The European Union has begun applying a single set of packaging rules across all 27 member states, replacing national laws built on a directive dating from 1994.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation entered into force in February 2025 and applies directly from August 12, with no need for national transposition.
Among the first measures is a cap on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the so-called “forever chemicals”, in food-contact packaging. Material breaching the limits can no longer be placed on the EU market.
PFAS have been used in takeaway containers, bakery paper, microwave popcorn bags and pizza boxes because they repel water and grease.
The regulation also harmonises definitions such as manufacturer and producer, and adds traceability duties so authorities can identify who made packaging that breaks the rules. The European Commission has said the information may be carried in delivery or shipping documents rather than printed on the pack, sparing firms an immediate relabelling exercise.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, said the regulation would replace fragmented national rules that economic operators found hard to navigate. She added that “new rules also come with adjustment costs”.
Brussels has used updated guidance to ask national authorities to issue warnings first and allow companies time to correct breaches, rather than move straight to fines or product withdrawals. No end date has been set for that approach.
One deadline has already slipped. The Commission was required to adopt implementing acts fixing the design of a common EU waste-sorting label by August 12, though the draft is now expected in the final quarter of the year, pushing the labelling obligation beyond 2028.
The heaviest requirements arrive in 2030. Single-use plastic drinks bottles will have to contain at least 30 per cent recycled material, and beverage distributors must hit a 10 per cent reuse target calculated on sales volume.
All packaging placed on the market must also be recyclable by that date. Member states face binding cuts in packaging waste per person of 5 per cent by 2030 and 15 per cent by 2040, measured against 2018.
Europeans throw away about 180 kilogrammes of packaging each a year, an EU official told a briefing reported by Reuters. Eurostat put the plastic share at 35.3 kilogrammes per person in 2023.
The rules sit within the Green Deal and the bloc’s circular economy plans, arriving as the Commission faces pressure over the cost of green regulations for business.
