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Company waste management: what needs to be put in place

Verified 18 April 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Any company that produces or holds waste shall be responsible for their management. It must identify its waste, set up sorting at source, keep track of it in a register, ensure that it is recovered and comply with other regulatory requirements.

Company responsibility for waste

The company is responsible for the management of its waste. This applies to companies in one or more of the following situations:

The company's activity waste product.
The staff produces waste.
The company is in possession of waste.
The company carries out processing operations waste, leading to a change in the nature or composition of such waste (grouping, recycling, etc.).

This responsibility implies that the company must ensure compliance with all regulations applicable to the management of its waste.

Non-compliance with these obligations is subject to sanctions.

Penalties for abandonment of waste

The fact ofto abandon, deposit or cause to be deposited waste shall be punished by a maximum of 4 years in prison and €150,000 of fine (natural person) or €750,000of fine (legal person).

FYI

The failure to comply with a formal notice under a waste prevention and management offense may be severely punished when the fauna, flora or water quality is directly exposed to a immediate risk of serious and lasting harm (may last at least 7 years). The penalty shall then be 3 years imprisonment and €250,000 fine (natural person) or €1,250,000 fine (legal person). This amount may be increased up to three times the advantage derived from the commission of the infringement.

In order to ensure compliance with their obligations, companies must determine the characteristics of their waste. Specifically, for each waste, it must be determined whether it is:

Waste dangerous, including waste containing persistent organic pollutants
Product new non-food or a product food
Waste to be sorted at source (paper, metals, plastics, glass, wood, bio-waste, textiles, mineral fractions and plaster).

What is hazardous waste?

Any waste is considered hazardous if it has one or more hazardous properties (indicated by the abbreviation “HP” with a number).

Explosive (HP 1)
Fuel (HP 2)
Flammable (HP 3)
Irritating to skin and eyes (HP 4)
Toxic to a target organ (STOT) or toxic by aspiration (HP 5)
Very toxic (acute toxicity) (HP 6)
Carcinogen (HP 7)
Corrosive (HP 8)
Infectious (HP 9)
Toxic to reproduction (HP 10)
Mutagen (HP 11)
Releasing an acutely toxic gas (HP 12)
Sensitizer (HP 13)
Ecotoxic (HP 14)
Waste capable of exhibiting one of the dangerous properties mentioned above that does not directly exhibit the original waste (HP 15).

Any waste that does not have any of the properties that make a waste hazardous is considered non-hazardous.

Non-hazardous waste that contains hazardous waste is considered hazardous waste (for example: a jerry can of petrol).

FYI

In order to identify with certainty whether a waste is hazardous waste, the company must find its number. A decision by theEuropean Union lists all categories of waste. They are detailed in theindex document.

The hazardous waste is indicated by an asterisk (*), after their 6-digit number.

Classification of waste categories

European Union

Pour en savoir plus

One European Commission document provides technical recommendations for the classification of waste. It can help understand how to classify waste and identify hazardous waste.

What is a waste that contains persistent organic pollutants?

Persistent organic pollutants are a set of substances that degrade slowly, accumulate in living organisms, are toxic and easily transported over long distances.

They are listed in Annex IV to a European regulation, the text of which is regularly updated by Parliament.

FYI

Waste containing persistent organic pollutants which are hazardous within the meaning of the definition of hazardous waste, are subject to hazardous waste obligations.

Companies have an obligation to to separate at source the waste they produce or hold.

All obligations are detailed in the fact sheet dedicated to waste sorting at source.

Maintenance of a waste tracking register

Companies should keep for at least 3 years a register in which are listed all information concerning their waste, namely:

Quantity, nature and origin of waste that the company produces, returns to a third party or takes over
Quantity of products and materials resulting from the preparation for re-use, recycling or other recovery operations of such waste
Where appropriate, the destination, frequency of collection, means of transport and method of treatment or disposal envisaged for such waste.

The detailed content of the register which needs to be kept is available on Legifrance.

In case of control (e.g. by the municipal police), the company will have to provide this register.

FYI

The company is not obliged to keep this register for waste declared on Trackwaste.

