Glossary
New regulations always come with a set of new terms to learn. Discover what they mean in our glossary!
ADEME
The French agency for ecological transition, it provides expertise in many areas, including the circular economy https://www.ademe.fr/nos-missions/
Eco-contribution scale
Amount of the eco-contribution by product or material, expressed per unit (tonne, m2, m3, linear metre, sales unit, etc.).
Bonus-malus
An system which raises or lowers the eco-contribution meant to encourage companies to design environmentally-friendly products.
CAO
Tender Committee.
Preparation centre
A site that prepares one type of waste (wood, plaster, plastics, etc.) for delivery to an outlet.
Stakeholder Committee (CPP)
Within each PRO and in accordance with Article L541-10 of the Environmental Code, the Stakeholder Committee is made up of four groups representing producers, waste prevention and management operators, local authorities, and representatives of environmental protection and consumer advocacy associations. It issues opinions and is informed about many aspects of the PRO’s activities (financial contribution, support scale and proposed eco-modulations, principles of procurement procedures, etc.).
Operational Technical Committee (CTO)
Within each PRO and in accordance with the specifications for the Building EPR scheme (3.7), it brings together representatives of construction waste management operators, professional users of BPM, the building deconstruction and demolition sector, industries using raw materials from recycled BPM, local authorities, and reuse actors. It is responsible for ensuring consultation on technical requirements and standards for waste management, particularly regarding separate collection standards, including joint collection standards, and for reviewing waste treatment standards.
CSR
Solid Recovered Fuel, a fuel made from waste.
DDS
Specific Diffuse Waste is household waste likely to contain one or more chemical products that may pose a significant risk to health and/or the environment.
Directorate General for Risk Prevention (DGPR)
Within the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, the Directorate General for Risk Prevention is tasked with identifying and quantifying all risks in order to implement appropriate prevention policies. In this capacity, the DGPR monitors waste prevention and management policies and therefore Extended Producer Responsibility. Directorate General for Risk Prevention (DGPR) | Ministries Ecology Energy Territories (ecologie.gouv.fr)
Directorate General for Risk Prevention (DGPR)
Within ADEME, it is responsible for overseeing EPR schemes and helping them reach the objectives set by the government. This involves closely monitoring how they operate and measuring the results achieved against the objectives set out in the approval specifications.
Eco-design
Eco-design involves integrating environmental protection from the very outset of creating goods or services. Its primary objective is to reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their entire life cycle: from raw material extraction, production, and distribution, to use and end-of-life.
Eco-design is characterized by a holistic view of these environmental impacts. It adopts a multi-stage approach (considering the various phases of the life cycle) and a multi-criteria approach (taking into account material and energy consumption, emissions into the natural environment, and effects on climate and biodiversity).
Eco-modulation
Adjustment of the eco-contribution amount based on environmental performance criteria, including the quantity of material used, the incorporation of recycled material, the use of sustainably managed renewable resources, durability, repairability, the potential for reuse, recyclability, the product’s advertising or promotional purpose, absence of ecotoxicity, and the presence of hazardous substances.
PRO
An entity, most often a private non-profit with government approval to implement one or more Extended Producer Responsibility schemes.
ESS
The concept of the social and solidarity economy (ESS) refers to a set of organisations structured as cooperatives, mutual societies, associations or foundations, whose internal operations and activities are based on a principle of solidarity and social utility.
Outlet
The “final” destination site for waste for recycling, recovery or treatment. Example outlets: a particleboard manufacturing plant for wood, a regeneration site for plastic, a plasterboard manufacturing plant for plaster, etc.
GDD (waste manager)
A waste management operator, whether at the collection stage or in sorting, recycling, recovery or treatment.
Referential waste stream
The quantity of construction waste (by mass) or material stream produced annually, as indicated by the ADEME’s preliminary study for the EPR scheme.
AGEC Law
Common name for Law No. 2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on waste prevention and circularity.
Recycled or secondary raw material
Recycled Raw Materials (RRM) or secondary raw materials (SRM) refer to materials resulting from waste recycling that can be used as a total or partial substitute for raw materials.
CTM contract
A contract for the collection, sorting and consolidation of waste from voluntary drop-off points.
Company placing products on the market
Manufacturer, distributor or importer subject to the Building EPR scheme who must declare its quantities to an approved PRO. The term “producer” is also used to refer to the company covered by Article R543-290 of the Environmental Code.
MTEC
Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion.
OCAB
Approved Building Coordinating Body.
This is the coordinating PRO formed by the approved PRO of the EPR scheme, in accordance with Articles L. 541-10, R. 541-107 and R. 543-290-12 of the Environmental Code, as well as Article 7 of Annex I and the provisions of Annex III to the Order of 10 June 2022 setting out the specifications for PROs. Its objective is to implement a balancing mechanism that ensures compliance with waste collection obligations from construction sites, proportionate to the market share of each PRO. Furthermore, it deploys an ambitious and essential work programme to launch and sustain the sector. This includes developing material standards, local authority contracts, conducting studies, managing communications, and operating a single point of contact, among other initiatives.
PAV
Voluntary drop-off point (public recycling centre, distributor site providing take-back of construction waste, professional recycling centre).
PMCB
Building construction products and materials.
Prevention
Any action taken before a substance, material or product becomes waste, aimed at reducing all environmental impacts of the waste generated and facilitating its subsequent management: reducing the quantity of waste generated, reducing its harmfulness or the content of hazardous substances.
Reuse
Any operation by which substances, materials or products that are not waste are used again for the same purpose for which they were designed.
EPR
Extended Producer Responsibility
Re-use
Any operation by which substances, materials or products that have become waste are used again.
SPGD
Public Waste Management Service – this covers waste managed by local authorities (household waste, separate collection, recycling centres, etc.).
Collection rate
Quantity of construction waste collected and directed to recovery (in tonnes) / Reference waste stream for the category or material stream (in tonnes).
Recycling rate
Quantity of construction waste entering a recycling facility (in tonnes) / Reference waste stream for the category or material stream (in tonnes).
The quantity of waste is measured after inspection, sorting and other preliminary operations required to remove waste that is not covered by recycling processes.
7-stream sorting
Decree No. 2021-950 of 16 July 2021 on sorting waste paper, metal, plastic, glass, textiles, wood, mineral fraction and plaster sets out the sorting rules for this waste. Since July 2016, professionals have been required to sort waste into “5 streams”: paper/cardboard, metal, plastic, glass and wood, in dedicated containers. With Article 74 of the AGEC Law, two new streams were introduced: plaster and mineral fractions. All waste producers or holders must implement, within its establishments, separate and type-appropriate collection systems for these types of waste.
Recovery
A generic term covering preparation for re-use, regeneration, recycling, organic recovery or energy recovery of waste.
Energy recovery
Use of an energy source (electricity, heat, etc.) resulting from a waste treatment facility with an energy efficiency above a threshold defined at the EU level.
Material recovery
A waste treatment method enabling re-use or recycling.
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