion, textile, and apparel industry are currently required to disclose the most data. It is very inconvenient and costly to disclose all of the origin and preparation data that is required on a care label or hang tag. QR codes re-directing to a page with disclosure of the data is an obvious best choice for compliance.

QR codes are an acceptable solution to complying with several aspects of the AGEC law:

• Products which meet certain size requirements can display the Triman logo digitally, such as through a QR code
• QR codes can be used to display traceability data, which is required by the AGEC law for textile products for clothing, footwear and household linen

By using dynamic QR codes, each product’s traceability or Triman information can be updated easily and in real-time without making changes to the physical label.

1. Generate QR codes with Scantrust’s QR code generator
2. Associate product information to QR codes with Scantrust tools (CSV upload, API, etc.)
3. Add to your label designs and print
4. Create digital labels using Scantrust’s landing page builder