Significant New Obligations for Manufacturers Placing Packaging on the EU Market

At a Glance

• The EU's new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (Regulation EU2025/40, PPWR) will begin to apply in all EU member states from 12 August 2026, replacing the former Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC.
• The PPWR replaces divergent national packaging rules with a single, harmonized regulatory framework.
• All businesses that place primary, secondary, tertiary, and service packaging on the EU market — including manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers — must comply.
• Manufacturers face specific obligations around the technical implementation of PPWR design, labeling, and recyclability standards, with a phased rollout of requirements continuing through 2030 and beyond.

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) was adopted to address the continued growth of packaging waste across the EU and to shift to a functioning circular economy in which packaging generates less waste and remains in the resource cycle for longer. The regulation pursues three core objectives:

1. Reduce packaging waste. The PPWR sets binding targets to reduce unnecessary packaging and promote reuse, with an overarching goal of reducing packaging waste by 15% across the EU by 2040.
2. Improve recyclability. Clear design requirements and recycled content quotas for plastic packaging are intended to ensure that packaging can be recycled and that high-quality secondary raw materials are created in the process, strengthening the market for recycled materials.
3. Standardize the internal market. The regulation replaces a patchwork of national regulations with uniform EU-wide rules on labeling and information requirements, establishing an equal footing across all member states.

Implications for Your Business

The PPWR applies to all packaging placed on the EU market, regardless of origin. The regulation identifies several different roles for companies, with some roles overlapping. It is possible for one company to have multiple roles and to be expected to comply with more than one set of obligations.

For the purposes of the PPWR, the manufacturer is a company that commissions and designs packaging being made available in an EU market. Typically, they (or a subcontractor) fill the packaging with a product or the packaging visibly features their brand name or trademark. The manufacturer bears the most extensive obligations under the PPWR.

By contrast, a supplier is a person or company that provides packaging or packaging materials (such as empty boxes, films or bottles) to a manufacturer or other business. If the brand owner is a micro-enterprise (fewer than 10 employees, under €2 million turnover) and sources its own-brand packaging from a supplier in the same EU member state, the supplier retains the legal manufacturer's obligations.

A producer is the first company (which can be either a manufacturer, an importer, or a distributor) who makes packaging or packaged products available in an EU member state. Each packaging or packaging product has one producer per country. In many cases, a manufacturer can be a producer (and vice versa).

Obligations for Manufacturers

Maintain evidence demonstrating compliance.

• Create a Declaration of Conformity (DoC) for each packaging type, confirming it meets PPWR sustainability criteria for minimization of weight and volume, recyclability, and substance restrictions.
• Maintain technical documentation containing material composition, substance compliance evidence, labelling (from 2028), and recyclability assessment (from 2030).
• Update documentation whenever packaging changes.
• Store single-use packaging documentation for five years and reusable packaging documentation for 10 years.

Ensure packaging adheres to PPWR limits on substances of concern.

• Confirm presence of substances of concern (e.g. heavy metals) adheres to PPWR limits.
• Obtain supplier declarations on all raw materials.
• Conduct spot testing for high-risk materials (e.g. recycled plastics).
• Maintain a restricted substances register.

Ensure packaging materials are consistent and traceable.

• Implement traceability records for all materials.
• Maintain supplier audit records.

Apply harmonized EU labels for sorting, materials, and reusability (from 2030).

• Add material identification (e.g. PP, PET, ALU) using PPWR icons.
• Ensure labels are visible, legible, and nonremoveable during normal use.

Meet minimum recycled content thresholds for plastic packaging (from 2030).

• Request supplier certificates.
• Specify recycled content per component (e.g. bottle versus cap).

Ensure packaging meets recyclability performance requirements (from 2030).

• Ensure packaging components meet the material specific Design for Recycling criteria to be published in 2028.
• Assign a recyclability grade (A-C) using the forthcoming EU methodology.
• Document recyclability evidence in the technical documentation.

Ensure packaging uses the minimum amount of material needed for functionality (from 2030).

• Conduct a functional performance test: verify that reducing material thickness does not compromise product protection, hygiene, or transport safety.
• Validate that no empty space ratio exceeds PPWR limits (e.g. avoid > 40% empty space in e-commerce packaging).
• Review packaging with a design-for-efficiency checklist (e.g. eliminate double walls, reduce headspace, remove decorative layers).

Manufacturers are required to take instant corrective action when nonconformity is identified, which may include withdrawal or recall of packaged products, and must immediately inform the relevant authorities of the suspected noncompliance and the measures taken to bring the packaging into conformity.

Obligations for Producers

Register, report, and finance packaging waste management.

• Register with the national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme in each EU member state where you are the producer, or appoint an authorized representative to do so on your behalf.
• Report annual packaging volumes by material, weight, and format.
• Pay eco-modulated fees based on recyclability and material type.
• Participate in take-back or deposit-and-return systems where required (e.g. for certain single-use beverage containers) (from 2029).
• Maintain EPR documentation for audits.

Be prepared for authority audits and corrective actions.

• Ensure all documentation can be provided within 10 working days.
• Maintain a corrective action procedure for recalls or relabeling.
• Train staff on how to respond to authority requests.
• Keep a log of all compliance communications.

Ensure reusable packaging meets durability and tracking requirements (for 2030).

• Conduct durability testing.
• Implement a tracking system.
• Provide clear return instructions to consumers (when applicable).
• Maintain data on reuse cycles and return rates.
• Verify cleaning and washing processes meet hygiene standards (when applicable).

Risks and Sanctions

The PPWR does not establish uniform EU-wide fine levels but compels member states to implement national sanction regimes by 12 February 2027 that are effective, proportionate, and dissuasive. For violations of packaging bans, empty space requirements, and reuse obligations, a fine is mandatory.

During the intervening period between 12 August 2026 and 12 February 2027, businesses will be operating in a window where market surveillance authorities can use their general administrative powers to flag noncompliance and block noncompliant goods at borders, and such market surveillance sanctions are expected to remain in place after local fines are formalized.

Next Steps and Outlook

The phased implementation structure provides manufacturers with lead time to adapt on some of their obligations, but the 12 August 2026 application date requires immediate action on core obligations. Manufacturers should now be:

1. Conducting a packaging audit to evaluate existing packaging against PPWR recyclability, labeling, and design criteria.
2. Establishing or updating internal data systems to capture and maintain packaging material composition, recycled content, and weight data on a per-product basis.
3. Clarifying role assignments across the supply chain to ensure accurate mapping of PPWR obligations for each product, including registering with relevant national EPR schemes in each EU country of sale where they are also a producer.
4. Monitoring delegated acts from the European Commission, which will continue to specify technical details on recyclability criteria, labeling formats, and recycled content thresholds.

Further updates will be coming soon — including to highlight the PPWR's impact on specific sectors (e.g. food packaging).