The EGAlim law: The change begins in 2020

What will happen in 2020?

It has now been a year since the EGAlim law (law n ° 2018-938) was adopted by the parliament and since its implementation in 2018, we have seen small changes in some restaurants and other businesses food. However, these changes will soon become mandatory standards.

One of the big changes that will take place concerns plastic objects in food and catering businesses. No more straws and stirrers made from this non-ecological material. From 2020, you will have to rely on biodegradable or reusable straws and expect the return of washable spoons or recyclable alternative solutions to stir your coffee.

Another important point will be the ban on plastic water bottles in school canteens. This ban does not apply to establishments that do not have a source of drinking water.

The doggy bag, a service increasingly present in restaurants, can only be offered in reusable or recyclable containers.

And in a few years, other changes planned?

From 2022, school canteens will have to serve meals of which 50% of the products used come from sustainable agriculture and 20% are organic.

And in 2025, plastic cooking, reheating and serving food containers will be banned in catering (local authorities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants will have until 2028 to apply this ban). Plastic food containers will also be prohibited in restaurants.

Collective catering will also be asked to propose a multi-year protein diversification plan offering alternatives based on plant proteins.

Anything else to know about this law?

In connection with the Garot law, the EGalim law requires the obligation to make public the commitments in favor of the fight against food waste.

This law is also responsible for the ban of neonicotinoid insecticides since 2018 and will be responsible for the ban of the additive E171 (titanium dioxide) used as a coloring in various foods from 2020.

This law also, on an experimental basis for 2 years, imposed in collective catering a compulsory vegetarian menu.

Another point that the law has put in place is the possibility for collective catering and the food industry to make food donations to associations caring for people in precarious situations. A good way to avoid waste while helping others.