The New EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) - Everything You Need to Know

As of August 12, 2026, the European Union has a new packaging regime: the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, is now directly applicable across all 27 EU member states, replacing the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The change is relevant to almost every company that manufactures, imports, distributes or sells packaged products in the EU, from food and consumer goods manufacturers to retailers, e-commerce companies, importers and packaging suppliers. Inside organizations, responsibility will typically sit across Sustainability and ESG, Regulatory Affairs, Compliance, Packaging, Procurement and Supply Chain teams, with Legal increasingly involved in determining liability and market access. The regulation is designed to create more consistent EU-wide rules, reduce packaging waste and accelerate recyclability and reuse.

1. What changed on August 12?

The PPWR formally entered into force in February 2025 but became generally applicable on August 12, 2026. Unlike the previous directive, which had to be implemented through national legislation, the PPWR is an EU regulation and is directly applicable across member states.

This does not mean every PPWR requirement took effect on August 12. Major requirements and targets are phased in over the coming years, including measures scheduled for 2027, 2028, 2030, 2035 and 2038.

2. Packaging will have to be recyclable

One of the central pillars of the PPWR is the transition toward recyclable packaging. From 2030, packaging will be subject to recyclability performance requirements. From 2035, the framework also considers whether packaging is effectively recycled at scale, with requirements becoming stricter again in 2038.

For companies, recyclability therefore becomes a product-design and sourcing issue rather than simply a waste-management issue at the end of a package's life.

3. Less unnecessary packaging

The regulation requires companies to minimize packaging weight and volume while maintaining its necessary functions. Packaging designed primarily to make a product appear larger, including through unnecessary empty space, false bottoms or similar features, faces restrictions.

This pushes packaging optimization upstream, affecting product design, packaging engineering, procurement and logistics decisions.

4. New restrictions on PFAS

From August 2026, food-contact packaging containing PFAS above the thresholds specified in the regulation is prohibited from being placed on the market.

For manufacturers and importers, the operational issue is not simply whether PFAS are present. Companies need reliable information from packaging and material suppliers, and where relevant testing data, to demonstrate compliance.

5. More recycled content and reuse

The PPWR establishes minimum recycled-content requirements for certain plastic packaging categories, subject to specific exemptions. It also introduces reuse targets for selected packaging formats.

Several important targets begin in 2030, meaning companies with large packaging portfolios need to consider future requirements well before those deadlines when redesigning packaging or negotiating long-term supplier contracts.

6. Responsibility extends across the supply chain

Compliance does not stop with the packaging manufacturer. The regulation creates obligations for multiple economic operators.

Manufacturers must carry out conformity assessments, prepare technical documentation and issue EU declarations of conformity. Importers must verify that the appropriate conformity procedures have been completed, while distributors also have verification obligations before making packaging available on the market. Suppliers, meanwhile, must provide manufacturers with the information and documentation required to demonstrate compliance.

7. Documentation becomes a compliance issue

One of the biggest practical changes is that companies must not only have compliant packaging - they must be able to demonstrate that compliance.

Manufacturers are required to maintain technical documentation and declarations of conformity for defined periods. This makes supplier declarations, material specifications, test results and packaging data part of the company's regulatory record.

For organizations where this information currently sits across supplier emails, spreadsheets, procurement systems and legacy compliance files, consolidating and validating that data may become as significant a challenge as changing the packaging itself.

PPWR - The Bottom Line

PPWR is not simply another environmental regulation. It progressively changes how companies design packaging, select materials, manage suppliers, document compliance and determine responsibility across their organizations.

August 12, 2026 marks the start of the regulation's general application, not the completion of the transition. Many of its most consequential requirements arrive over the next several years. For companies selling packaged products in Europe, packaging is therefore becoming more than a cost, design and logistics decision - it is increasingly a market-access and compliance issue.