And where do I put this banana peel? In three weeks, from January 1, 2024, new rules come into force in France concerning the sorting of bio-waste, which represents a third of our trash bags and ends up buried or incinerated. Changes in practice which bring their share of misunderstandings and even fake news due to the 2020 law, called anti-waste for a circular economy (Agec), sometimes difficult for individuals to decipher.
The first that is circulating is the idea that the French should all start composting green waste at home. This is incorrect information, explains Muriel Bruschet, biowaste thematic engineer for Ademe (Ecological Transition Agency). “The Agec law says that communities must offer a source sorting solution for biowaste to the population. As a household, this obligation is not imposed on him directly.”
There is therefore no need to equip all your loved ones in an apartment with worm composters for Christmas… It is up to your town hall to set up door-to-door collection, deploy sorting terminals in the streets, shared composters, or any other solution. to get you started in this new gesture. Those who live in a house and who have not yet started must also be helped. “It is not up to citizens to buy their garden composter or bio-bucket themselves, but up to their intercommunity to offer them a sorting solution,” writes the association. Zero waste which denounces certain “confusions”.
What is this 35 euro fine?
If Ademe reminds that sorting your bio-waste is a civic gesture and strongly encourages the practice, it confirms that no financial sanctions will be specially created if you do not play the game, especially if your community has not yet put anything in place. Contrary to a second rumor which suggests that citizens who do not sort their food waste will face a fine of 35 euros from January, Muriel Bruschet explains: “There will be no black bins open to check whether people have threw bio-waste in. A fine is actually provided for under article R632-1 of the Penal Code, but it applies to sorting instructions in general. »
As a citizen, you must respect the collection regulations of your community. “If you put household waste in the yellow bin, for example, you may be refused,” explains Muriel Bruschet. If it happens again, several times, you expose yourself to a fine but communities rarely go that far since often the first reminder is enough.”
Controls and fines will therefore not be on the menu anytime soon if you do not throw away your peelings in the recommended place… No sanctions are planned for the communities which have the obligation to provide you with a sorting solution! And yet, not all municipalities are yet ready to implement these services, far from it. The Ministry of Ecological Transition estimates that only 27 million French people, or 40% of the population, will have a solution by 2024.