Sep 23, 2026Export Documentation
PPWR: What the EU Packaging Rules Mean for Your Specification
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 applies from 12 August 2026. What it asks of packaging, where the duty actually sits, and the specification choices that decide recyclability.
The rules now apply
The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation - Regulation (EU) 2025/40, known as PPWR - is in force and applies from 12 August 2026. It was preceded by the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC, which was generally repealed on the same date.
It covers all packaging, whatever the material, and sets requirements on how packaging is made, what it is made of, and whether it can be reused or recovered - not only on what happens to it after use.
Who carries the obligation
The duties fall on the operator that places the packaging on the EU market. They do not fall on the converter that prints and finishes that packaging. That matters when you specify work with a supplier outside the EU: your supplier can make packaging that supports your compliance, but it cannot take on your obligation, and it cannot sign a compliance declaration on your behalf.
What the regulation requires
All packaging on the EU market must be recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030
Increased use of recycled materials in packaging
Less unnecessary packaging, with more reusable options
New packaging labels giving clear information on how to sort waste correctly
Limits on substances of concern, including PFAS in food-contact packaging and the release of microplastics
From 2030, single-use packaging is banned where it is unnecessary or a more sustainable alternative exists, with exceptions for food safety, public health and medical use
Online sellers must reduce the empty space in delivery boxes
Take-away businesses must let customers bring their own containers at no extra cost, and delivery customers must be offered a reusable container for the same price or less
Member States must separately collect at least 90% of single-use plastic and metal beverage containers by 2029
Where a paper converter fits
Most of what decides whether a pack can be recycled is fixed before anything is printed: the paper grade and its thickness, whether a plastic film laminate is used, and how many materials end up combined in one pack. Those are specification decisions, and they are made with the buyer rather than after the fact.
Choices we can quote
Board grade and thickness matched to the load the pack actually carries, so it is not over-specified
Film lamination quoted as an option rather than a default, because leaving it off keeps the pack a single material
Cartons made to your dimensions, which is also what reduces the empty space the regulation targets in delivery packaging
Space left on the pack for the sorting label and recycling information
Material specifications supplied in writing, so they can go into your compliance file
On the factory side
Our quality management system is certified to ISO 9001 and our environmental management system to ISO 14001. The certification scope covers the design, development and printing manufacture of publications, brochures, instruction manuals and colour boxes.
How to use this
Treat the Commission's own guidance as your reference rather than a supplier summary: it published implementation guidelines for economic actors in March 2026 and an FAQ in August 2026. Bring us the deadline you are working to and the market you are selling into, and we will quote the material and structure options that fit it.
This article is general information about the regulation and is not legal advice. Compliance in your market is your responsibility as the operator placing the packaging on it, and we recommend confirming your position with your own advisers.
