Edited by Paola Furiosi and Francesca Caliri
On 30 March 2026, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment published the Interpretive Guidelines on Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation – “PPWR”), the new European Regulation on packaging and packaging waste, which entered into force on 11 February 2025 and whose main provisions will become applicable from 12 August 2026.
The PPWR in Summary
The PPWR, which replaces Directive 94/62/EC, aims to ensure harmonisation in the areas of sustainability, recyclability, labelling and extended producer responsibility (“EPR”) within the European Union, overcoming the discrepancies between national legal systems that characterised the previous regime.
The Regulation applies to all economic operators involved in the packaging chain and covers every type of packaging, regardless of the manufacturing material (plastic, paper, glass, metal, wood, etc.). In particular, the main parties subject to the regulation are:
- the manufacturer, who must ensure that the packaging complies with sustainability and labelling requirements before placing it on the market;
- the importer, who must verify the compliance of packaging originating from third countries;
- the distributor, who is required to exercise due diligence regarding registration and labelling;
- the producer, a broad definition that includes any manufacturer, importer or distributor who first makes packaging or packaged products available in a Member State and who bears EPR responsibility;
- fulfilment service providers and online platforms, which are subject to specific verification obligations.
The 12 August 2026 Deadline
From 12 August onwards, businesses will be required to comply with numerous new obligations. Among the most significant is the obligation set out in Article 5 of the Regulation, which prohibits the placing on the market of food-contact packaging containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (so-called “PFAS“) in concentrations exceeding the established thresholds, also confirming the limits for heavy metals at 100 mg/kg.
Manufacturers will be required to prepare declarations of conformity and technical documentation for each type of packaging, retaining them for ten years (five years for single-use packaging). Producers, in turn, will be required to register with national registers and pay EPR financial contributions for end-of-life packaging management.
The New Guidelines
The Guidelines, drawn up by the European Commission on the basis of consultations with Member States, are intended to clarify interpretive doubts regarding the PPWR “where there is a clear margin of legal discretion“. However, this document is not yet formally applicable: the Commission will officially adopt it once all language versions thereof are available.
The Guidelines are also accompanied by a FAQ document, which will be regularly updated and will serve as an additional interpretive aid for the Regulation.
Among the most relevant clarifications, the Guidelines specify that Annex I to the PPWR (which contains a list of items that do or do not fall within the definition of “packaging”) is of merely indicative value: to classify an item as packaging, it must be determined whether it is intended to contain, protect, handle, deliver or present a product, without being an integral part of it.
The Commission also clarified the distinction between producer and manufacturer, specifying that where packaging bears the trademark of a company other than the physical producer, the trademark holder is presumed to be the manufacturer under the PPWR, with an exemption for micro-enterprises.
Moreover, the PPWR requires final distributors in the HORECA sector (i.e. hotels, restaurants, catering and bars) to make at least 10% of beverages available in reusable packaging by 2030. The interpretive question concerned the practical scope of this obligation: it was unclear whether the 10% should be calculated on actual beverage sales or on the range of products offered. The Guidelines clarified that the obligation refers to the simple act of making available and not to actual sales. In practice, this means that a HORECA establishment must ensure that at least 10% of beverages are available in reusable packaging (for example, returnable glass bottles), regardless of whether customers actually choose to purchase them.
Next Steps for Businesses Affected by the PPWR
With 12 August 2026 fast approaching, businesses involved in the packaging supply chain are advised to take action to ensure their compliance with the new regulatory obligations.
To this end, it is recommended to undertake measures such as, by way of example, carrying out an assessment of one’s own classification under the PPWR, conducting an audit of packaging currently in use against the new requirements, preparing technical documentation and declarations of conformity, monitoring the establishment of national producer registers and checking exposure to hazardous substance limits, paying particular attention to PFAS for food-contact packaging.
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