WHO PAYS? How it works | Regulations and obligations | Key figures
The French Environment Code states that every new tyre sold in France must be recycled at the end of its life. The professionals who put these new tyres on the French market (referred to as “producers” by the legislator) are responsible for the financial aspects and processing of their tyres once they have reached the end of their lives. This is the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
A producer is a professional who:
Manufactures tyres destined to be sold to the end user or assembled on vehicles
for example, manufacturers
Imports or brings into France tyres destined to be sold to the end user or assembled on vehicles
for example, garages, websites, car manufacturers
Imports vehicles equipped with tyres marketed in France
for example, the manufacturers of all types of vehicle defined in article R311-1 of the French Highway Code
Sells own brand tyres
for example, distributors
In most cases, the car industry professionals who fail to declare the tyres that they import (and thus pay the corresponding eco-tax) are simply ill-informed. In good faith, they contact Aliapur. Helping them set themselves straight by making their administrative tasks easier is one of our missions.
Sometimes, however, this failure is deliberate, just to save a few cents of eco-tax. When the savings made are barely €1.44 (eco-tax 2024) for one passenger vehicle tyre, it really is not worth it!
The French State Department for Ecological Transition (Ministère de la transition écologique) regularly carries out controls on the premises of producers to make sure they are declaring all the tyres they import and are financing their end-of-life recycling. When fraud is identified, it can cost up to €7500… for an eco-tax of just €1.44 per tyre! Do not take this risk. Playing by the rules is so easy!
For further information
French Environment Code, article L 541-10: depending on “the severity of the failures established, and the advantages obtained from them”, failure to respect the regulatory obligation to declare will be penalised with an administrative fine. This fine can be as much as € 7,500 “per product unit manufactured, imported or distributed”, in this case, per tyre (provisions taken from Order 2010-1579 dated 17 December 2010).