Statement on Trackwaste Platform

The state has put in place a on-line service for waste tracking slip management. This is Trackwaste.

The following wastes must be declared on the Trackwaste portal:

Dangerous, including those containing persistent organic pollutants
Asbestos
Refrigerants
Infectious Healthcare Waste (DASRI)
End-of-life vehicles (ELV).

This declaration shall be made via waste tracking slips, in a dematerialized manner, on the platform.

Information on other categories of waste can be reported via Trackwaste. It is not mandatory for non-listed categories of waste.

Managing the traceability of waste and asbestos (Trackwaste)

Please note

Where the information is declared by the company, it shall be retained and made available to the State on the online service. This will enable them to be communicated to the authorities in charge of controls.

The declaration of all the waste of the company shall exempt from the obligation to keep a waste tracking register.

Penalties provided for

For companies affected by the obligation to keep a waste tracking register, 2 penalties are provided for where there is no register, refusal to provide it or incorrect information. They shall also apply for offenses relating to the declaration on Trackwaste.

These are:

The fine provided for contraventions of 4^e class, of an amount of €750 (natural person), or €3,750 (legal persons)
One offense, exposing to 4 years imprisonment and €150,000 of fine (natural person), or €750,000 fines (legal persons).

Penalties may be added.

Waste management with a view to recovery

The company is responsible from the management of its waste until its disposal, or valorization final, even when the waste is transferred to a third party for treatment.

The company must to ensure or cause to be ensured the management of its waste by a third party (company of collection, transport, recovery of waste, etc.).

The management and sorting of waste produced or held by the company shall be carried out with the aim of recovering that waste. 2 possibilities management systems exist.

Recovering waste yourself

The company can recover its waste itself, provided it complies with certain obligations.

Waste treatment or storage as part of their recovery must take place in waste treatment plants, which may fall under the Classification of classified installations for the environment (PCI) subject to declaration, registration or authorization. The company must then make sure to respect the legislation applicable to such installations.

The hierarchy of processing modes waste must be used. It consists of prioritizing, in order:

Preparation for reuse
Recycling
Any other valorization, including energy recovery
Elimination

Waste recovered by the company producing or holding it shall not be subject to the obligation to sort at source.

However, if the absence of sorting affects their ability to be prepared for reuse, recycling or other recovery operations, they must be sorted at source.

Construction and demolition waste may be used for development, rehabilitation or construction work, provided that:

The company is able to justify to the competent authorities (mayor, president ofEPCI or prefect) the nature of the waste used and its use in a recovery purpose and not elimination.
And either the company does not bury or deposit waste on agricultural landor it buries and deposits only waste in the following cases:
- Use in agricultural land development works
- Use as fertilizing materials or culture media.
And either the recovery of that waste is not not accompanied by a financial contribution, or it is accompanied by a financial contribution and the project is a road work or quarry in operation.

Dispose of the waste to a collection or transport intermediary or directly to the operator of a recovery facility

Waste not dangerous and no inert can be supported by a storage and incineration plant only if the company certifies compliance with its sorting obligations.

To justify it, the company must transmit every year one sworn certificate to the operator of the storage and incineration plant before receiving any waste for the current year. It must be signed by the company's legal representatives. The certificate shall state:

The list of company sorting obligations
A description of the elements capable of demonstrating compliance with those obligations, and in particular the list of separate collections set up and the associated sorting instructions.

When the waste is transferred to a third party, the company must provide all the information necessary for its treatment.

Every year, the company to which the waste is transferred must issue a certificate to the company delivering the waste. The certificate shall state, in respect of waste collected separately for recovery in the previous year:

Quantities of waste expressed in tons
Nature of waste
Destinations for final recovery.

The model attestation to be completed is available (Annex I-A):

Template for attestation of the disposal of company waste

To find where and to whom to dispose of company waste, SINOE Waste maintains waste directories of economic activities:

Find where to deposit waste from economic activities (Yearbook)

Warning

The company delivering the waste shall ensure that the person to whom the waste is returned is authorized to take them over, including where they have been mixed with other waste or entrusted to an operator for treatment outside France. The penalty for handing them over to an unauthorized person is a fine by an amount of €750 (natural person), or €3,750 (legal persons).

