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Writer's pictureMaria Alexandra Reyes

Refining Perceptions: France and Sustainable Packaging

Updated: Jun 22, 2023

Walking into a French supermarket or even a farmers market can be quite an experience.

Store clerks walking side to side, moving products around, rarely apologizing for holding up the aisles.

You can find products of all ranges, from fruits, pre-packaged frozen meals, to clothes, and house decor completely scattered around the store with no particular sense of order.


But if there is one thing that makes French supermarkets very different from anywhere else is their wide display of sustainably packaged products.


Either by choice, or government regulations.


Think of any product you have bought, or used before. Whether that is cereal, tissue, or deodorant. - there is a sustainable packaging alternative for it in France.


And I mean it.


In 2022, France passed the Agec Act, which specifically banned plastic packaging from their fruits and vegetables, and most likely, everything else. Even so, the French are considered leaders in the eco-friendly packaging sector.


However, these sustainably packaged items were not the most interesting part of my hectic trip to the grocery store.


It was the way brands, that were not necessarily obligated by law to change their packaging, would do it either way, as a way to adapt to their environment.


The truth is that as the packaging laws have become more and more restrictive. And in many ways, so have their consumers. In 2020, French people’s attention to sustainable packaging increased up to 42% and would even be willing to pay up to 16% more if necessary.


Including pasta boxes made out of recycled paper, glass bottles of deodorant, and strawberries in poly-plastic containers. Sometimes without necessarily ensuring that the components inside the products are completely sustainable themselves.



Although sustainable packaging and finding sustainable options has become even more popular among countries, I dare to believe that the decision to impose one of the most strict plastic-reducing laws ever is intrinsically French. Instead of being a trend, it lately has become more a part of their nature. It is even said that most French consumers would try their best to have a positive impact on the environment through their daily actions - even if brands are not consistently environmental themselves in their components all the time.


In my six days here, I have learned a few things about sustainability in businesses, and about French people in general. Stubbornness and impertinence included, the French love their sustainable-packaged-product-filled supermarket, and its messiness.



Maria Reyes


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