The regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025, but its general application begins today (12 August 2026), replacing the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive to establish harmonised rules across the EU.
The PPWR covers all packaging and packaging waste, regardless of material or origin, with requirements spanning packaging manufacturing through to waste management and prevention.
It aims to reduce the amount of packaging waste generated, increase recycling and reuse, and reduce the use of virgin raw materials.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy: “The new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is an investment in Europe’s future: it will help reduce waste, increase recycling, make food-contact packaging safer for the consumers by limiting harmful substances such as PFAS, and reduce our dependence on virgin raw materials.
“These are essential steps towards a truly circular economy.”
What changes?
From today, manufacturers placing packaging on the EU market will have to undertake a conformity assessment covering the requirements applicable to their packaging.
Manufacturers must prepare technical documentation and an EU declaration of conformity before packaging is placed on the market.
Manufacturers and importers will have identification and contact-information responsibilities, with the precise obligations depending on whether a business is classified as a manufacturer, importer or distributor under the regulation.
Food-contact packaging containing PFAS above specified concentration limits will also no longer be permitted on the EU market.
In an updated version of its PPWR Frequently Asked Questions document, the European Commission confirmed that products will not automatically be banned from the EU market if their packaging does not comply with requirements that apply from 12 August 2026.
Roswall added: “The Regulation will replace fragmented national rules difficult to navigate for economic operators in the internal market.
“But new rules also come with adjustment costs, and we have worked intensively with market operators to implement the new rules in a pragmatic and unbureaucratic way.”
Phased in approach
While the PPWR generally applies from today, not all of its requirements take effect immediately.
The regulation contains a series of deadlines running through the remainder of the decade and into 2040, with businesses given time to meet requirements that depend on further technical rules or changes to packaging design and supply chains.
Design-for-recycling requirements are intended to ensure that all packaging is recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030.
Detailed criteria for design for recycling are due to be established through delegated legislation, with the relevant measures applying ahead of the 2030 deadline.
Recycled-content requirements for plastic packaging will also increase over time, with targets applying from 2030 and further targets in 2040, and reuse requirements will similarly be phased in.
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