Please note

As of February 12, 2025, it is no longer possible to transfer the company's waste to its community's public waste collection service.

Penal sanctions

In the event of non-compliance with the company’s waste management obligations, the following procedure shall apply:

The company shall be notified the facts alleged, the penalties incurred and the measures prescribed to regularize his situation. It may submit its observations.
After 10 days, if the situation is not regularized, she may be forced to pay a fine of up to €15,000 (natural person) or €75,000 (legal person), and be given formal notice to carry out the necessary operations within a specified period.
If the period of notice has elapsed and the company has not complied, the State shall be penalized by one or more of the following measures:

Record an amount equal to the cost of carrying out prescribed measureswhich will be returned as they are implemented
Immediately pay the necessary fees the execution of the prescribed measures
Suspend, at its expense, the installations and structures, the carrying out of works and operations, or the carrying out of activities which give rise to the infringements found
Pay a daily penalty payment of a maximum of €1,500 until the prescribed operations have been carried out
Pay a fine of up to €150,000 (natural person) or €750,000 (legal person).

FYI

Companies are sometimes subject to other waste management obligations.

In case of doubt, the company can ask for information from its professional organization.

Tableau - Obligations of companies relating to the management of certain wastes
The company is concerned if...	Does the company have obligations?	What are the obligations?
The company produces, imports or distributes new non-food products intended for sale (clothes, household products, furniture...)	The company is subject to specific obligations relating to the management of new non-food unsold goods	All information is detailed in the dedicated card
The company produces, imports or distributes food products	The company is subject to specific obligations relating to the management of unsold foodstuffs	All information is detailed in the dedicated card
The company manages inert waste	The company is subject to specific obligations relating to the management of inert waste	To learn more, the company can inquire with its professional organization and to the next link.
The company manages hazardous waste	The company is subject to specific obligations relating to the management of hazardous waste	All information is detailed in the dedicated card
The company manages products subject to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)	The company is subject to specific obligations relating to the management of waste subject to extended producer responsibility.	All information is detailed in the dedicated card

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) companies are those that manage at least one of the following product categories or the components and materials used in their manufacture:

Packaging used to market products consumed or used by households, including those for which the final consumer is uncertain and those consumed outside the home, printed paper (except books) and graphic papers, intended for end-users producing household and similar waste
Packaging used to market products consumed or used by professionals (regardless of industry)
Construction products or materials of the building sector for households or professionals
Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), whether intended for use by individuals or professionals

Electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) included in this REP stream are:

Heat exchange equipment : large refrigerating appliances, refrigerators, freezers and air-conditioning appliances and other air-conditioning equipment (heat pumps...)
Screens, monitors and equipment comprising screens with a surface area exceeding 100 cm² : screens, monitors, laptops, small laptops, tablets and smartphones with a screen area greater than 100 cm²
Lamps
Large EEE (examples: washing machines, water heaters, dishwashers, stoves, VMCs, microwave ovens, electric heaters, electric fans, etc.)
Small EEE (examples: vacuum cleaners, irons, toasters, hair dryers, toothbrushes, razors, scales, e-cigarettes, etc.)
Small computer and telecommunications equipment (examples: printers, manual electric labellers, photocopiers, internet box, home phones, mobile phones, smartphones with a screen area of 100 cm² or less, external hard drives and usb keys, etc.)
Photovoltaic panels
Assisted pedaling cycles (electric bicycles) of a maximum continuous rated output of 0,25 kilowatt, and other motorized personal transport equipment (examples: electric scooters, hoverboards, gyropods, etc.).

