DEEE in France: WEEE under French law, IDU and AGEC

Hugues Orgitello updated 7 Oct 2026 18 min read

In France, waste electrical and electronic equipment is called DEEE (déchets d'équipements électriques et électroniques). Directive 2012/19/EU is transposed in the Code de l'environnement: the general extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules in Articles L541-10 et seq., most of them rewritten by the anti-waste and circular economy law (Law 2020-105 of 10 February 2020, known as AGEC), and the WEEE subsection in Articles R543-172 to R543-206. The French text is stricter than the directive on several points: eight categories instead of six, a unique identifier (IDU) per EPR stream, a visible fee passed on unchanged to the end customer, a mandatory French authorised representative for foreign producers, a repair fund, and a repairability index now being replaced by a durability index. This guide reads the consolidated code as of 7 October 2026, article by article, and lists the claims that the texts contradict.

Key dates

Date	Event	Source
13 August 2005	Cut-off for the producer identification and date marking, and for professional producer take-back of their own equipment	R543-177, R543-195
19 August 2014	Decree 2014-928 restructures the WEEE subsection (exclusions of R543-172-1)	Decree 2014-928
15 August 2018	Open scope: the additional exclusions of R543-172-1 II apply	R543-172-1
10 February 2020	AGEC law: repairability and durability indexes, sorting information, IDU, marketplaces, repair fund	Law 2020-105
27 November 2020	Decree 2020-1455: common EPR rules (IDU in terms of sale, repair fund scope, distributor take-back)	R541-146, R541-173
29 December 2020	Decree 2020-1725 rewrites the WEEE subsection; Decree 2020-1757 creates the repairability index	R543-173 et seq., R541-210
1 January 2021	Repairability index displayed on the first categories	Ministry, repairability index page
29 June 2021	Decree 2021-835 on the sorting symbol (Triman) and sorting information	R541-12-17 et seq.
1 January 2022	R543-172 in its eight-category version (Decree 2021-1213 of 22 September 2021)	R543-172
2022	Start of the 2022 to 2027 approvals of Ecologic, ecosystem and Soren	Ministry, DEEE page
22 April 2022	Repairability index orders for dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and high-pressure cleaners	Ministry, repairability index page
15 December 2022	Repair bonus available through QualiRépar-labelled repairers	Service-Public.fr
20 February 2024	Decree 2024-123: repair fund of at least 10 % of estimated repair costs	R541-147
5 April 2024	Decree 2024-316 creates the durability index	R541-215 to R541-221
27 December 2024	Decree 2024-1221: current distributor take-back thresholds	R541-160
8 January 2025	Durability index replaces the repairability index for televisions	Ministry, durability index page
8 April 2025	Durability index for washing machines (front and top loading)	Ministry, durability index page
20 June 2025	EU energy label with repairability class for smartphones and slate tablets	Regulation (EU) 2023/1669, Article 8
26 June 2025	Order repealing the French repairability index for smartphones	Ministry, repairability index page
8 July 2026	Law 2026-602 amends L541-10-3 and words L541-10-9-1 (French authorised representative)	Code de l'environnement
31 December 2027	End of the current 2022 to 2027 approval period	Ministry, DEEE page
1 January 2028	Latest date for specific recycling, reuse and repair targets for some goods with digital elements	L541-10-20 III

Legal architecture

Level	Text	What it does for EEE
EU	Directive 2012/19/EU	Minimum rules: scope, six categories, collection and recovery targets, marking. See the EU WEEE guide
Statute	L541-9-2 to L541-9-5	Repairability and durability index, sorting information, penalties
Statute	L541-10 to L541-10-28	EPR framework common to all streams; L541-10-1 5° places EEE under EPR, L541-10-20 adds EEE-specific rules
Regulation	R541-86 et seq.	Common EPR rules: approval, IDU, repair fund, distributor take-back, marketplaces
Regulation	R541-210 to R541-221	Calculation and display of the two indexes
Regulation	R543-172 to R543-206	WEEE subsection: scope, categories, producer, marking, collection, treatment, penalties
Consumer code	L111-4, L441-2	Spare parts, planned obsolescence

Article L541-10-1 lists the products under EPR in France; EEE is item 5°, "whether intended for private individuals or professionals". Batteries are a separate stream (6°), with their own registration and their own eco-organisations. The WEEE stream sits next to, and does not replace, the product rules of CE marking: RoHS restricts substances in new EEE, and ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) sets ecodesign and information requirements through delegated acts.

