You make nothing yourself, so the scheme looks like someone else's problem. That is true of the boxes of the brands you resell, but not of the cardboard you ship them in.
For most online sellers the two coexist: the product's packaging belongs to its manufacturer, the parcel's packaging belongs to you, and that one alone triggers membership and the unique identifier.
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The household packaging scheme covers the packaging of what private individuals buy for themselves. Packaging between businesses comes under a different scheme, with a different timetable.
Everything happens on your device: nobody receives your answers, not even us, and it all disappears with the tab.
Information verified on October 1, 2026. Indicative assessment with no legal force. The rules it applies are taken from official sources and dated, but it knows of your situation only what you tell it: only the authorities can settle your case.
The official pages where we read the rules and amounts applied here.
Extended producer responsibility puts the end of life of packaging on whoever first placed it on the French market. Manufacturing has nothing to do with it: it is enough to sell under your own brand a product someone else made, to import it, or to ship a parcel to answer for the cardboard around it.
This is where most micro-entrepreneurs get it wrong, in both directions:
They come in this order, and skipping the first makes the rest impossible:
The European regulation applies in stages, and 12 August 2026 was only the first. From that date, it sets the principle that all packaging must be recyclable, limits heavy metals and perfluorinated substances in food packaging, and requires an EU declaration of conformity from the packaging manufacturer. The criteria that define recyclable packaging, reuse and very small plastic packaging only arrive in 2030.
| What you do | Product packaging | Parcel packaging |
|---|---|---|
| You sell under your brand, no shipping | You | Not applicable |
| You sell under your brand and you ship | You | You |
| You resell a French brand, no shipping | Its maker | Not applicable |
| You resell a French brand and you ship | Its maker | You |
Failing to hold a unique identifier is punished by a fine of up to €30,000, and missing sorting information by €3,000 for a sole trader. Since 1 January 2022, a marketplace has been required to carry the duty for its third-party sellers, unless they prove they already meet it: check your seller terms, in writing.
Antoine buys games from a French publisher and resells them in his online shop.
He assumes he is out of scope, since the boxes are not his, and for the boxes he is right.
But he ships every order in a cardboard box with paper padding: that packaging is his.
He has to join, obtain his identifier and display it, for his shipping boxes only. The sorting information does not concern him.
Join an approved eco-organisation. Citeo, Adelphe or Leko for the household scheme.
Display your unique identifier on your website and in your terms and conditions.
Declare each year the quantities placed on the market. Small volumes have a simplified route.
Nothing to declare as long as you only sell services, or resell without shipping.
The day you ship a single parcel, the cardboard becomes yours and the duty arises.
Selling to businesses comes under a different scheme, the professional packaging one.
Not for those products' packaging: their maker or importer placed them on the French market before you, and they are the producer. But if you ship parcels, the cardboard and padding you add are yours, and that alone brings you into the scheme.
It is the number evidencing your registration in ADEME's register, issued through your eco-organisation. It must appear on your website and in your terms and conditions of sale. Its absence is the first breach an inspection looks for.
It has been required to since 1 January 2022, unless you prove you already meet the duty. Check it in writing in your seller terms: if it does not, the duty stays entirely yours, and nobody will warn you.
Eco-organisations offer simplified scales and declarations for producers of small quantities. The amount depends on the weight and materials placed on the market, not on your turnover. Ask your eco-organisation for its scale before joining.
No, not today. The European regulation has applied since 12 August 2026: it sets the principle of recyclable packaging, limits heavy metals and perfluorinated substances, and requires a declaration of conformity from the packaging manufacturer. The French duties remain in full, and the recyclability criteria only arrive in 2030.
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