EEE that is excluded from this REP stream are:

EEE which is specifically designed and settled to fit into a type of equipment excluded from the categories indicated above
EEE linked to the protection of the essential security interests of the State, arms, munitions and other war material, if linked for exclusively military purposes
Non-electrical bulky components permanently attached to the building or floor, either for housing, protecting, guiding, supporting an EEE, or for transporting fluids to or from an EEE, or set in motion by EEE when they can be easily disconnected during on-site disassembly
Large stationary industrial tools (e.g. printing machines, packaging or bottling machines, etc.)
Filament bulbs
Equipment intended to be sent into space
Large-scale fixed installations, with the exception of EEE in such installations which are not specifically designed and fitted for integration and can therefore fulfill their function even if they are not part of the large fixed installation on which they are fitted (examples of large installations concerned: lifts, object conveying systems, etc.)
Non-road mobile machinery intended exclusively for professional use
Equipment specifically designed for research and development purposes only and available only in a business-to-business context
Active implantable medical devices, as well as medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices, where such devices normally become infectious before the end of their life cycle without the possibility of disinfection, sterilization or dismantling of soiled parts prior to their disposal being provided for

Please note

One full list of EEE concerned is available in a review about Légifrance.

Batteries
Contents and containers of chemicals may have a significant risk to health and environmentwhose waste from these products is likely to be collected by the public waste management service

Contents and containers of chemicals of this EPR channel are:

Pyrotechnic products
Fire extinguishers and other extinguishing appliances
Hydrocarbon products
Adhesion, sealing and repair products
Materials treatment and coating products and surface preparation products
Special care or protective products
Common chemicals
Solvents and diluents
Household biocidal and plant protection products
Household fertilizers
Textile dyes and dyes
Inks, printing and photographic products
Aerosol dispensers and gas cartridges

Of details of those products are indicated in a order on Legifrance.

Medicines
Puncture medical devices used by patients on self-treatment and users of HIV self-testing, including associated electrical and electronic equipment not covered by the EPR scheme
Furnishing elements, including cushioned products for sitting or sleeping and textile decorative elements

The furnishings included in this REP stream are:

Living room, living room or dining room furniture
Supplementary furniture
Bedroom furniture
Bedding
Office furniture
Kitchen furniture
Bathroom furniture
Garden furniture
Seats
Technical, commercial and community furniture
Upholstered products for sitting or sleeping
Textile decorative elements such as carpets, curtains and net curtains, and their accessories, whatever the materials of these accessories.

The furnishings excluded from this REP stream are:

The specific fittings of professional premises constituting fixed installations which are:
- Custom-made
- Assembled and settled by a professional fitter
- Intended to be used permanently as an integral part of the building or structure, at a predefined dedicated location
- And may be replaced only by a similar element specifically designed for that purpose
Urban furniture elements settled on the estate and in public spaces
Floor, wall and ceiling coverings covered by the EPR ‘building products or building materials’, including carpets intended to be permanently settled in buildings
Furniture falling under the EPR ‘electrical and electronic equipment’

New textile clothing products, shoes or household linen intended for individuals and new textile products for the house
Toys
Sports and leisure equipment, including bicycles and non-motorized transport equipment (scooters, skateboards, etc.)
DIY and garden items
Passenger cars, vans and motor vehicles 2 or 3 wheels and motor quadricycles
Tires, whether or not combined with other products, including solid tires and tires fitted to a shroud by design
Mineral or synthetic oils, lubricating or industrial
Recreational or sports vessels
Tobacco products equipped with filters composed in whole or in part of plastic and products which are intended for use with tobacco products
Synthetic chewing gum non-biodegradable
Single-use sanitary textiles : wipes, personal protective equipment, linens and clothing, paper hygiene products, absorbent hygiene and personal protective products, products used for medical care, etc.
Fishing gear containing plastic

Companies subject to EPR shall not be not just those who make these products. Those concerned shall carry out at least one of the following actions on products subject to EPR:

Elaboration
Manufacture
Manipulation
Treatment
Sale
Importing

Example :

A company can be submitted to REP for several different sectors. For example, a company selling sporting goods, DIY, electronics and batteries may be subject to EPR under the streams:

Sports and leisure equipment
DIY and garden items
Electrical and electronic equipment
Batteries
Household packaging (for packaging in which it sells certain of its articles)

Who can help me?

The public service accompanying companies

Do you have a project, a difficulty, a question of daily life?
Simple and free - you will be called back within 5 days by THE advisor who can help you.