Scope and the eight French categories

Article R543-172 defines EEE exactly as the directive does (up to 1,000 V AC and 1,500 V DC) and, since 1 January 2022, classifies it into eight categories. Categories 1 to 6 are those of Annex III of the directive; 7 and 8 are French additions.

French category (R543-172 II)	Directive Annex III	Typical examples
1. Temperature exchange equipment	Category 1	Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, heat pumps
2. Screens, monitors and equipment containing screens with a surface greater than 100 cm2	Category 2	Televisions, monitors, laptops and notebooks (Annex IV of the directive)
3. Lamps	Category 3	Fluorescent lamps, discharge lamps, LED lamps
4. Large equipment	Category 4 (any external dimension above 50 cm)	Washing machines, cookers, large printers
5. Small equipment	Category 5 (no external dimension above 50 cm)	Vacuum cleaners, kettles, small tools, electronic toys
6. Small IT and telecommunication equipment	Category 6 (no external dimension above 50 cm)	Mobile phones, routers, GPS, pocket calculators
7. Photovoltaic panels	Part of category 4 in the directive	Panels
8. Electrically assisted cycles and motorised personal mobility devices (as defined in R311-1 of the Highway Code)	Not a separate category	E-bikes, e-scooters

Article R543-172 III adds a French rule for modular systems: electrical and electronic sub-assemblies designed to be connected to each other in a modular and reversible way are EEE in their own right, unless they are supplied to an EEE producer who integrates them. The exclusions of R543-172-1 mirror Article 2(3) and 2(4) of the directive (military equipment, filament bulbs, large-scale stationary industrial tools, large-scale fixed installations, means of transport, professional non-road mobile machinery, B2B research equipment, active implantable medical devices and infective medical devices).

Who is the producer

Article R543-174 copies the four limbs of the directive: a producer established in France that manufactures or has EEE made and sells it under its own name in France (a); a reseller under its own brand (b), unless the original brand appears on the equipment; whoever places on the French market EEE from a third country or another Member State (c); and a seller established elsewhere that sells to French users at a distance (d). A pure financier is not a producer.

Actor	Status
Manufacturer established in France selling under its own brand	Producer (a)
Distributor selling under its own brand	Producer (b), unless the manufacturer brand appears on the equipment
Importer established in France (from a third country or another Member State)	Producer (c)
Seller established abroad, distance selling to French users	Producer (d); must appoint a French authorised representative (L541-10-9-1)
Online marketplace facilitating sales by a third party	Bears the EPR obligations itself unless it holds proof the third party complies; an IDU counts as proof (L541-10-9)
French distance seller selling into another Member State	Must appoint an authorised representative in that State (R543-175)

Article L541-10-9-1, as worded by Law 2026-602 of 8 July 2026, requires any person not established in France and subject to EPR to appoint, by written mandate, an authorised representative established in France, who takes over all EPR obligations it accepts. The obligation is deemed met when a marketplace established in France ensures compliance for the products concerned. This is wider than Article 17 of the directive, which makes an authorised representative mandatory only for EU-established distance sellers.

Registration and the unique identifier (IDU)

Article L541-10-13 requires every EPR producer to register with the administrative authority, which issues a unique identifier, and to report annually, per product category: proof of membership of an eco-organisation (or of an individual system), data on products placed on the market including recycled content, data on waste management, and the data needed to track targets. The report may go through the eco-organisation. The register is kept by ADEME (the public body of Article L131-3), on its SYDEREP platform; for producers in a collective scheme, the eco-organisation enters its members and generates the IDU. ADEME publishes the list of registered producers with their IDU, updated daily.

