REAV

Glossary

AGEC law

Loi anti-gaspillage pour une économie circulaire

The French circular-economy law that introduced the repairability index, the durability index and a wave of new producer-responsibility obligations.

France’s AGEC law (2020-105) moved faster than EU-level rules on several fronts. Its best-known instrument is the repairability index: a score out of 10 displayed at the point of sale for categories including smartphones, laptops and washing machines.

Since 2025 a durability index has been rolling out on new categories, adding robustness and reliability to reparability in a single score, and is intended to supersede the repairability index over time. From 1 January 2026, French state services and local authorities must take the durability index into account when buying digital products.

AGEC also expanded producer-responsibility schemes and tightened the rules on environmental claims, with penalties running to a share of annual turnover for misleading ones.

For refurbishers operating in or selling into France, AGEC is the reason repairability is a purchasing criterion rather than a marketing argument, and public procurement is now obliged to weigh it.

Related terms

  • EPR The principle that makes producers financially and operationally responsible for their products once consumers are done with them.
  • Right to Repair The EU directive obliging manufacturers to repair certain products at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time, including after the legal guarantee has expired.
  • WEEE The EU directive that makes producers responsible for collecting and treating electrical and electronic equipment at end of life.
  • Repairability index A score displayed at the point of sale rating how easily a product can be repaired, introduced in France and now being folded into a broader durability score.

← All glossary terms