French eco-contributions are the variable third cost layer of EPR compliance, the one most newcomers underestimate because it does not appear on any price list. Unlike the representative fee (fixed in writing before you sign, from €190/year excl. VAT, see /pricing) and the eco-organism membership (annual, modest), eco-contributions scale with declared tonnage and can range from €100 to several thousand euros per year per stream.
This article explains how the calculation works and how to estimate your eco-contribution before signing.
What is the basic formula?#
Eco-contribution = Declared tonnage × Rate per material × Bonus/malus multipliers.
Each eco-organism publishes its rate schedule annually. The schedule lists rates per kilogram by material category (cardboard, PET, mixed plastics, glass, aluminum, etc.). Your declaration tells the eco-organism how much of each material you placed on the French market during the prior year. Multiplication produces the eco-contribution invoice.
What are the rates by stream? (indicative)#
The most relevant streams for non-EU producers:
Household packaging (Citeo 2026 weight rates, 2027 rates from the Citeo guide updated 8 October 2026; Léko is slightly lower on most lines, by up to about 4% in 2026 and about 1% in 2027):
- Paper-cardboard: €0.2581/kg (2027: €0.2594).
- Clear PET bottles: €0.70/kg (2027: €0.7087).
- Dark or coloured PET bottles: €0.7351/kg (2027: €0.7441).
- Flexible PE film: €0.7701/kg (2027: €0.7796).
- Glass: €0.0201/kg (2027: €0.0202).
- Aluminium: €0.2434/kg (2027: €0.2463).
- Complex or other resins (excl. PVC): €1.4001/kg (2027: €1.4174); PVC-containing packaging €2.1001/kg (2027: €2.4803).
A small per-unit (UVC) component and eco-modulation come on top. Full side-by-side grid: household packaging rates 2027, Citeo vs Léko.
WEEE (Ecosystem 2026), per unit, by product family:
- Smartphone: €2.44.
- Laptop: €3.58.
- Vacuum cleaner: €1.45.
- TV over 50 inches: €12.64.
Batteries (Ecosystem 2026), per kg:
- Alkaline portable: €0.374/kg.
- Lithium-ion portable: €0.453/kg.
- NiMH portable: €0.175/kg.
Textile (Refashion 2026), per piece, not per kg:
- Clothing, simplified regime: €0.5799 per piece.
- Footwear, simplified regime: €0.6414 per pair.
- Detailed regime examples: adult T-shirt €0.0323, adult jeans €0.1098, adult coat €0.1582.
Rates change annually. Always confirm current rates with your representative.
Need a French EPR representative for your business?
We are EPR France specialists for foreign sellers. Fixed annual fee per stream, from €190/year excl. VAT, confirmed in a written quote within one business day. IDU in days, not weeks.
How do bonus and malus change the amount?#
The bonus-malus structure adjusts the base rate based on packaging design choices. See /blog/eco-modulation-france-bonus-eco-contributions for the full framework.
Published examples (Léko household packaging grid, 2026 and 2027):
- Source reduction (lighter packaging, fewer components, refills): 8% bonus on the unit's total contribution, the year the reduction applies.
- Improved recyclability, measured by a change of recyclability grade: 10% bonus, once.
- Reusable packaging: 100% bonus.
- Penalties in four levels: 10%, 25%, 50% and 100%, for example 100% for dark plastics undetectable by optical sorting, or PET bottles combined with aluminium, PVC or silicone.
- Paper-cardboard: 10% reduction of the weight contribution when recycled fibre is more than 50% of the cardboard weight.
Penalties of different levels can stack. Info-tri and Triman marking is mandatory, not a bonus: the 2027 Citeo and Léko scales carry no bonus or malus linked to Info-tri; the marking is a legal requirement. The only related premium (4%) rewards off-pack media awareness campaigns.
Worked example: what does a €1M brand pay?#
Non-EU consumer brand shipping €1M/year to France, packaging composition:
- 2,000 kg cardboard boxes.
- 500 kg mixed plastic film.
- 100 kg aluminum cans.
Weight component at Citeo 2026 rates:
- Cardboard: 2,000 × €0.2581 = €516.20.
