REP PMCB (FR)

REP PMCB (Responsabilité Élargie du Producteur, Produits et Matériaux de Construction du Bâtiment) is a French scheme requiring construction-material manufacturers and importers to fund the collection, sorting and recovery of waste from construction and demolition. It was created by the AGEC law of 10 February 2020 and operationalized by decree on 1 January 2022 for effective application on 1 May 2023.

Mechanism: the eco-contribution is paid by the placer-on-the-market, but it is passed on the customer invoice. All along the chain, distributor, wholesaler, craftsperson, project owner, each link must be able to justify that the contribution was paid and that waste flows have been traced.

Four approved eco-organisations share the scheme: Ecominéro (inert waste: concrete, brick, tile), Valobat (multi-stream), Valdélia (professional furniture and non-inert materials), Ecomaison (multi-stream oriented toward fit-out).

Three categories of actors are directly concerned:

• Placers-on-the-market (French manufacturers, EU importers, non-EU importers): they declare and pay the eco-contribution to the eco-organisations.
• Distributors and wholesalers: they pass on the eco-contribution, must operate a take-back point on their site, and must be able to trace their supplier flows.
• Waste holders (construction companies, craftspeople): they must sort at source, use approved channels, and keep outbound slips.

Public project owners now integrate REP compliance in their tenders, which de facto extends the obligation to every subcontractor on public works.

• 1 May 2023: scheme entry into force, first declarations from placers-on-the-market.
• 1 January 2024: extension to category-A chemical products (paints, glues).
• Throughout 2026: ramp-up of targeted controls by DGCCRF + public project owners.
• 2027 horizon: planned extension to category-B chemical products (bitumen, sealants).

Sanctions are set by article L.541-9-5 of the French Environment Code. For a legal entity: administrative fine up to €7,500 per offense found. Repeat offenses can trigger judgment publication ("name & shame").

Beyond the direct sanction, the hidden cost is exclusion from public tenders: a craftsperson or company unable to trace REP flows progressively loses the ability to respond to local-authority tenders, which now require a named waste-management plan.

Operational compliance rests on three software capabilities:

• Materials catalogue with eco-organisation Unique ID and per-reference eco-contribution, automatically picked up at the foot of quotes and invoices.
• Mobile site outbound slip, with geolocation, photo, and automatic sending to the eco-organisation via API.
• Per-site compliance dashboard consolidating incoming materials, outgoing waste, and consistency with the management plan submitted to the project owner.