Does the PPWR apply to my packaging?
If you place packaging, or goods inside packaging, on the EU market, the PPWR almost certainly applies to you. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 covers all packaging placed on the EU market and all packaging waste, regardless of the material used or the sector. It binds a chain of operators, manufacturers, importers, brand owners, fillers and distributors, and, through the Article 21 own-brand rule, can make a business the legal manufacturer even when a contract packer makes the packaging.
The regulation applies from 12 August 2026, replacing the old Packaging Directive (94/62/EC), with further obligations phasing in to 2040.
This is general information about Regulation (EU) 2025/40, not legal advice. Confirm anything you act on with qualified counsel or an accredited body.
What packaging is covered
The PPWR applies to all packaging, in every material, plastic, paper and board, glass, metal, wood, composite, and to all packaging waste, whether it arises in industry, retail, hospitality, or the home (Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Art. 2 scope). It covers the three familiar levels:
- Primary (sales) packaging, the unit the consumer buys.
- Secondary (grouped) packaging, bundling several sales units.
- Tertiary (transport) packaging, protecting goods in transit (excluding road, rail, sea and air containers).
E-commerce packaging and service packaging (for example food and drink handed over in hospitality) are explicitly in scope, and carry some of the tightest new rules, such as the empty-space cap on grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging (Art. 24).
Who counts as an operator, and which obligations fall where
The regulation places obligations on defined roles. Which ones apply depends on the role you play when the packaging reaches the market:
| Role | What it means | Cited |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Makes packaging (or packaged product) and places it on the market under its own name. Draws up the Declaration of Conformity and stands behind conformity. | Art. 15 |
| Importer | Places packaging from outside the EU on the EU market. Must check the manufacturer has done its part. | Art. 18 |
| Distributor | Makes packaging available on the market (other than as manufacturer or importer). Must verify labelling and documentation are present. | Art. 19 |
| Brand owner / filler | Fills packaging or puts its name on it. Watch the Article 21 own-brand rule below. | Art. 21 |
| Producer (for EPR) | The party that first makes packaging available in a member state, the one who registers (Art. 44) and pays EPR fees there. | Art. 44 · 45 |
There is no general small-business exemption. Because the PPWR is a regulation, the core duties above apply whatever your size, a one-person importer owes the same substance limits, recyclability, recycled-content, labelling and declaration-of-conformity duties as a multinational. A few narrow carve-outs exist for micro-enterprises, but they use the EU definition in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, which measures your whole global group, worldwide turnover, consolidated with parent and linked companies, not your EU sales. See does the PPWR apply to small businesses?
Article 21: when you become the manufacturer
This is the point most brand owners miss. Under Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Art. 21, an importer or distributor who places packaging on the market under its own name or trademark, or who modifies packaging already on the market in a way that affects conformity, is treated as the manufacturer and takes on the manufacturer's obligations. So if your logo is on a box your contract packer produces, you, not the packer, are the one who must draw up the Declaration of Conformity and hold the evidence behind it.
Non-EU sellers and marketplaces
If you sell into the EU but have no EU establishment, extended producer responsibility still applies: you must appoint an authorised representative for EPR in each member state where you make packaging available (Art. 45). Online marketplaces carry their own diligence duties for the third-party sellers on their platform. See the EPR guide.
When it starts
The regulation entered into force in early 2025 and applies from 12 August 2026, at which point it repeals Directive 94/62/EC. From that date the day-one duties, the Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation (Art. 15), restricted-substance limits including the PFAS limits in food-contact packaging (Art. 5), the requirement that packaging be recyclable in principle (Art. 6(1)), and EPR registration (Art. 44), are live, with the packaging-minimisation duty (Art. 10, from 2030), recyclability grades, recycled-content and other thresholds following on later dates. See the full timeline.
Get this mapped to your own packaging
The report screens your packaging profile against Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and returns only the obligations that apply to you, each with its threshold, deadline and article, plus supplier letters ready to send.
Get my PPWR obligations report →Frequently asked questions
Does the PPWR apply to small businesses?
Yes. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 applies to all packaging placed on the EU market regardless of the operator's size. Some obligations have lighter or micro-enterprise-specific arrangements, but there is no blanket small-business exemption, if you place packaging on the market, you are in scope. Confirm your specific position with counsel.
I only sell within one country. Does it still apply?
Yes. The PPWR is an EU regulation that applies directly in every member state, so placing packaging on the market in a single EU country still brings you within scope. EPR registration, however, is done per member state where you make packaging available (Art. 44).
My contract packer makes the packaging, am I responsible?
Yes, if your name or trademark is on the pack. Under Article 21, placing packaging on the market under your own name or trademark makes you the manufacturer for the regulation's purposes, so the Declaration of Conformity and the evidence behind it become your responsibility.
Is transport packaging covered?
Yes, tertiary/transport packaging is in scope, though road, rail, sea and air freight containers are excluded. Transport and grouped packaging also face the empty-space ratio cap under Article 24 from 2030 (or 3 years after the Commission's calculation-methodology implementing act, whichever is later).
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR), scope (Art. 2), operator duties (Art. 15, 18, 19), own-brand rule (Art. 21), EPR (Art. 45); repeal of Directive 94/62/EC, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/40/oj/eng
- European Commission, Packaging and packaging waste (guidance and implementing/delegated acts status), https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/packaging-waste_en