France will ban plastic packaging for most fruits and vegetables from January 2022

 

To comply with a law passed in February 2020, France has published a list of around 30 types of fruits and vegetables that will be sold without plastic packaging from January 1.

Apples, bananas, and oranges are among the fruits and vegetables on the list, which includes leeks, eggplants, and round tomatoes.

“We use an inordinate amount of single-use plastic in our daily lives. The recycling law aims to reduce the use of single-use plastic and increase its substitution by other reusable and recyclable materials or packaging, ”the ministry said in a statement.

It is estimated that 37% of fruits and vegetables are sold with packaging and the measure is expected to save more than one billion unnecessary plastic containers each year.

According to Francois Roch, president of the French Association of Fruit Traders, the switch to cardboard will be impossible in such a short time.

"Selling in bulk is also difficult because a lot of customers are touching the fruit and people don't want other customers to touch their fruit," he explained.

The packaging restriction is part of the government's multi-year program to phase out plastic. Plastic straws, cups and cutlery, as well as Styrofoam take-out boxes, will be banned in France from 2021.

Sliced ​​fruits and a limited amount of fragile fruits and vegetables can be sold in plastic packaging for the time being, but this will be phased out at the end of June 2026.

Plastic wrapping for cherry tomatoes, green beans, and peaches will be prohibited by the end of June 2023, and endives, asparagus, mushrooms, certain salads and herbs, as well as cherries, will be prohibited by the end of 2024.

Raspberries, strawberries, and other fragile berries must be sold without plastic by June 2026.

Water fountains in public places must be provided by 2022 to decrease the usage of plastic bottles; press and publicity publications must be distributed without plastic wrapping; and fastfood restaurants may no longer supply free plastic toys.

France will also ban the use of throwaway crockery in fastfood restaurants for meals served onsite from January