Your obligations as a Producer (marketer)

Register on the ADEME’s French National Register of Producers and declare the equipment you place annually on the French market

By becoming an ecosystem member, directly or via weee Europe, we carry out the formalities on your behalf.

Once you have become an ecosystem member you are required to declare the products you have placed on the market over the last 3 years. 

You must then declare the products placed on the market on a yearly basis.
The national register, SYDEREP (declaration system for Extended Producer Responsibility schemes), is available here: SYDEREP website (in french)

Organise and fund the collection and recycling of your equipment placed on the market in France

In sectors and countries subject to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems, Producers who place certain products on the market are responsible for managing the end-of-service life of these products and must consequently fund and/or organise waste prevention, their collection and the management of their treatment for recycling purposes.  Through ecosystem, a producer responsibility organisation, our collective system meets these obligations by pooling resources with more than 5,400 producer members.

By joining ecosystem your obligations in France in terms of collection and recycling are transferred to us.  The eco-fee that you pay to ecosystem is used to finance collection solutions for waste equipment that are implemented for private individuals and professionals (links in French) as well as the equipment’s transportation to a treatment centre, its decontamination and the recovery of materials it contains with a view to recycling these materials.

On behalf of our producer members we declare the yearly collection figures to the ADEME. You must provide information to your customers about the solutions that exist to collect the equipment that you place on the market.

Visibly displaying the eco-fee

You must display the eco-fee in such a way that it is visible and separate from the product’s price for each item of electrical and electronic equipment and each lamp. This requirement also applies to retailers: shops, online shopping, etc. The eco-fee must be shown on sales bills. Drawing attention to the costs for managing the recycling of a product raises the awareness of consumers when they buy it.

For professional electrical and electronic equipment, displaying the eco-fee and the product’s price separately is optional.

CONTRIBUTION SCALE

Providing information to customers and encourage sorting by marking products with the “barred bin” pictogram associated with the Info-tri symbol (that integrates the Triman logo or the “barred bin”)

To make it easier to sort household electrical and electronic equipment, a single pictogram called “Info-tri” must be affixed to products, their packaging, warranty documents and instruction manuals in French and, if required, can be in digital format.  Since 2005 at a European level, it is compulsory for this to be shown with the “barred bin” pictogram. The latter indicates that the product can be recycled and must be collected separately. Compulsory in France since 2022, the Info-tri pictogram also specifies which sorting rules are applied to each element (packaging, accessory, etc.) and is integrated into either the “barred bin” pictogram or the “Triman” pictogram.

All practical information can be found in our specific guide and all information regarding graphics in our Info-tri kit.

Download the guide and graphics elements

Citing your Unique Identification Number (UIN) in your General Terms & Conditions of Sale

The unique identification number (UIN) is proof that a Producer is registered in the EPR register for the scheme(s) related to its business, whether this is an individual system or a collective one (producer responsibility organisation).

If you are an ecosystem member, we manage the registration for you and we will send you your UIN. The list of companies having an UIN can be accessed publicly using the SYDEREP website’s search engine (data declaration register for defined Extended Producer Responsibility schemes - website in French) managed by the ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition.

As a producer, your unique identification number(s) must be included in your General Terms & Conditions of Sale in France and any other contractual documents intended for a buyer, as well as on your internet site.

Find out more

Displaying the statement about recyclability on your product information sheets

You must provide customers with information about the recyclability of your products. This compulsory information about the environmental properties and characteristics of new products that generate waste helps customers to decide when buying equipment. 

We provide a tool that helps you define the statements to be included in your product information sheets.

Find out more

Establishing and implementing a Waste Prevention and Eco-design Plan

All producers of household or professional electrical and electronic equipment, lamps and small fire extinguishers are required to establish and implement a waste prevention and eco-design plan to reduce the use of non-renewable resources, increase the use of recycled materials and the recyclability of their products. The plan must define the objectives and the waste prevention and eco-design actions to be implemented over the next 5 years and must be revised every 5 years by including an assessment of the previous plan.

ecosystem can provide a template to help you establish your 5-year action plan. A Powerpoint and a video tutorial are also available to help you understand and complete the template. Your waste prevention and eco-design plan must be sent to ecosystem via the member’s portal.

As a producer responsibility organisation, ecosystem will establish a summary of its members’ waste prevention and eco-design plans every 3 years. This will be published and accessible by all audiences.

Find out more and download the template

Creating and financing a Reuse Fund

The Redeployment and Reuse Funds finance the development of redeployment and reuse activities of organisations belonging to the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in France. Referenced beforehand, the beneficiaries have access to used appliances collected by retailers and municipal recycling facilities for redeployment or reuse. As a producer, you contribute to the creation and the financing of the Reuse Fund managed by the producer responsibility organisation that you have joined.

Creating and financing a Repair Fund

With the goal of extending the service life of used products, the Repair Fund funds incentives for the French population to repair household appliances that are no longer under warranty. A network of "QualiRépar” certified repair operators is currently being developed throughout France. To be able to benefit from an instant discount from their bill thanks to the “Bonus Réparation” measure, consumers must use a certified repair operator who will make sure that the appliance is eligible.

As a producer, you contribute to the creation and the financing of the Repair Fund managed by the producer responsibility organisation that you have joined. Furthermore, if you operate a household appliance after-sales repair service in France, you can qualify for the “QualiRépar” certification thereby enabling your customers in France to benefit from the “Bonus Réparation” measure for all eligible repairs and products.

Find out more about the QualiRépar Certification and check you eligibility (in French)

The inclusion of the eco-fee’s eco-modulation bonuses and penalties on your product information sheet

Pursuant to article 13 of the French AGEC Law ((Art. L. 541-9-1, Art. R. 541-222.) and French Decree °2022-748 of 29 April 2022, producers or importers and any other electrical and electronic equipment marketer must provide:

• Information on the environmental properties and characteristics of these products in regard to the incorporation of recycled materials, the use of renewable resources, durability, compostability, repairability, reuse possibilities, recyclability and the presence of hazardous substances, precious metals or rare earth metals, etc. 

• as well as information on bonuses and penalties in relation to the eco-modulation of eco-fees.

For each product, producers provide this information on a website or a purpose-designed internet page that includes a sheet entitled “product information sheet on environmental properties and characteristics.” The is provided in digital format, can be accessed free of charge when the equipment is purchased and can be reused to make a compilation of product information sheets.

See the FAQ in English on the French Ministry of Ecological Transition’s website: See the FAQ

To find out more about eco-modulation