France

French WEEE law (Decree 2014-928) entered into force on August 23rd, 2014, obliging Producers and Importers of PV modules to organize and finance the collection and treatment of discarded PV modules individually or by joining a collective scheme.  Under French law, all PV modules put on the market are classified as household waste and must apply a visible fee. The visible fee has to be issued on the invoice of every newly sold PV module and allows for financing of the collection, sorting and recycling of future PV waste.  

To obtain permission for commerce on the French market, Producers must register with an accredited take-back scheme or establish an individual system approved by the Ministry of Environment. Producers must also declare to their take-back scheme the amount of PV modules put on the market (PoM). Only accredited schemes are allowed to report PoM figures to the national EEE register.

Producer definition according to French WEEE law:

Any natural or legal person established in France and

• manufacturing PV modules under his own name or trademark or having PV modules designed or manufactured and selling them under his name or trademark in France
• reselling in France, under his own name or trademark, PV modules produced by other suppliers. A reseller is not considered as the “Producer” if the brand of the original Producer appears on the PV modules
• placing on the French market, on a professional basis, PV modules from a third country or from another EU country

Any natural or legal person not established in France and selling PV modules by means of distance communication directly to private households or to users other than private households in France is also defined “Producer”.

Access the legal text here: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000029387124