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Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives
Characteristics of hazardous waste (Annex III)
Regulation (EU) No 2019/1021 of 20/06/19 on persistent organic pollutants
List of persistent organic pollutants (Annex IV)
Environmental Code: Article L541-1
Hierarchy of waste treatment methods
Environment Code: Article L541-1-1
Definitions
Environmental Code: Article L541-2
Obligation to ensure or have ensured the management of its waste by an authorized third party
Environmental Code: Article L541-3
Procedure in the event of abandonment, deposit or mismanagement of waste
Environment Code: Articles L541-7 and L541-7-1
Information on waste shall be made available to the administration and to third parties to whom the waste is transferred
Environmental Code: Article L541-23
Liability of the person who transfers his waste to an unauthorized person
Environmental Code: Article L541-24
Treatment of waste in classified installations
Environment Code: Articles L541-32 and L541-32-1
Conditions for the recovery of construction waste
Environmental Code: Article L541-46
Criminal sanctions
Environmental Code: Article R541-8
Definitions hazardous wastes, persistent organic pollutants
Environmental Code: Article R541-43
Record keeping
Environmental Code: Article R541-45
How Trackwaste works
Environmental Code: Article R541-48-4
Obligation to introduce sorting at source in order to dispose of waste
Environmental Code: Article R541-78
Administrative penalty - Follow-up register and Trackwaste
Environment Code: Articles D543-280 to D543-284
Possible recovery types for waste
Environmental Code: Article D543-281
Exemption from sorting at source for companies recovering their own waste
Environmental Code: Article D543-284
Obligation to provide a certificate by the company to which the waste is transferred
General code of regional and local authorities: Article L2333-78
Fee for the removal of waste from companies by the public service
Order of 31 May 2021 laying down the content of the waste, excavated land and sediment registers
Content of the registers
Order of 21 December 2021 relating to the certificate mentioned in Article D543-284 of the Environmental Code
Content of the certificate issued by the company to which the waste is transferred

Managing the traceability of waste and asbestos (Trackwaste)
Online service
Find where to deposit waste from economic activities (Yearbook)
Search tools
Template for attestation of the disposal of company waste
Document template

Source sorting of company waste: what to know
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) streams
Management of unsold non-food and food items
Management of hazardous waste from companies
Classified installations for the protection of the environment (PCI)
Building and public works waste
Ministry of the Environment
List of approved eco-organizations in the EPR sectors
Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe)
Hazardous waste
Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion
Nomenclature of PCIs and IOTAs
National Institute of Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris)
Contents of waste, excavated land and sediment registers
Legifrance
Frequently Asked Questions - Trackwaste
Ministry of the Environment
List of persistent organic pollutants (in Annex IV)
European Parliament

Sole proprietorships, including micro companies

Businesses (SARL, SASU, SAS, EURL, SA, SNC, SCS, SCA, etc.)

Waste which has one or more of the following hazard properties: explosive, oxidizing, flammable, irritant, toxic, carcinogenic, corrosive, infectious, mutagenic, giving off an acutely toxic gas, sensitizing, ecotoxic.

A set of substances that degrade slowly, accumulate in living organisms, are toxic and easily transported over long distances. They are listed in a European regulation. Examples include pesticides and PCBs.

Biodegradable non-hazardous waste: food, catering, production failure and vegetable waste

Concrete, bricks, tiles, ceramics, stones

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Act prohibited by law and punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment of less than 10 years.

Any operation allowing waste to be reused (recycling, energy production...) or prepared for reuse.

Any waste which does not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological modification, which does not decompose, burn, produce any physical or chemical reaction, is not biodegradable and does not damage the materials with which it comes into contact. Most of the waste is from the construction sector (concrete, brick, tile waste, etc.).

Sectors with specific waste management obligations for the products they market. Some 20 categories of waste generating products subject to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) exist.

Any article intended to contain and protect goods, to enable them to be handled and transported from the producer to the consumer or user, and to ensure their presentation. All “throw-away” items used for the same purpose should be considered packaging. Exceptions: gas cylinders and chemical packaging.