Obligation	Article	Practical consequence
Register and obtain an IDU	L541-10-13	One IDU per EPR stream: EEE, batteries, packaging are separate
Report annually per category	L541-10-13	Usually through the eco-organisation
Show the IDU in the general terms of sale, or another contractual document	R541-173	Also on the website, with the legal notices
Give the IDU to a buyer on request	L541-10-10	Applies to every seller
Treatment information to recyclers within one year of marketing each new EEE type	R543-178	Components, materials and location of hazardous substances

Approved eco-organisations

Producers meet their obligation collectively through approved eco-organisations, which they govern and to which they pay a contribution (L541-10 I), or through an approved individual system. Approvals last at most six years (L541-10 II). For the 2022 to 2027 period the ministry lists:

Scope	Approved	Categories
Household EEE	Ecologic	1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8
Household EEE	ecosystem	1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8
Household EEE	Soren	7 (photovoltaic panels)
Lamps	ecosystem	3
Professional EEE	Ecologic, ecosystem	Per approval order
Professional EEE, individual systems	Four manufacturers listed by the ministry	Their own equipment
Coordinating body, household WEEE	OCAD3E	Coordination between eco-organisations

ecosystem comes from the merger of Eco-systèmes (household WEEE) and Récylum (lamps and professional WEEE), which operated as ESR before taking the name ecosystem in 2019 (trade press). Eco-organisations must treat producers on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory terms and must transfer unused contributions when a producer changes eco-organisation (L541-10 III).

Contributions, eco-modulation and the visible fee

The contribution covers prevention, collection, transport and treatment of the waste, data management and communication, less the revenue from recovered materials (L541-10-2).

Eco-modulation (L541-10-3). Contributions are modulated, where possible, for each product or group of similar products, according to environmental performance criteria. The criteria listed in the article include environmental impact (including biodiversity and carbon footprint), quantity of material, recycled content, sustainably managed renewable resources, durability, reparability, reuse, recyclability, advertising or promotional purpose, ecotoxicity and hazardous substances, and, where possible, practices that affect product lifetime.

Rule	Article L541-10-3
Form	Bonus paid by the eco-organisation, or penalty paid by the producer
Size	May exceed the contribution itself; the contribution can become zero or negative
Cap on request	On a reasoned request of the producer, bonus or penalty limited to 20 % of the price excluding VAT
Governance	Subject to the opinion of the minister; may be set by ministerial order
Review	Trajectory assessed within three years of approval, modulation strengthened if needed
Misleading marking	Signs that may confuse sorting rules carry a penalty at least equal to the contribution

The exact scales are published by each eco-organisation; L541-10-15 requires them to publish the modulation data per criterion and per product type.

Visible fee (L541-10-20 I). Anyone who manufactures, imports or introduces household EEE on the French market, and every successive buyer down to the end user, must show on the sales invoice, in addition to the unit price, the unit cost of managing the separately collected waste. The amount equals the cost of managing that waste, cannot be discounted, and is passed on unchanged to the end customer. The directive only allows Member States to require this (Article 14(1)); France makes it mandatory for household EEE. For professional EEE, informing buyers of these costs is optional (R543-195 III).

Marking and sorting information

Article R543-177 (Decree 2007-1467) sets two obligations:

• Every EEE placed on the market after 13 August 2005 carries a marking that identifies its producer and shows it was placed on the market after that date.
• Household EEE also carries the crossed-out wheeled bin of the annex to the article. If the dimensions of the equipment do not allow it, the symbol goes on the packaging and on the warranty documents and instructions.

AGEC added a sorting information duty (L541-9-3): every household product under EPR carries a sign telling the consumer it is subject to sorting rules (the Triman, defined in Decree 2021-835), together with information on how to sort or drop off the waste. For EEE, Article R541-12-20 allows the Triman to be replaced by another common sign that is mandatory under EU law, which is the case of the crossed-out wheeled bin; the sorting information itself is drawn up by the eco-organisations (R541-12-18) and must sit next to the sign (R541-12-21). When the largest side of the product or packaging is under 10 cm2 and no document accompanies the product, both may be given digitally.

