The Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) was adopted on 19 December 2024 and will apply from 12 August 2026. It replaces the existing Directive 94/62/EC and, as directly applicable regulation, will apply uniformly across Member States.
The PPWR aims to reduce packaging waste, improve recyclability of packaging and harmonise standards across the EU internal market.
Below are the key points that businesses need to know.
1. Scope and Business Impact
The new Regulation applies to all packaging placed on the EU market, regardless of material, origin or use (Article 2). This includes sales packaging, grouped packaging and transport packaging (recital 10).
Given the broad scope of the new Regulation, companies in all sectors, including e-commerce, retail, manufacturing and food, must review their packaging portfolios, adapt designs and collaborate with suppliers to meet the new material, and labelling and performance standards.
2. Key Takeaways for Businesses
a. Packaging Minimisation
Packaging must be reduced in volume and in weight without compromising functionality (Article 10). There is also an obligation according to which the empty space ratio in case of grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging used for supply of products to final distributors or end users, shall not exceed 50%.
b. Recyclability Requirements
Pursuant to Article 6(1) of the Regulation, all packaging placed on the market shall be recyclable, i.e. meet the conditions listed in paragraph 2 of that Article.
From 1 January 2030, all packaging must meet minimum recyclability performance grades (A, B or C). Packaging below grade C will be prohibited from market placement. From 1 January 2038, only grade A or B will be acceptable.
c. Mandatory Recycled Content in Plastics (Article 7)
Plastic packaging must include minimum recycled content, calculated as an average per manufacturing plant and year. These targets vary based on packaging type and contact sensitivity, with stricter thresholds by 2040.
d. Labelling and digital information
From 12 August 2028, packaging must bear harmonised pictogram labels indicating recyclability and sorting instructions (article 12). These labels must be accessible to all users (including for people with disabilities).
For compostable packaging, the label shall indicate that the material is compostable, that it is not suitable for home composting and that compostable packaging is not to be discarded in nature.
In addition, a QR code or another type of standardised, open, digital data carrier may be placed on the packaging to provide information on the destination of each separate component of the packaging and thus to facilitate consumer sorting.
e. A few prohibitions
- PFAS in food-contact packaging: the regulation restricts the use of PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) in food-contact packaging due to health risks (Article 5(5)).
- Single-use accommodation sector packaging intended for an individual booking: Single-use packaging for cosmetics, hygiene and toiletry products for the use in the accommodation sector shall be prohibited from 1 January 2030.
f. HORECA sector obligations
From 12 February 2027, final distributors offering hot or cold beverages in takeaway packaging shall provide a system for consumers to bring their own container to be filled, without providing the products at higher cost or under less favourable conditions.
By 12 February 2028, they shall also give consumers the option of obtaining the products in re-useable packaging within a system for re-use. However, micro-enterprises (defined in Recommendation 2003/361/EC) are exempted from this obligation.
g. Food sector judicial development
For labels affixed on fruit and vegetables, on 1 August 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU clarified that such labels do not always constitute packaging within the meaning of Directive 94/62/EC; the qualification depends on whether they fulfil one of the three packaging functions set out in Article 3(1) of the Directive and whether they fall within the scope of one of the three categories of packaging listed and defined in that Article (CJEU, 1 Augustus 2025, C-772/24).
By contrast, recital 13 of the PPWR states that labels affixed to a product, including sticky labels affixed to fruits and vegetables, should be considered to be packaging and Annex I (i.e. an indicative list of items in the scope of the definition of packaging in Article 3(1), point (1) of the PPWR) confirms it. As the PPWR applies from 12 August 2026, businesses should already be preparing for compliance. In this context, the practical impact of this judgment is likely to be relatively limited, yet it remains worth mentioning given that businesses still have roughly a year during which Directive 94/62/EC will continue to apply.
3. Belgian Interregional Packaging Commission
For matters falling under regional competence, i.e. Articles 44 and following of the PPWR on the register of producers and extended producer responsibility, the competent authority in Belgium is the Interregional Packaging Commission (IPC). This body is already responsible for ensuring compliance with the Interregional Cooperation Agreement on the prevention and management of packaging waste, which implements the Directive 94/62/EC.
Conclusion
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 marks a decisive shift in EU packaging policy. Businesses should begin compliance planning to meet its ambitious sustainability requirements and avoid being locked out of the EU market after August 2026.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the potential impact of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation on your activity, feel free to contact the authors of this article.
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This newsletter is not a legal advice or a legal opinion. You should seek advice from a legal counsel of your choice before acting upon any of the information in this newsletter.