Why one in three people in France admit to dumping rubbish illegally

More than one in three people admit to abandoning waste illegally, despite almost all saying they do it correctly.

A survey for environmental association Gestes Propres found that 35% of respondents had abandoned at least one item of waste during the previous 12 months, while 98% said they disposed of their rubbish correctly.*

“This is a gap between what we think we should do and what we sometimes do,” Jade Pontié, communications manager at Gestes Propres, told The Connexion.

Abandoning waste cannot simply be attributed to a lack of civic responsibility, she said.

“Behaviour also depends greatly on the context, the type of waste, the location and the situation in which we find ourselves.”

The findings form part of the association’s first annual report ‘Les Français et les déchets abandonnés’, published this year based on a 2025 Ifop survey.

Among those who admitted abandoning rubbish, 69% said none of the reasons offered by the survey matched their situation.

Gestes Propres said people tended to explain their own behaviour in terms of inattention, circumstances or a lack of an immediate solution, rather than a lack of civic responsibility.

A field study involving lottery scratchcards appears to confirm this: participants who describe themselves as non-litterers admitted to throwing away losing cards when there was no bin nearby due in part to their mood.

The study also found widespread misconceptions about what happens to waste once it has been abandoned.

Some 54% of respondents incorrectly believed food waste could be thrown into nature because it is biodegradable, while 47% thought rubbish left on a beach had a good chance of being collected.

“The idea that ‘it is natural, so it is not serious’ remains very present,” Ms Pontié said.

“The smaller, more commonplace or more natural a piece of waste appears, the more its abandonment can be minimised.”

Being watched makes a difference

The presence of other people appears to have a strong effect on behaviour.

Some 61% said they would be less likely to abandon rubbish if they knew they were being watched. This rose to 86% if a cleaner or police officer was present.

“Abandoning waste is very widely disapproved of, but the risk of being punished appears much less credible,” Ms Pontié said.

Some 56% of respondents considered the risk of receiving a fine for abandoning waste to be low or non-existent.

The findings come as an increasing number of French councils turn to surveillance cameras to tackle illegal dumping.

More than 200 local authorities now use systems made by French company Vizzia, whose mobile cameras can be moved between sites where rubbish is repeatedly abandoned.

The cameras detect movement and alert authorised council staff, who can review the footage. Vizzia says its systems have been involved in detecting more than 110,000 dumping incidents over the past 12 months, with councils issuing more than €1 million in fines.

In Seine-et-Marne, 10 cameras are rotated between 41 participating communes. The department collects about 1,000 tonnes of waste from its roads each year, at a cost of around €1million.

At Villiers-le-Bel, near Paris, longer-range mobile cameras are moved around the town to cover different problem areas.

Vizzia says its cameras do not continuously record or use automated facial or number-plate recognition. They are activated by movement, with footage reviewed by authorised staff.

Dumping waste in a public or private place can result in a €135 fixed fine, rising to €375 if it is not paid within 45 days. Court proceedings can result in fines of up to €750, or €1,500 when a vehicle was used to transport the waste, with possible confiscation of the vehicle.

Ms Pontié said surveillance and fines could help, but would not be enough on their own.

“For a sanction to be a deterrent, it above all needs to be perceived as real and likely to be applied,” she said.

No single answer to dumping

Gestes Propres says reducing illegal dumping requires a combination of measures, including suitable waste facilities, maintenance of public spaces, education, awareness campaigns and credible enforcement.

This is particularly relevant to bulky waste. Some people may leave unwanted items because they believe someone else will collect them, while others have difficulty getting them to the correct disposal facility.

“For bulky waste, some people think they are doing a service by leaving an object that could be recovered, while others think it will be collected anyway,” Ms Pontié said.

“Others encounter difficulties getting it to the appropriate disposal channel.”

There is therefore unlikely to be a single solution that works everywhere, she said.

“The most effective measure is rarely an isolated one: it is the right combination of measures, adapted to the right problem, in the right place and at the right time.”

How to dispose of bulky waste

Residents should take bulky household goods, DIY and garden waste, and other materials that cannot go into normal household bins to their local déchèterie.

Most accept items such as wood, electrical goods, batteries, light bulbs and cardboard, although rules vary between communes.

Some bulky items, including mattresses, furniture and kitchen appliances, can also be collected through the municipal encombrants service. Collection arrangements vary, with dates set by each commune and some requiring residents to register items with the mairie in advance.

Residents should check with their mairie or local waste authority for collection dates and the location of their nearest déchèterie.

*Online survey of 2,001 people by Ifop for Gestes Propres in September 2025