Since 1 January 2024, France has required all producers of food residues to sort them at source, without any minimum-volume threshold. The obligation comes from the anti-waste law for a circular economy (loi AGEC, 2020) and applies to restaurants, hotels, canteens, hospitals and retail alike. Before 2024 the rule applied only above 5 tonnes per year; the threshold is now gone. Sorted residues must be directed to a recovery route, typically composting or anaerobic digestion, and mixing them with residual waste is no longer permitted.
What the obligation actually says
The text requires two things: separation at source, and a recovery route for what is separated. It does not prescribe a specific technology. A kitchen can meet the obligation by contracting a collector, by treating residues on site, or by a combination. Local authorities and their waste services are responsible for the collection side; for professional producers above household quantities, a private contract is usually needed. Enforcement and support schemes vary by region, and ADEME publishes guidance for the professional sector.
Five ways a French kitchen can respond
1. Separate collection by a contractor. The kitchen sorts residues into dedicated bins; a collector empties them on a schedule and delivers to a composting or methanisation plant. This is the baseline route. It requires bin storage space, often refrigerated, and a recurring collection cost that grows with volume. It is the route most French operators are quoted first.
2. On-site composting. Electromechanical composters reduce residues to a dry, compost-like material over 24 to 72 hours with heating and mixing. The output must still be handled: either used as a soil amendment where permitted, or collected. Residues of animal origin are subject to additional rules. Several French suppliers offer this category.
3. Dehydration. Thermal dehydrators evaporate the water; mechanical units press it out. Both leave a solid residue, 10 to 50 % of the input depending on the method, that still has to be collected, and both discharge a liquid, condensate or press water, to the drain. The distinction between the two, and what each leaves behind, is covered in a separate article.
4. Tank-and-tanker systems. Residues are ground and stored in a sealed tank that a tanker empties every few weeks for delivery to a methanisation plant. Hygienic and automated, but the full mass, including water, is paid for as transport, and the site depends on the tanker schedule.
5. On-site aerobic digestion. Microorganisms decompose the residues continuously; the output is a filtered liquid discharged through the existing drain. Nothing solid remains, so there is no storage, no collection schedule and no recurring transport cost. The machine needs a drain connection, and discharge conditions should be confirmed with the local water operator, as with any equipment discharging to the sewer. Griffon manufactures this type of unit in the European Union, in five sizes from 70 to 1000 kg of residues per day, in continuous operation since 2022 in hotels, hospitals and canteens across seven countries.
The question to ask any supplier
The AGEC obligation is about separation and recovery, not about buying a machine. Whichever route a kitchen chooses, the useful question is the same: what remains at the end, and who deals with it? Routes 1 to 4 all end with something that must be stored and collected. Route 5 ends with a liquid in the drain. That difference determines the recurring cost for the life of the installation, and it is the reason on-site aerobic digestion scored lowest among the on-site methods in an independent carbon-footprint study by the University of Zagreb (2022): 21.4 kg CO₂e per tonne treated, compared with roughly 165 kg for on-site composting and 346 kg for thermal dehydration.
Practical notes for French operators
Documentation matters: keep records of quantities and the recovery route, as inspections can request them. Check with your water operator before installing any equipment that discharges to the drain. Ask suppliers for reference installations older than two years in comparable kitchens, and call them. And size the solution on measured daily volume, not on seat count alone; the sizing calculator on this site gives a first estimate from daily kilograms and current collection cost. Griffon serves France directly from Croatia, with technical documentation in French and installation and service handled by the manufacturer.