Any printed paper medium, except toilet paper and wrapping paper

Copying papers, graphic papers, envelopes and postage bags

Products and materials, including wall, floor and ceiling coverings, intended for permanent use in a building or for use in any facilities situated on its grounds, including those relating to the parking of vehicles. Products and materials used only for the duration of the work are excluded.

Electrical and electronic equipment operating with electric currents or electromagnetic fields for the performance of at least one intended function and equipment for the production, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields, designed for use at a voltage not exceeding 1 000 volts AC and 1 500 volts DC.

All types of batteries and accumulators, whatever their shape, volume, weight, constituent materials or use. Exceptions: Those used in equipment related to the protection of the essential interests of State security and those intended to be launched into space.

Whose dangerousness is likely to cause a significant deterioration in human health and whose dangerousness is likely to cause deterioration in the soil or subsoil or in the quality of natural environments or in the integrity of fauna and flora

Any substance or combination of substances presented as having curative or preventive properties with regard to human diseases, and any substance or combination of substances which may be used or administered in human beings, with a view to making a medical diagnosis or to restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action.

Movable goods and their components, the main function of which is to contribute to the development of a dwelling, business or public accommodation by providing a seat, a bed, storage, a work or installation plan, or by decorating walls, floors and windows

Includes mock-ups, puzzles, business games and all products designed or intended for use in play by children under 14 years of age. Excludes communal playground equipment, automatic play machines, children's vehicles equipped with combustion engines, steam toys, slingshots and slingshots

Products intended for use in sport and those intended for outdoor activities (e.g. bicycles, sports balls, backpacks, snowshoes, etc.).

Includes painter's tools, thermal motorized machinery and equipment, DIY equipment, including hand tools, products and equipment for garden maintenance and landscaping, except for products in the Toys or Construction Materials sectors. Excludes products designed to be used exclusively by professionals, hardware, brick-and-mortar fittings and electrical and electronic equipment.

Oils for the following uses: for heat engines and turbines, for gears, for movements, for compressors, multifunctional, for hydraulic systems and dampers, for electrical uses, for heat treatment, non-soluble for working metal, used as heat transfer fluids.

Any vessel used either for personal use, in particular for recreational or sports purposes, or for training in recreational boating and any recreational vessel. The vessels concerned are either 2,5 to 24 m long, without a motor and not powered by human energy (trainsets, pedals, etc.), or less than 4 m long, equipped with a motor and not operated from inside the vessel.

Products which may be consumed and which are composed, even partially, of tobacco. Examples: cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco, water pipe tobacco, cigars, cigarillos, chewing tobacco, snuff, heating tobacco, oral tobacco, etc.

Company waste management: what needs to be put in place

Company responsibility for waste

Penalties for abandonment of waste

What is hazardous waste?

Classification of waste categories

What is a waste that contains persistent organic pollutants?

Maintenance of a waste tracking register

Statement on Trackwaste Platform

Penalties provided for

Waste management with a view to recovery

Recovering waste yourself

Dispose of the waste to a collection or transport intermediary or directly to the operator of a recovery facility

Penal sanctions

Who can help me?

The public service accompanying companies

EPCI :

EPCI :

Recevoir la lettre Bercy infos Entreprises
en partenariat avec Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr

Company waste management: what needs to be put in place

Who is responsible for managing a company's waste?

Company responsibility for waste

Penalties for abandonment of waste

How should a company characterize its waste?

What is hazardous waste?

Classification of waste categories

What is a waste that contains persistent organic pollutants?

How do you sort waste from a company at source?

How do I track a company's waste?

Maintenance of a waste tracking register

Statement on Trackwaste Platform

Penalties provided for

How should companies recover their waste?

Waste management with a view to recovery

Recovering waste yourself

Dispose of the waste to a collection or transport intermediary or directly to the operator of a recovery facility

Penal sanctions

What other obligations do companies have with respect to waste?

Who can help me?

The public service accompanying companies

Statute and miscellaneous references

Online services and forms

Additional topics

EPCI :

EPCI :