Case study of
#00049 Fund collection through cost-indexed EPR support, decoupled from the resale price
Mont des Avaloirs (CCMA), Mayenne, France
#00042
Implementer
Le Relais (operator) / Communauté de communes du Mont des Avaloirs (CCMA)
Location
Description
The Communauté de communes du Mont des Avaloirs (CCMA), a rural intercommunalité in northern Mayenne, ran voluntary textile collection through containers operated by Le Relais at bring-points. All textile containers were subsequently withdrawn, ending the clothing-and-linen drop-off service across the territory. This occurred despite the national REP TLC (Refashion) EPR regime being active: even after the per-tonne support was raised, the lag in disbursement combined with the collapse in resale revenue left Le Relais unable to sustain loss-making rural routes. Low-density territories like CCMA were the first routes cut. Residents were redirected to déchèterie drop-off and charity points (Secours Catholique, Croix-Rouge), shifting the burden rather than restoring diversion capacity.
Funding
Lessons learned
- A national EPR top-up does not automatically protect low-density rural routes: when an operator cuts losses, sparse territories are pulled first.
- Support that lags the revenue shock by months is too late to save individual routes, even if it eventually stabilises the operator at national level.
- Redirecting residents to déchèterie and charity points moves the burden onto other actors rather than restoring textile diversion capacity.
- A donation-bank collection service can disappear with no public policy decision and little warning, because the trigger is a commodity export price, not a democratic vote.
Sources
2Documented Jun 7, 2026