IDU and marketplaces: do France’s EPR rules apply to you, and what should you do?

One identifier per producer and EPR scheme

The unique identifier, known in French as an IDU, confirms a producer’s registration in ADEME’s reporting system for an extended producer responsibility scheme, or EPR scheme. A producer has one IDU for each relevant scheme. The number is not issued per product reference, SKU or marketplace. ADEME’s explanation of the IDU.

A catalogue may therefore require several IDUs. Before completing the fields in your seller account, understand which obligations each number relates to.

Check your role in placing products on the market

“Producer” does not only mean the factory. Its definition depends on the scheme. For electrical and electronic equipment, it includes manufacturing under your own brand, certain own-brand resales and introducing equipment into France from abroad, including another European country. Producers covered by the EEE scheme.

If you simply resell products, identify the producer that fulfils the obligations for the product. Ask your supplier for its IDU and information linking the number to the relevant products. Sellers must be able to provide that identifier to a buyer who requests it. Article L541-10-10 of the French Environmental Code.

One business can have several roles: reselling some brands while importing another range. Check each supply route before reaching a conclusion for your entire catalogue.

Examine the products and their packaging

Identify the applicable schemes, then their categories and exclusions. Packaging can fall under EPR even when the product inside does not. The household packaging scheme includes businesses that pack or arrange the packing of their products, and importers of packaged products. Check any shipping packaging you add and the distinction between household and professional packaging. Scope explained by ADEME.

If you are a producer, organise the steps to comply

Contact a producer responsibility organisation, called an éco-organisme, approved for the relevant schemes and categories. Confirm the reporting scope, costs and documents with it. The other route is an approved individual system, requiring you to organise and finance the corresponding waste management. This involves more than administrative registration. Choosing an EPR arrangement.

Under a collective system, the éco-organisme registers you in SYDEREP and sends you the IDU issued by ADEME. You do not register individually. There is therefore no generic “IDU subscription” that covers all your schemes: check what any proposed service actually includes. ADEME’s explanation of the registration process.

Obtaining the number must go alongside tracking annual declarations and the applicable environmental contributions. If you have already sold products, reconstruct the periods and quantities, then ask the organisation how to address missing declarations. Do not assume that joining automatically resolves past sales. Obligations for businesses subject to EPR.

If your business is not established in France and falls under French EPR, also check the requirement for an authorised representative established in France. The law provides a specific case where certain platforms established in France fulfil these obligations for the relevant products. Article L541-10-9-1, in force since July 2026.

Send the right evidence to each marketplace

Marketplaces have their own EPR obligations for the sales they facilitate, with an exception where they hold evidence that the third party has already fulfilled its obligations. This explains why they collect supporting documents. Do not infer that the platform automatically takes on all your responsibility. Framework explained by the French ministry.

Prepare a file for each scheme: the producer’s identity, IDU, relevant products and available evidence. Compare it with each platform’s requests and retain its replies. You can look up the holder of a number in ADEME’s directory.

If you are a producer, also include the IDU in your terms of sale, or the contractual document required in their absence, and on your website. Article R541-173.

Confirm your position for your products and role. This article explains the French framework and is not personalised legal advice. Confirm specific cases with the relevant éco-organisme or a qualified adviser.

Assign someone to keep the file current

Give someone responsibility for evidence, deadlines and changes to your range. PerfSell Agency can help audit your marketplace operations, assign tasks and identify useful automation. PerfSell software tracks sales, fees and margins; it is not an IDU compliance tool. Let’s discuss your operations.