The PPWR is the largest overhaul of Europe’s packaging rules in thirty years. The regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025. On 12 August 2026 most of it becomes enforceable. From that moment you may only place packaging on the EU market that meets the new requirements — with no transition period for new production.
This page is the full overview: what the PPWR is, which obligations apply when, and which of them apply to your situation. Not sure about the last part? The PPWR Check walks through your role, market, material and packaging type in eight questions and gives a verdict per pillar.
Informative self-check. Not legal advice.
What is the PPWR?
PPWR stands for Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — formally Regulation (EU) 2025/40. It replaces the European packaging directive of 1994.
That word regulation is the crux. A directive is a floor that each member state fills in itself — which is why “recyclable” meant something different in Germany than in the Netherlands. A regulation applies directly. The same rules, the same definitions, the same labels, on the same day, in all 27 member states. There is no national transposition law left to wait for.
What the PPWR regulates:
- the substances allowed in packaging (PFAS, heavy metals)
- the design: minimum weight and volume, no misleading empty space
- recyclability, soon expressed in a performance grade
- the share of recycled material in plastic packaging
- reuse: mandatory targets for reusable transport and beverage packaging
- banned formats: six categories of single-use packaging disappear
- labelling: one EU-wide material and sorting label
- responsibility: who in the chain is accountable for what
The goals: less packaging waste per inhabitant (5% less in 2030, 15% in 2040 compared with 2018) and a level playing field within the internal market.
The date that counts: 12 August 2026
Most companies associate the PPWR with 2030 — recycled-content shares, banned plastics, the empty-space ratio. That is correct, but it distracts. There is a set of obligations that becomes hard right now, within weeks, and that is mostly about paperwork and origin.
From 12 August 2026:
- Declaration of conformity per packaging. As a manufacturer you complete a conformity assessment for each individual packaging and draw up an EU declaration of conformity. No declaration means the packaging may not go on the market. Read more.
- Traceability on the packaging. The manufacturer’s name, postal address and contact details go on the packaging or behind a QR code, plus a type, batch or serial number.
- PFAS ban in food-contact packaging. Three cumulative thresholds: 25 ppb, 250 ppb and 50 ppm total fluorine. More on PFAS.
- Heavy metals remain capped at 100 mg/kg for the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium.
- Packaging minimisation. Designed for minimum weight and volume; double walls and false bottoms are banned. Until 2030 you may substantiate this using EN 13428.
- EPR registration per member state. In the Netherlands via Verpact, in Germany via LUCID. See EPR and Verpact.
- Fulfilment service providers may only provide services if the manufacturer or importer demonstrably meets its obligations.
- Hospitality must offer drinks for on-site consumption in reusable or refillable packaging.
The full breakdown per obligation is on what changes on 12 August 2026.
Not sure which of these rules apply to you?
Eight questions. No account. You get a scorecard per pillar — green, amber, red — with, for each red pillar, what you concretely need to arrange and which suppliers do it.
Start the PPWR Check →Your role first, then your obligations
This is the trap most companies fall into. The PPWR does not determine your role at company level, but per packaging. One company can be the manufacturer of one packaging, the importer of another and the distributor of a third at the same time.
| Role | Core of the obligation |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Designs or has packaging made under its own name or brand. Heaviest package: conformity assessment, technical documentation, declaration of conformity. |
| Importer | Brings packaging in from a third country. Checks that the declaration is present, puts its own details on the packaging, responds within ten days to market surveillance. |
| Distributor | Checks that labelling and identification requirements are met. On non-conformity, withdraw from the market and report. |
| Fulfilment service provider | Due diligence on manufacturer and importer. Can itself become the producer if no other party fills that role. |
| Producer | Overarching, and per member state. Whoever first places packaging on the market in a member state. Bears the EPR obligation. |
Note that last distinction. There is one manufacturer in the entire EU. There is one producer per member state. For webshops selling via marketplaces with their own product packaging: you are the producer, and all obligations lie with you. See PPWR for e-commerce and the full overview of roles.
The timeline to 2040
The PPWR rolls out in phases. The milestones below come straight from our rule set, with a source reference per rule. Milestones still to be refined via a delegated or implementing act are marked provisional.
