Financial flows in the recycling of packaging waste: the case of France

Each country in the European Union has its own packaging waste management system. However, there is still lack of evidence concerning the true costs of packaging waste recycling and how these costs have been distributed among stakeholders. This paper addresses these issues using the financial transfers undertaken by the French Green Dot company Eco-Emballages as a case study to focus the analysis. To accomplish this, we use data from 45 local authorities. We compare the financial transfers coming from the Eco-Emballages Group with the costs incurred by the local authorities and provide a discussion on the suitability and fairness of the system. If we consider the economic savings attained by diverting packaging waste from the refuse collection and final treatment activities, the financing model of the French “recycling system” was sustainable in 2010. However, if we adopt a strictly financial approach, the results suggest that the industry only covered around 56% of local authorities’ costs.