The main reasons for these increases are due to:
The AGEC law in France imposes stricter criteria concerning recyclability, reuse and waste reduction. These new obligations require additional investments and improvements in waste treatment processes.
Waste treatment is becoming increasingly expensive due to the increased complexity of products and the need for advanced technologies for their recycling.
To meet the growing requirements for recycling and waste treatment, Producer Representative Organisations or their partners must invest in new infrastructure and technologies, which increase operating costs.
Collection costs are increasing due to rising energy, fuel, and salary prices. In addition, the collection logistics often need to be improved to better separate and sort waste.
The prices of recycled materials, such as paper, plastic, and metals, can fluctuate on the global market. A drop in prices can reduce the income of Producer Representative Organisations, requiring contribution increases to compensate.
The quality of collected recyclable materials may decrease, making the sorting and recycling process more expensive. In addition, volume declines in certain Schemes, such as paper, increase unit costs.
Public awareness and education campaigns on sorting and recycling also represent additional costs for Producer Representative Organisations.
These factors, combined, explain the increase in eco-contributions, which are necessary to finance improvements and meet new environmental requirements.
Not all Producer Representative Organisations applied increases in 2024. Some did so in 2023 and are maintaining their pricing in 2024, while others will pass on these pricing increases during the year or in 2025.
To cite a few examples:
- The Building Scheme revalued its pricing by an average of 25% in 2024.
- The Textile, Household Linen, and Footwear Scheme increased eco-contributions by an average of 20% in 2023; these pricing are still in effect in 2024.
- The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Scheme has seen record increases on certain products, such as smartphones, for which an eco-contribution has increased from €0.02 per unit to €1.67 in 2024, an increase of more than 8300%.
We have anticipated these increases in our algorithms, and our application will be able to distinguish between products placed on the French market before and after the increase date, so you only pay the correct pricing.
Furthermore, since displaying the eco-participation pricing is MANDATORY at the time of sale for the EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and EA (Furniture Elements) Schemes, our platform will present the amount of eco-contributions to be displayed for each of your products from July 1st.
You will then be able to pass on the increase to your pricing in order to not impact your profit margin!