12 August 2026
- Algemene toepassingsdatum PPWR Source: Art. 71(3) PPWR
- Producent: Declaration of Conformity + technisch dossier Source: Art. 3 + Art. 15 PPWR
- Importeur: controleer de DoC van de fabrikant uit een derde landprovisional Source: Art. 18 PPWR
- Distributeur: controleer label- en identificatie-eisenprovisional Source: Art. 19 PPWR
- Fulfilment-dienstverlener: due-diligence op producent/importeurprovisional Source: Art. 45 PPWR
- EPR-vertegenwoordiger verplicht buiten je vestigingsland Source: Art. 45(2) PPWR; VerpackG §35
- Verpakkingsminimalisatie — minimaal gewicht/volume Source: Art. 10 + Annex IV(A) + Annex VII PPWR
- Horeca on-site: alle dranken in herbruikbare/refillbare verpakking Source: Art. 29(5) PPWR
- Verplichte EPR-registratie per lidstaat (NL: Verpact, DE: LUCID) Source: Art. 44 + Art. 45 PPWR
- PFAS-verbod in food-contact verpakking Source: Art. 5(1)(a) + Annex II §2 PPWR
- Som zware metalen (lood + cadmium + kwik + Cr VI) ≤100 mg/kg Source: Art. 5(2) + Annex II §1 PPWR
- Géén algemene PPWR-vrijstelling voor MKB Source: PPWR (diverse artikelen)
12 February 2028
- Take-away: reusable-optie verplicht aanbieden Source: Art. 33 PPWR
12 August 2028
- Geharmoniseerd materiaal-/sorteer-label op alle verpakking Source: Art. 12(1)-(4) PPWR
- Verbod op misleidende of botsende nationale labels (bv. Triman) Source: Art. 12(8) PPWR
1 January 2029
- Verplichte DRS voor PET-flessen en metalen blikjes ≤3 L Source: Art. 50 PPWR
- Verplichte eco-modulatie van EPR-tarieven op recyclability-grade Source: Art. 45(6) jo. Art. 6 PPWR
12 February 2029
- Reusable-label + QR-code op herbruikbare verpakking Source: Art. 12(5) PPWR
1 January 2030
- Min. grade C vanaf 2030 (≥70% recyclebaar per gewicht)provisional Source: Art. 6(1)-(2) + Annex II PPWR
- Min. 30% recyclaat — PET food-contact — 2030 Source: Art. 7(1)(a) PPWR
- Min. 10% recyclaat — non-PET food-contact — 2030 Source: Art. 7(1)(b) PPWR
- Min. 30% recyclaat — single-use drankflessen — 2030 Source: Art. 7(1)(c) PPWR
- Min. 35% recyclaat — overige kunststof (non-contact) — 2030 Source: Art. 7(1)(d) PPWR
- Lege-ruimte-ratio max. 50% (groep-, transport-, e-commerce-verpakking) Source: Art. 24(1)-(3) PPWR
- Annex V #1 — verbod SUP groeperingsverpakking (krimpfolie) Source: Art. 25(1) + Annex V #1 PPWR
- Annex V #2 — verbod SUP-verpakking verse groente/fruit <1,5 kg Source: Art. 25(1) + Annex V #2 PPWR
- Annex V #3 — verbod SUP-verpakking voor on-site food & drank Source: Art. 25(1) + Annex V #3 PPWR
- Annex V #4 — verbod SUP-porties kruiden/saus/suiker/melk in horeca Source: Art. 25(1) + Annex V #4 PPWR
- Annex V #5 — verbod single-use miniaturen cosmetica/toilet in hotels Source: Art. 25(1) + Annex V #5 PPWR
- Annex V #6 — verbod zeer lichte plastic draagtassen <15 micron Source: Art. 25(1) + Annex V #6 PPWR
- Drankverpakking: 10% herbruikbaar in 2030, 40% in 2040 Source: Art. 29(1)-(3) PPWR
- Transportverpakking (pallets, kratten, IBC): 40% (2030) / 70% (2040) Source: Art. 29(6)-(7) PPWR
- E-commerce verzendverpakking: 40% (2030) / 70% (2040)provisional Source: Art. 29 PPWR
1 January 2035
- "Recyclable at scale" vanaf 2035provisional Source: Art. 6(6) PPWR
1 January 2038
- Min. grade B vanaf 2038; grade C verbodenprovisional Source: Art. 6(5) PPWR
1 January 2040
- Min. 50% recyclaat — PET food-contact — 2040 Source: Art. 7(2)(a) PPWR
- Min. 25% recyclaat — non-PET food-contact — 2040 Source: Art. 7(2)(b) PPWR
- Min. 65% recyclaat — single-use drankflessen — 2040 Source: Art. 7(2)(c) PPWR
- Min. 65% recyclaat — overige kunststof — 2040 Source: Art. 7(2)(d) PPWR
A detailed explanation per milestone follows on the PPWR timeline.
The substantive requirements, briefly
Recyclability
From 12 August 2026 you must substantiate in the declaration of conformity that the packaging is recyclable — this can be done via the harmonised standard EN 13430. From 1 January 2030 a performance grade is added: A (≥95% recyclable by weight), B (≥80%) or C (≥70%). Below that, the packaging may no longer go on the market. From 2038 class C also lapses. More on recyclability.
Recycled material
From 2030, for packaging that is at least 5% plastic by weight:
| Type | 2030 | 2040 |
|---|---|---|
| PET, food contact | 30% | 50% |
| Non-PET, food contact | 10% | 25% |
| Single-use beverage bottles | 30% | 65% |
| Other plastic | 35% | 65% |
Only post-consumer recyclate counts, averaged per plant per year. The methodology follows in a delegated act at the end of 2026. More on recycled-content shares.
Empty space
From 2030, grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging may contain at most 50% empty space. Void fill counts as empty space, not as filling. See empty space ratio.
Banned packaging
From 2030 six categories of single-use packaging disappear. See banned packaging.
Labelling
From August 2028 every packaging carries a harmonised label with the material composition and a sorting instruction. From February 2029 a QR code is added for reusable packaging. See labelling.
Is there an exemption for SMEs?
Limited. There is no general exemption. Micro-enterprises — fewer than ten employees and at most two million euros in turnover — are exempt from the reuse targets in Article 29, and there are indications that they are, under conditions, also exempt from the manufacturer obligations when their packaging supplier is established in the Netherlands. But the substance restrictions, the recyclability grade and the EPR registration also apply to the smallest company.
And note the difference between the countries. The Netherlands has a threshold: below 50,000 kg of packaging per year there is no fee to Verpact, but administration remains. Germany has no threshold at all. More on PPWR and SMEs and differences Netherlands–Germany.
What you can do now
Four steps, in this order. The first two take more time than you think.
- Inventory your packaging. Per packaging: material, composition, weight, function and whether there is food contact.
- Determine your role per packaging. Not per company. Who first places this packaging on the market in this country?
- Request data from your suppliers. Material specifications, PFAS declarations, recyclate content. Start today.
- Draw up the declarations of conformity and set up the technical documentation per Annex VII.