Distributor take-back

Obligation	Rule for EEE	Article
1-for-1	Take back free of charge the used product of the same type as the one sold, in the limit of the quantity sold; no surface threshold for EEE	L541-10-8 I, R541-160 a
With delivery	Take back at the delivery point, or at a nearby collection point for products transportable without equipment, or by a free return solution such as post	L541-10-8 I, R541-161
1-for-0	Shops with at least 400 m2 of sales area dedicated to EEE take back, without purchase, waste from products of the same type	L541-10-8 II, R541-160 a
Limit of 1-for-0	Products of a nature and dimensions equivalent to those offered for sale	R541-162
Information	Take-back conditions shown visibly before the sale, including for distance sales	R541-163
Batteries next to EEE	Containers for used batteries and used EEE placed next to each other, with sorting signs	R541-165-1
Penalty	Fifth-class petty offence	R541-166

Unlike Article 5(2)(c) of the directive, the French 1-for-0 rule is not limited to very small WEEE (no external dimension above 25 cm): its limit is the range of products that the shop sells.

Household versus professional WEEE

	Household WEEE	Professional WEEE
Definition	Waste from households, plus similar commercial, industrial and institutional waste; dual-use EEE is always household (R543-173 1°)	All other WEEE (R543-173 2°)
Producer responsibility	Collect and treat whatever the date of placing on the market, shared by category in proportion to market share (R543-188)	Equipment placed on the market after 13 August 2005, and older equipment replaced by an equivalent (R543-195 I)
Older equipment not replaced	Covered by producers	Paid by the user (R543-195 II)
Visible fee	Mandatory on invoices (L541-10-20)	Optional information (R543-195 III)
Crossed-out wheeled bin	Mandatory (R543-177)	Not required by R543-177; producer and date marking still required

Repairability index and durability index

The repairability index (L541-9-2 I, R541-210 to R541-214) is a score out of 10 per model, set by the producer or importer and shown by the seller in store and online next to the price. It is the sum of five scores out of 20, divided by ten:

Criterion (R541-214)	Score
Documentation: duration of availability of technical documentation and use and maintenance advice	/20
Disassembly: steps to reach parts, tools, fasteners	/20
Availability of spare parts and delivery times	/20
Price of spare parts relative to the price of the equipment	/20
Criteria specific to the category	/20

The durability index (L541-9-2 II, Decree 2024-316, R541-215 to R541-221) replaces the repairability index category by category (R541-216). It combines a reparability score from 0 to 10, a reliability score from 0 to 10 (resistance to stress and wear, ease of maintenance, commercial warranty, quality process) and, where relevant, a score for software and hardware upgrades. Producers must answer requests for the detailed table within five working days, for at least two years after the last unit of a model is placed on the market, and the data are published on the national open data portal.

Category	Status on 7 October 2026
Laptops	Repairability index (since 1 January 2021)
Lawn mowers	Repairability index (since 1 January 2021)
Dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, high-pressure cleaners	Repairability index (orders of 22 April 2022)
Televisions	Durability index since 8 January 2025
Washing machines, front and top loading	Durability index since 8 April 2025
Smartphones	French index repealed by order of 26 June 2025; EU repairability class on the energy label since 20 June 2025 (Regulation (EU) 2023/1669)

Breaching the index or sorting information rules is punishable by an administrative fine of up to 3,000 euros for a natural person and 15,000 euros for a legal person (L541-9-4).

Repair fund and spare parts

Repair fund (L541-10-4). Each eco-organisation for household EEE (except lamps and photovoltaic panels, R541-146) runs a fund that pays part of the cost of repairs done by a labelled repairer on products held by consumers. Since Decree 2024-123 of 20 February 2024, the fund is at least 10 % of the estimated repair costs of the products covered, reachable gradually within six years; repairs under the legal or a commercial warranty are not counted (R541-147). For consumers this is the repair bonus, available since 15 December 2022 through QualiRépar-labelled repairers and deducted directly from the invoice. A separate fund finances reuse (L541-10-5).

