Vending

France drops mandatory nationwide deposit system for plastic bottles

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September 8, 2026

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The French government has dropped plans to require communities nationwide to establish a deposit-return system for plastic beverage bottles, according to a Le Monde report. Environment Minister Mathieu Lefevre and Local Government Minister Francoise Gatel said mandatory participation would be replaced by voluntary, locally administered programs, particularly in areas with low collection rates.

The decision followed three months of talks with municipalities, beverage companies and recycling organizations. Government data showed substantial regional differences, with plastic-bottle collection rates reaching 77% in nearly 230 intermunicipal areas but falling to about 35% in approximately 45 others. Officials concluded that a uniform national program could disrupt communities that have already invested in collection and sorting systems.

Local government groups welcomed the reversal, arguing that a mandatory deposit system would remove valuable plastic from municipal recycling streams while leaving communities with existing infrastructure costs. Beverage and bottled-water producers criticized the decision, saying France continues to perform poorly on plastics recycling and faces significant European Union costs as a result. The government plans additional discussions on voluntary programs and other measures for meeting national collection targets.

Shares of reverse vending machine manufacturer Tomra Systems ASA fell more than 6% Sept. 7 on the news, according to an Investing.com report. The decline followed strong recent performance for Tomra, whose shares rose nearly 15% in August after the company reported a 25% increase in second-quarter revenue to $471 million. Tomra recently secured a contract for about 1,200 reverse vending machines in the United Kingdom, according to a MarketScreener.com report, but France's decision raised concerns that other governments could choose voluntary or less standardized collection programs.