The General Council on Environment and Sustainable Development (CGEDD) and the General Inspection of Cultural Affairs (IGAC) were entrusted with a mission letter dated March 5, 2020. a mission relating to the environmental responsibility of press publishers and the ecological transition of the print press sector.
The purpose of this inter-ministerial mission was to assess the consequences of the provisions of the law of 10 February 2020 on the fight against waste and the circular economy (known as the AGEC law). on the print media sector and propose accompanying measures to ensure its sustainable ecological transition.
One Summary of the mission report was released today.
In a first part, the mission recalls the context in which these reforms, marked by a crisis in the entire sector : high concentration in the paper and ink production sectors, restructuring of printing houses, press publishers affected by the decline in sales and advertising markets, distribution crisis, collapse of the paper recycling business model (processing costs now higher than sales prices). The report highlights that France is one of the few European countries to have created a so-called “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) sector for graphic papers and the only one where press publishers are required to make an eco-contribution.
In a second part, the mission assesses the additional costs for press publishers measures relating to the press contained in the AGEC Act. As a reminder, there are four such measures:
- introduction of a criterion for incorporating recycled fibre starting in 2021 in order to be able to contribute “in-kind” (i.e. in the form of advertising inserts promoting sorting gestures);
- prohibition of plastic packaging for the dispatch of the press to 1er January 2022
- removal of “in-kind” eco-contribution on 1er January 2023;
- prohibition of mineral oil-based inks on 1er january 2025.
Finally, in a final part, the mission makes 12 recommendations to support the entire print press sector to enable it to succeed in its ecological transition.
The Ministry of Culture thanks the members of the mission for their involvement and the very high quality of their work.
These recommendations will inspire the actions that will be implemented to support all stakeholders.
Summary of the report is available HERE