Spare parts (L111-4, consumer code). Manufacturers and importers tell professional sellers whether spare parts are available and for how long; for EEE, missing information means parts are deemed unavailable. For household appliances, small IT and telecommunication equipment, screens and monitors on a list set by decree, parts must remain available while the model is marketed and for at least five years after the last unit is placed on the market. Parts must be supplied to sellers and repairers within fifteen working days.

Planned obsolescence (L441-2). Using techniques, including software, by which the person placing a product on the market deliberately aims to shorten its lifetime is a criminal offence, punishable by two years of imprisonment and a fine of 300,000 euros, which may rise to 5 % of average annual turnover (L454-6).

Penalties

Breach	Penalty	Article
Any EPR prescription of the section	Administrative fine up to 1,500 euros (natural person) or 7,500 euros (legal person) per unit or per tonne; daily penalty up to 20,000 euros	L541-9-5
Not registered, register not filled in, wrong data, or IDU not shown	Additional administrative fine up to 30,000 euros	L541-9-5
Repairability or durability index, sorting information	Up to 3,000 euros (natural person) or 15,000 euros (legal person)	L541-9-4
Marking of R543-177, treatment information, visible fee information	Third-class petty offence	R543-205
Battery removability (R543-176), treatment of components	Fifth-class petty offence	R543-206
Waste operator handling WEEE without a contract with an approved scheme	Up to 750 euros (natural person) or 3,750 euros (legal person) per tonne	R543-200-1

Claims the texts contradict

Common claim (some made by earlier versions of this page)	What the text says
Laptops are in category 6 (small IT)	Annex IV of the directive lists laptops and notebooks in category 2 (screens greater than 100 cm2); R543-172 uses the same category 2
France uses the six categories of the directive	R543-172 II has eight categories since 1 January 2022: photovoltaic panels (7) and e-bikes and personal mobility devices (8) are separate
Registration is an "RPDP number", one per company, shared with batteries	L541-10-13 creates a unique identifier per EPR stream; EEE and batteries each have their own IDU
Registration is codified at R543-179	R543-179 to R543-185 are no longer in the code; registration is in L541-10-13 and R541-173
ecosystem came from a three-way merger in 2018 and covers professional WEEE only since 2021	The merger was of Eco-systèmes and Récylum (trade press); Récylum already handled professional WEEE
The crossed-out wheeled bin is required on every EEE	R543-177 requires producer and date marking on every EEE, and the bin on household EEE
The repairability index is a weighted average of five components	R541-214 sums five scores out of 20 and divides by ten: each criterion counts equally
The repairability index covers "televisions above a certain size" and smartphones	Televisions moved to the durability index on 8 January 2025; the smartphone index was repealed in June 2025 after the EU label
Eco-modulation has existed only since 2023 and follows a fixed bonus and penalty table	L541-10-3 sets criteria, allows modulation above the contribution and a 20 % of price cap on request; scales are set by each eco-organisation
The annual declaration is due by end of March	L541-10-13 requires an annual report; the code sets no March deadline
Foreign sellers only need a representative if they use a marketplace	L541-10-9-1 requires every EPR producer not established in France to appoint a French authorised representative
The 1-for-0 take-back is limited to items under 25 cm	In France it covers products of the type and dimensions the shop sells (R541-162); 25 cm is the directive minimum
Without an eco-organisation, placing on the market is prohibited	The code allows an approved individual system (L541-10 I); the sanction for non-compliance is the fines of L541-9-5

See also

• Environmental compliance: what it asks of a product
• WEEE 2012/19/EU: scope, marking, EPR and 2026 review
• EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542: passport, carbon
• ESPR (EU) 2024/1781: Sustainable Products Reg
• ErP / Ecodesign 2009/125/EC: product energy efficiency
• Energy Star: the US voluntary energy-efficiency program
• RoHS 2011/65/EU: 10 substances, exemptions, 2026 dates
• PPWR: the EU Packaging Regulation (EU) 2025/40

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Practical roadmap for a manufacturer

1. Map the producer role. For each product sold in France, identify who is the producer under R543-174 (you, your importer, or you as a distance seller). If you are not established in France, appoint a French authorised representative (L541-10-9-1).