- Plastic film: 500 × €0.7701 = €385.05 if it is mono-material PE, or 500 × €1.4001 = €700.05 if it is a complex multilayer film.
- Aluminium: 100 × €0.2434 = €24.34.
- Weight component: €925.59 with PE film, €1,240.59 with complex film.
The material choice alone moves the bill by a third. A small per-unit (UVC) component comes on top, then eco-modulation: a 100% penalty on part of the range can add hundreds of euros, while a 10% recycled-fibre reduction on the cardboard saves about €52.
How do you estimate before signing?#
For a quick pre-signing estimate, you need:
- Annual French sales estimate (units or revenue).
- Average packaging weight per unit.
- Material breakdown of packaging (cardboard %, plastic %, etc.).
- Battery / electronics inventory (if applicable).
Total annual tonnage × average rate × ~1.05 multiplier (assuming average modulation) gives a reasonable budget number. Add 20% buffer for first-year uncertainty.
Most non-EU consumer brands land between €500 and €5,000 per year per stream in eco-contributions, with mid-volume producers around €1,500-€3,000. Heavy-volume or hard-to-recycle producers can hit five figures.
What drives the variance?#
Three factors:
Material mix. Single-material PET pays less than laminated pouches. Cardboard pays less than plastic. Glass pays the least.
Volume. Linear with tonnage. A producer that doubles French sales doubles eco-contribution.
Modulation. The bonus-malus grid can swing total by ±50% on the same volumes. Design choices matter.
When are eco-contributions declared and invoiced?#
Most streams are declared once a year. Exceptions: Ecomaison declares quarterly by default (annual on option below 15 t, 1,000 pieces and EUR 2 million of turnover in the stream), Valdelia quarterly, Ecominéro monthly, and Ecosystem electrical equipment quarterly unless contributions are paid by SEPA direct debit.
- Producer (or representative) compiles tonnage by stream and material.
- Declaration submitted to each eco-organism.
- Eco-organism computes contribution per rate schedule + modulation.
- The eco-organism invoices you directly. For 2027 household packaging placements, Léko takes the declaration before 1 March 2028, invoices by 31 March and the invoice is payable within 30 days.
Your eco-contributions stay invoiced to you and paid by you directly to the eco-organisation. See /blog/french-epr-declaration-deadlines-eco-organisms-2026 for the full annual rhythm.
FAQ#
What is the difference between eco-contribution and representative fee?#
Representative fee is what you pay your authorized representative for the service of registering and maintaining your French EPR file: ours starts from €190/year excl. VAT for a stream under an eco-organism flat-rate regime, with everything else confirmed in a fixed written quote within one business day. Eco-contribution is what funds the actual recycling infrastructure. The two stay completely separate: the eco-contribution is set by the eco-organism on its published schedule, from your declared tonnage, and it never appears in our fee. We take no percentage and no margin on it.
Do small producers pay the same eco-contribution rate per kilogram?#
The per-kilogram rate is the same regardless of producer size. The total eco-contribution scales linearly with declared tonnage. A small producer declaring 100 kg of packaging pays roughly 10% of what a producer declaring 1,000 kg pays. There is no volume discount and no small-producer exemption.
When does the eco-contribution actually get invoiced?#
Most streams are declared once a year, and the eco-organisation computes the contribution from your declaration and invoices you directly. For 2027 household packaging placements, Citeo takes the declaration from January to the end of February 2028; Léko takes it before 1 March 2028, invoices by 31 March and the invoice is payable within 30 days. Your eco-contributions stay invoiced to you and paid by you directly to the eco-organisation. In the first year, registration is due from your first sale in France, and eco-organisations can claim contributions for earlier years.
Get a written eco-contribution estimate within one business day#
Send your packaging mix and annual French sales estimate through our onboarding form. We return a written estimate of representative + eco-organism + eco-contribution costs, with the modulation upside identified. How representative fees work: /pricing.
Sources & references#
All legal and regulatory claims in this article trace back to the following primary sources (Légifrance, EUR-Lex, ADEME and equivalents). Verified 24 May 2026.
Ready to start your French EPR registration?
Three-minute application form. Written quote within one business day. IDU in days, not weeks.