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How recycling will change in France in 2023

France is trying to make it simpler and easier to recycle - here are the new rules for sorting your recyclables that come into effect on January 1st.

Published: 30 December 2022 16:24 CET
How recycling will change in France in 2023
Plastic waste in France (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP)

Starting on January 1st, 2023, it will be a bit easier to sort between your trash and your recyclables in France. 

In the new year, all paper, plastic, metal and cardboard objects will be able to go in the yellow recycling bins across the country. 

Previously, the rules were often different based on individual localities for items like yogurt pots, toothpaste tubes and coffee capsules. But starting in 2023, any item with plastic packaging can go directly into the yellow bin, and this will apply across France.

“All plastic and metal packaging – from trays, yogurt pits, pouches, capsules, toothpaste tubes, applesauce containers, plastic bags, etc. – will be thrown into the yellow bin,” the Greater Paris Seine & Oise Urban Community explained, when describing how the yellow bins will begin operating in the New Year. 

According to the Le Journal du Centre, you also will not have to worry about cleaning out the plastic waste – as long as the contents of your applesauce pouch is empty, then it can go straight into the yellow bin. However, there are still some rules to follow, such as not stacking recyclable items (for example, stacking two yogurt pots together) and being sure that items are thrown into the recycling bin individually (not together in a bag, for instance).

As for the items that should be sorted into the grey/black trash bins, waste from hygiene products, masks, gloves and nappies/diapers, as well as cat litter should still go into the trash. 

The system for disposing of waste and recycled items will remain the same – and this varies depending on the local area. For most people it involves putting bagged waste into communal waste bins or recycling bins that are situated either on the ground level of an apartment block or at various points throughout a village or small town. 

The new measure does not promise that every item tossed into the recycling bin is recycled, however. Approximately 20 percent of plastic packaging is still not recyclable as of 2022. The new sorting rules are instead intended to streamline the recycling process and to help to make it simpler for people, so that less items that are recyclable are mistakenly thrown away in the rubbish bin.

Several parts of France already had access to this “complete” form of recycling, some 45 million people in fact. On January 1st, this will be extended across the country.

At the start of 2024, France will also take another step in making rubbish collection more environmentally friendly – all French households will be equipped with the means to compost their food-waste. If you are interested in starting to compost before 2024, though, you can learn more about how to do so in France HERE.

READ MORE: Free worms: How to start composting in France

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TRAVEL NEWS

What’s the deal with passport stamping in France?

There are clear guidelines in place about who should have their passport stamped when they enter or leave France - but the letter of the law doesn't always seem to be applied on the ground. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 17 May 2024 14:24 CEST
What's the deal with passport stamping in France?

When you pass through a French border control post, officers will check your passport and – in some cases – stamp the date of your entry or exit of the country onto one of the blank pages in the booklet.

Although the system should be clear and simple, it becomes complicated when conflicting information is given on the ground.

Here’s what the rules say, and whether it’s really a problem if your passport is incorrectly stamped.

Who should be stamped?

The purpose of the date stamps for entry and exit is to calculate how long you have been in France, and therefore whether you have overstayed your allowed time – whether that is the time allowed by a short-stay Schengen visa or the visa-free 90-day allowance that certain non-EU nationals benefit from. 

Those people who are exempt from 90-day restrictions should therefore not have their passports stamped.

EU passport – people who have an EU passport should not have it stamped, because they have the right to unlimited stays due to EU freedom of movement.

Dual nationals – people who have passports of both EU and non-EU countries should not be stamped when they are travelling on their EU passport. However, because the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’, those travelling on their non-EU passports will be stamped, unless they have other proof of residency.

READ ALSO What are the rules for dual-nationals travelling in France?

French residents – the passports of non-EU citizens who have a residency permit in France (carte de séjour) should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their permit is valid.

Visa holders – people who have a long-stay visa or a short-stay visitor visa should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their visa is valid. 

Tourists/visitors – people making short visits to France who do not have a visa should be stamped, with the stamps keeping track of their 90-day allowance. Visitors from nationalities who do not benefit from the 90-day rule (eg Indians) are also stamped.

Travel practicalities

When crossing a French border, you should present your passport along with other documents – visa or carte de séjour – if relevant. Don’t wait for border guards to ask whether you are a resident.

It should be noted that the carte de séjour is not a travel document and cannot be used to cross borders, not even internal Schengen zone borders. The only valid travel documents for entering France are a passport or national ID card. Any other forms of ID – driving licence, residency card etc – cannot be used for travel purposes.

Border problems

While the rules on stamping are simple in theory, many readers of The Local have reported having their passports incorrectly stamped at the border, and this seems to be a particular problem for non-EU nationals who are resident in France.

Travellers are also often given incorrect information by border guards – for example being told that only holders of the post-Brexit Article 50 TUE carte de séjour are exempt from stamping, that all non-EU nationals must have their passports stamped or that only being married to a French national exempts you from stamping.

None of these are correct.

It’s also sometimes the case that people whose passports should be stamped – tourists, visitors and second-home owners who don’t have a visa – do not receive the stamp. For frequent visitors this can be a problem because it looks as though they have had a long stay in France, due to their exit not being recorded.

The system of stamping itself is also a bit haphazard with stamps scattered throughout the passport book in random order, so border guards sometimes make mistakes and miss an entry or exit stamp and therefore think that people have overstayed when they haven’t.

So how much of a problem actually is it if your passport is wrongly stamped?

It’s one thing to know the rules yourself, it’s quite another to have an argument with a border guard, in French, when a long queue is building behind you. Numerous Local readers have reported feeling that they had no choice but to accept a stamp when an implacable guard insisted upon it.

But is this really a problem?

One thing is clear – if you are a resident of France then you have the right to re-enter, and your proof of residency (visa or carte de séjour) takes precedence over any passport stamps. So it’s not a question of being barred from the country – it can, however, be inconvenient as it might lead to delays at the border while your passport record is queried.

Meanwhile people who did not receive correct exit stamps can be incorrectly told that they have over-stayed and even be liable for a fine. 

Will the new EES passport control system improve this?

Theoretically, the EU’s new Entry & Exit System – which does away with the manual stamping of passports – should get rid of these problems.

However, as we have seen, theory and what actually happens on the ground are two different things.

The EES system, due to come into effect later this year, brings in two main changes – it makes passport checks more secure by adding diometric data such as fingerprints and facial scans and it does away with manual stamping of passports and replaces it with scans which automatically calculate how long people have been in France.

You can read full details of how it works HERE. 

So that should eliminate the problems of unclear stamps, stamps being read wrongly or passports not getting the stamps they need.

Residents in France – carte de séjour and visa holders – are not required to complete EES checks and should have a separate system at ports, airports and railway terminals.

However, at present it’s pretty common for border guards to give incorrect information to non-EU residents who are resident in the EU – let’s hope that they are properly briefed before EES is deployed.

Have you had problems with passports being incorrectly stamped? Please share your experiences in the comments section below

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