Father Christmas may soon be bringing many new gifts, but if you find yourself with bulky waste to throw away at your house in France (at any time of year), be sure to follow the disposal rules for these items.
Bulky waste (déchets volumineux in French) cannot be disposed of with the rest of your usual household rubbish; there are certain rules that households must always follow to ensure the waste is collected and disposed of properly.
The rules of bulky waste disposal in FranceService-public.gouv.fr / ConnexionFrance / Canva
What counts as ‘bulky waste’?
‘Bulky waste’ is considered to be waste items that are too heavy, large, or awkward for the local mairie waste collection services to pick up. Only waste that comes under the definition will be picked up under the rules.
The law does not outline a comprehensive, defined list of these items, but the Service Public government website states that they typically include:
Furniture (tables, chairs, wardrobes, etc.)
Mattresses and bed bases
Large electrical appliances (washing machines, refrigerators, gas cookers, etc.).
Very large cardboard boxes
What is NOT ‘bulky waste’?
Size is not the only consideration. Some items of waste may be physically bulky, but they must follow other methods of collection.
For example, these are NOT considered to be officially ‘bulky’:
Rubble. This must be taken to a waste disposal centre.
Used tyres. These must be taken back free of charge by your garage.
Gas bottles. These must be taken back free of charge by the seller or handed in at a collection point.
Vehicles, e.g. cars, vans, motorbikes. These must be handed over to an approved professional for the disposal of end-of-life vehicles.
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Green waste, despite often being voluminous, is also not considered to be ‘bulky’.
My waste is definitely ‘bulky’: How do I dispose of it?
If you are sure that your waste comes under the definition of déchets volumineux the conditions for its collection are set by your local mairie/commune authority.
One or some of the following methods are likely to be used:
Collection from your home
Collection on a fixed date. Some areas have bulky waste collection services on fixed days. If you have your bulky waste ready for collection on these days, it should be picked up from outside of your house.
Collection by appointment. Some areas require you to make an appointment to have your bulky waste picked up. These are usually made with the local mairie, and most now allow you to make an appointment on their website.
The service is usually free up to a certain volume of waste. Excess bulky waste may be subject to a further charge.
Drop off at a collection point
Drop-off at a specific déchetterie (also written as déchèterie). Some areas require you to take your bulky items to a specific local déchetterie that is able to sort and recycle them. This may be a different place to your usual déchetterie, or it might be part of the same site.
Drop-off at specific collection centres. Some areas have specific waste collection centres for bulky items, which are different from the local déchetterie.
The government is also keen to help people consider other options before they go for disposal, including:
Repair
Resale
Renovation
Donation to charity.
France produces an average 530kg of municipal waste per capita – slightly above the EU average of 511kg – and local authorities are under increasing pressure to reduce and recycle.
Most déchetteries are now also recycling centres; 48% of municipal waste in the EU is now recycled. In France, 64% of general waste is either recycled or used as rubble.
In nearly all communes, the déchetterie is a free resource, but some sites can only be accessed using an entry card issued to local residents. If your déchetterie has a barrier, ask your mairie about access.
How can I check the options in my area?
The government website offers a free online tool to help you search for the rules for your bulky waste.
It asks you to type in the item you wish to dispose of, and then – if applicable – offers three options.
Donate or sell. Some items that are still in reasonable condition, e.g. an old sofa that is still perfectly usable, can be sold second hand online or in shops, or given to charity.
Repair. If you can give your item a makeover (e.g. re-upholster your old sofa), this could be an option. You may also benefit from the Bonus Réparation financial aid, depending on the item.
Dispose. If the two above options do not work, the website suggests ways to dispose of your item. It may make a useful suggestion (e.g. the company delivering your new sofa may offer pick-up services for your old one), or direct you towards finding your local pick-up services.
You can also enter your postcode to find a list of repair shops, donation points, sales options, and déchetterie locations near you that are suited to your item (see the map screenshot below of what to do with an old sofa near Toulouse, for example).
A map showing options for repair, resale, recycling, and disposal for a sofa near ToulouseService-public.gouv.fr
The website then offers advice to help with these suggestions, and also offers tips on how to buy items that are more sustainable and/or durable (if applicable) to avoid having to dispose of another one soon.
You can also contact your local mairie for advice on how to dispose of your items.
The mairie may even be able to take the item off your hands and redistribute it to people who need it, e.g. an old piano that is still in working order could be given to a local school, or a too-large table could be donated to an elderly care home, or children’s art centre.
What happens if I do not follow these rules?
If you do not follow the above rules, and instead dump your bulky waste next to your usual household bins, or - even worse - somewhere else (e.g. the countryside), you risk considerable sanctions.
The law states that “depositing, abandoning, throwing or dumping any type of waste on public or private roads is punishable by a fixed fine”.
The fine is €135 if you pay immediately, or within 45 days of the offence being recorded and the notice sent
The fine is €375 If you pay after this 45-day period
If you do not pay the fixed fine or if you contest it, the case will be referred to the police court judge (juge du tribunal de police).
The judge has the authority to impose a fine of €750, which can rise to €1,500. They can also order the confiscation of the vehicle that was used to transport the waste, if you used one.
Fly-tipping furore
An estimated 80,000 tonnes of rubbish is illegally dumped in the French countryside every year, and some mayors have taken decisive action against this in recent years.
This includes this mayor in northern France - Christophe Dietrich, mayor of Laigneville (Oise, Hauts-de-France) who has repeatedly tracked down offenders and ‘redelivered’ their waste to them, as well as handing them a fine and charges for the collection costs.
Mr Dietrich is not the only mayor to employ this method to ‘name and shame’ people who illegally dump waste.
In 2022, another mayor (this time in Loiret) returned 12 black bin bags to their owner – who lived in a neighbouring commune – after they had been illegally dumped. The mayor discovered the perpetrator by going through the rubbish to find their name and address.
In 2019, a Côtes-d'Armor mayor employed a similar method for waste that had been dumped in the town centre soon after Christmas, and said that a name and address was clearly displayed among the rubbish.
“Over this holiday season, I suppose that these boxes, wrapping paper and leftover food fell off Father Christmas’ sleigh when he was leaving your house. To help repair his error, I thought it would be useful to return them to you,” he wrote in a public Facebook post.
And in 2018, Denis Rapinel, a mayor in Ille-et-Vilaine, returned a huge pile of household waste – including cardboard boxes, an old office chair, some non-biodegradable plastic bags, and what appeared to be a broken microwave – to a local resident after finding it dumped in the local countryside.
