PPWR guides
The EU Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, applies from 12 August 2026, with staggered deadlines to 2040. Your obligations, by topic. General information, not legal advice.
Does the PPWR apply to my packaging?
Who counts as a producer, importer, brand owner or distributor, and which packaging is caught by the regulation.
Does the PPWR apply to small businesses?
No general small-business exemption, and why the SME test for the few carve-outs is measured on your whole global group, not your EU sales.
Who provides the Declaration of Conformity?
The manufacturer draws up the DoC, and the Article 21 own-name rule can make a brand owner the manufacturer, not its packer. Plus why the DoC “manufacturer” differs from the EPR “producer”.
PPWR deadlines: the full timeline
Every date that matters, from application on 12 August 2026 to the 2040 recycled-content step-up.
PPWR recyclability grades explained
Grades A, B and C, the 2030 and 2038 cut-offs, and what “not placeable on the market” means for you.
PPWR recycled-content rules for plastic
The exact minimum percentages by material, contact-sensitivity and PET, for 2030 and 2040.
The PPWR PFAS ban in food-contact packaging
What is banned, from when, and why fibre-based food packaging carries the most risk.
PPWR minimisation and the empty-space rule
The ≤50% empty-space cap for grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging from 2030, and the file you must hold.
PPWR labelling requirements
Material-composition and separate-collection labels, the reusability marking, and the pending implementing acts.
Extended Producer Responsibility under the PPWR
Register per market, eco-modulated fees, and when selling direct into a country where you are not established means appointing an authorised representative.
PPWR for online sellers and e-commerce
Why your shipping box counts, the 50% empty-space cap, and registering for EPR in every country you ship into.