Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (“PPWR“) entered into force on 11 February 2025 and will apply progressively, with its main obligations becoming applicable from 12 August 2026. As businesses across the packaging value chain prepare for implementation, the European Commission published, on 30 March 2026, its long-awaited guidance document (“Guidance“) together with a Frequently Asked Questions document (“FAQs“) providing further insight into how key provisions of the PPWR are expected to be interpreted in practice.
As we noted in our January 2025 post, the PPWR is a key pillar of the EU Circular Economy framework and introduces far-reaching requirements across the full packaging life cycle, from product design and composition to recyclability, reuse and information obligations. In this context, the Guidance and FAQs provide helpful clarification on key concepts and are likely to shape how the rules will be interpreted and enforced, making them essential for companies preparing for compliance.
Set out below is a summary of some of the most relevant clarifications emerging from the Guidance and FAQs, with a particular focus on the issues most likely to affect businesses operating across the packaging value chain.
- Concept of “packaging”
The Commission confirms that whether an item qualifies as packaging must be assessed against the definition in Article 3(1)(1) PPWR, i.e. whether it is intended to contain, protect, handle, deliver or present products and is not an integral part of the product itself. The Guidance also clarifies that inclusion in Annex I is not, on its own, sufficient: the Article 3(1)(1) PPWR test must still be met.
In this regard, the Guidance provides practical examples to illustrate this functional approach, including service packaging, adhesive process films, dust bags for garments, flower pots and certain medical devices (such as intravenous bags and syringes), reinforcing the need for a case-by-case analysis based on function and intended use.
- Distinction between packaging “manufacturer” and packaging “producer”
The PPWR Guidance clarifies that, within the meaning of the Regulation, there is only one manufacturer at EU level for each packaging or packaged product, regardless of the complexity of the supply chain. In particular, the manufacturer is the economic operator that has the packaging or the packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, irrespective of whether it physically manufactures the packaging. As such, the manufacturer bears primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with the PPWR’s sustainability, design and labelling requirements.
By contrast, the concept of producer is determined on a Member State‑by‑Member State basis and refers to the economic operator (whether manufacturer, importer or distributor) that makes packaging or packaged products available for the first time in the territory of a given Member State. Producers are therefore responsible for fulfilling extended producer responsibility (“EPR“) obligations in that Member State, including registration, reporting and the financing of packaging waste management.
As a result, while they may coincide, the manufacturer and the producer do not necessarily have to be the same entity, particularly in cross‑border supply chains.
- Recyclability requirements
Article 6(1) PPWR provides that all packaging placed on the market must be recyclable. The Commission clarifies that this obligation will apply from 12 August 2026. However, until the harmonised design-for-recycling requirements under Article 6(2)(a) PPWR become applicable, manufacturers only need to comply with the recyclability requirements under the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and the related harmonised standard EN 13430:2004 – Requirements for packaging recoverable by material recycling.
Article 6(2)(a) PPWR will apply from 1 January 2030, or 24 months after the entry into force of the relevant delegated acts (expected by 1 January 2028), whichever is later. Until then, manufacturers are not required to carry out the PPWR conformity assessment for recyclability under Article 38 and Annex VII.
In addition to the above the FAQs also clarify that:
- Recyclability is assessed at packaging-unit level, meaning the main body together with its integrated and separate components. However, separate components must be assessed separately. Separate components are those that may be separated during sorting or transport (such as a ketchup bottle lid that consumers must remove completely and permanently to access the product).
- There is no general exemption where no recyclable alternative exists, other than the exemptions expressly listed in Article 6(10) and (11). The use of non-recyclable components may lower the recyclability grade or even render the packaging unit non-compliant.
- The main body is the packaging part representing the highest share by weight, which is relevant for the recyclability assessment.
- “Recycled at scale” is assessed at EU level, not by Member State, and covers all plastic packaging waste generated and recycled in the EU, regardless of origin (household, commercial and industrial waste), sector or type.
- Some packaging is exempt from the recyclability requirement, but not necessarily from EPR fee modulation. This includes certain sales packaging made of cork, lightweight wood, textile, ceramics, porcelain, rubber or wax.
- The exemptions may not be permanent: the Commission must review certain exemptions by 1 January 2035 and may amend or remove them.
- PFAS restriction
The Commission confirms that Article 5(5) PPWR, which introduces concentration limits for PFAS in food-contact packaging, applies from 12 August 2026.
In addition, as regards to food-contact packaging containing PFAS which has been produced before this date, the PPWR does not provide for any transitional period or exhaustion of stocks period. Accordingly:
- Food-contact packaging placed on the market after 12 August 2026 must comply with the PFAS limits, regardless of when it was manufactured.
- Packaging containing PFAS placed on the market before 12 August 2026 may remain on the market and does not need to be withdrawn.
- Scope of packaging bans
Article 25 PPWR bans certain packaging formats listed in Annex V from 1 January 2030. The Commission clarifies that these bans apply not only to fully plastic packaging, but also to composite packaging containing 5% or more plastic by total weight. As a result, paper-based packaging with a plastic coating or barrier meeting that threshold may also be caught, whereas packaging containing less than 5% plastic falls outside the ban (without prejudice to other applicable PPWR or Single-Use Plastics Directive –”SUPD” requirements).
- The interplay between the PPWR and the SUPD.
The Commission confirms that the PPWR and the SUPD coexist and must be read together, but that the PPWR prevails where it establishes harmonized restrictions on specific packaging formats listed in Annex V.
The publication of the guidance and FAQs provides helpful legal certainty for businesses ahead of the PPWR’s general application in August 2026. However, several important aspects of the new framework – such as detailed recyclability criteria, eco‑modulation rules and labelling requirements – will continue to be developed through future delegated and implementing acts.
In this context, it is worth noting that, on 6 May 2026, the Commission Delegated Decision of 25 February 2026 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, clarifying that economic operators using pallet wrappings or straps to stabilize and protect products placed on pallets during transport are exempt from the 100% reuse requirements set out in Article 29(2) and (3) of the PPWR. This evidences a softening of the strict reuse obligations for certain transport packaging and signals a pragmatic, feasibility-based approach to implementation.
For businesses, the message is clear: there is now limited time left to prepare for compliance with a number of important PPWR obligations that will start to apply from 12 August 2026. While the Guidance and FAQs provide useful clarification, companies should be using this time to identify priority compliance gaps and prepare for a fast-evolving framework that will continue to be shaped by further delegated and implementing acts.
For further information or tailored advice for your company, please contact our team of experts.