2. Classify. Place each product in one of the eight R543-172 categories, applying categories 1 to 3 before the 50 cm rule (laptops and other screen products above 100 cm2 go in category 2). Decide household or professional under R543-173: dual-use equipment is household.

3. Join an eco-organisation and get the IDU. Join an approved eco-organisation for the categories concerned (or set up an approved individual system), obtain the EEE IDU through SYDEREP, and a separate IDU for built-in batteries. Put the IDU in the general terms of sale and on the website.

4. Mark and inform. Producer and date marking on every product, crossed-out wheeled bin on household products, sorting information next to it, visible fee on invoices for household EEE, and treatment information for recyclers within one year.

5. Indexes and parts. Calculate and publish the repairability or durability index where the category requires it, and set up spare parts availability and the information required by L111-4.

6. Report every year through the eco-organisation, and keep the data behind the eco-modulation criteria that apply to your products.

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Further reading

• CE marking and associated directives : product regulatory baseline
• Glossary : definitions of ADEME, EPR and related terms
• WEEE 2012/19/EU : European directive perspective
• RoHS 2011/65/EU : restriction of hazardous substances in EEE
• EU Battery Regulation : Regulation 2023/1542 on batteries

Sources & references

1. Code de l'environnement, consolidated edition of 7 October 2026 (built from Légifrance open data; Articles L541-9-2 to L541-10-20, R541-146 to R541-221, R543-172 to R543-206), codes.droit.org codes.droit.org/PDF/Code%20de%20l%27environnement.pdf
2. Article R543-172, Code de l'environnement (eight categories, version in force since 1 January 2022), Légifrance www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000044096673
3. Article L541-10-13, Code de l'environnement (registration and unique identifier), Légifrance www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000041583847
4. Article L541-10-3, Code de l'environnement (modulation of contributions), Légifrance www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000043974919
5. Article L541-10-9, Code de l'environnement (online marketplaces), Légifrance www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000041599049
6. Law 2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on anti-waste and the circular economy (AGEC), Légifrance www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000041553759
7. Code de la consommation, consolidated edition (Articles L111-4, L441-2 and L454-6), built from Légifrance open data, codes.droit.org codes.droit.org/PDF/Code%20de%20la%20consommation.pdf
8. Ministry for Ecological Transition, Electrical and electronic equipment (DEEE): approved eco-organisations 2022 to 2027, Ministère de la Transition écologique www.ecologie.gouv.fr/politiques-publiques/equipements-electriques-electroniques-deee
9. Ministry for Ecological Transition, Repairability index (categories and orders), Ministère de la Transition écologique www.ecologie.gouv.fr/politiques-publiques/indice-reparabilite
10. Ministry for Ecological Transition, Durability index (televisions from 8 January 2025, washing machines from 8 April 2025), Ministère de la Transition écologique www.ecologie.gouv.fr/politiques-publiques/indice-durabilite
11. ADEME open data, EPR producers registered in SYDEREP with their unique identifier, ADEME data.ademe.fr/datasets/rep-producteurs-idu
12. Service-Public.fr, repair bonus for electrical and electronic appliances from 15 December 2022, Service-Public.fr www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/actualites/A16129
13. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1669, energy labelling of smartphones and slate tablets (applies from 20 June 2025), EUR-Lex eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2023/1669/oj
14. Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment, EUR-Lex eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2012/19/oj
15. ecosystem, approvals and specifications, ecosystem decouvrir.ecosystem.eco/agrements
16. ecosystem, approved eco-organisation for household and professional WEEE, ecosystem www.ecosystem.eco/
17. Ecologic, approved eco-organisation for household and professional WEEE, Ecologic www.ecologic-france.com/
18. Filière 3E, ESR (Eco-systèmes and Récylum) becomes ecosystem (trade press, December 2019), Filière 3E www.filiere-3e.fr/2019/12/10/recyclage-esr-devient-ecosystem/