Recycling in France

In the context of the necessary shift towards a circular economy, waste recycling followed by the reincorporation of Raw Materials from Recycling into production represents an essential pillar for the circularity of resources. How much metal, paper and cardboard, plastic, glass, wood and aggregates is produced in France? How much is imported and exported? How much waste is produced? And how much is reincorporated into production? In short, to what extent is the French industry "circular" in terms of these material flows? The National Recycling Report has been published by the ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) since 2002. It presents the main evolutions of the recycling figures in France for various materials of the national economy: ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals (aluminum, copper, zinc, lead), glass, paper and cardboard, plastics, inert waste from the construction and demolition industry, and wood. It provides an overview of the recycling status for each of these materials over a sliding ten-year period, as well as economic and technical contextual elements or information in relation to changes in regulation. These elements allow a better understanding of the current obstacles to recycling, but also of the potential levers to increase the rate of incorporation of Raw Materials from Recycling in France.