The French government has launched a national pact on plastic packaging named "Pacte National sur les emballages plastiques". The ministry of ecological and inclusive transition and leading companies in the consumer goods and retail industries as well as NGOs have signed the pact. The signatories include Auchan Retail France, Bouvard Biscuits, Carrefour, Casino, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP), Danone, Franprix, L'Oréal, LSDH, Monoprix, Nestlé France, Système-U, Unilever and the NGOs WWF France and the Tara Expeditions Foundation.

The following commitments are part of the pact:

• Defining a list of packaging to be designated as problematic or unnecessary and which measures should be taken to have them eliminated,
• Eco-designing packaging to make it reusable, recyclable or 100% compostable by 2025,
• Collectively reaching 60% of plastic packaging recycled by 2022,
• Incorporating an average of 30% recycled plastics into packaging by 2025 and
• Leading awareness-raising and educational activities with the general public on the issues related to plastics pollution

France's plastic packaging pact is in line with the EU's plastics strategy and its own national circular economy plan ("Feuille de route pour l’économie circulaire"), which the French government presented in April 2018 – see Plasteurope.com of 24.05.2018. The target here is for all plastics waste in the country to be recycled by 2025. In 2018, the government also announced that it would make virgin plastic packaging more expensive and plastic products made from recyclable materials cheaper – see Plasteurope.com of 17.08.2018.

The French pact joins the "UK Plastics Pact" in participating in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's (Cowes / UK; www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org) "Plastics Pact" network – see Plasteurope.com of 04.05.2018. A Chilean pact is currently under development and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is expecting more initiatives in Europe and across the world.

Various recycling-focused initiatives in other European countries include Italy's forum for recycling, "Tavolo Permanente Riciclo di Qualità" – see Plasteurope.com of 27.04.2018 – and Germany's five-point plan to boost recycling and reduce plastics waste, which was unveiled in November 2018. At the EU level, the European Commission launched the "Circular Plastics Alliance" to increase the share of recycled plastics in Europe and stimulate market innovation – see Plasteurope.com of 17.12.2018.