European Commission Issues Guidance for PPWR

SG 060/26

European Commission (EC) issues two interconnected documents supporting implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

In January 2025, the European Union (EU) issued Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste to replace its former Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD). The law entered into force in February 2025 and will apply from August 12, 2026 (SafeGuardS 19/25).

In March 2026, the EC published two important interconnected documents to support economic operators with the implementation of the PPWR:

• Annex to the Communication to the Commission ‘Approval of the draft Commission Notice on the Guidance document for Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste’ (document C(2026) 2151 final, ‘the Commission guidance document’), a document with interpretation of selected provisions in the PPWR to facilitate a consistent implementation of the law across the EU
• Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) ‘Frequently Asked Questions’, Edition 1 (the FAQ), a complementing document with a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) as part of the EC’s ongoing dialogue with stakeholders

What elements are in the Commission guidance document?

Key highlights of this comprehensive guidance include:

• Detailing more than 30 legal provisions from the PPWR and their interpretations by the EC, including but not limited to:
• ‘Definition of packaging’: the EC emphasizes that an item must be assessed based on the definition of packaging in point 1 of Article 3(1) to determine whether it qualifies as packaging. The inclusion of a standalone item in Annex I to the PPWR is indicative only and is insufficient for its classification as packaging. Additionally, it is necessary to verify whether an item meets the elements of the packaging definition. For example:
• An empty beverage cup sold in a supermarket to consumers for private use is not considered packaging
• When a supermarket fills such cups with a product, such as coffee, at a refill station, it is considered packaging (‘service packaging’)
• Tea lights or graveside light containers, or other candle containers such as filled glasses and ceramic bowls, are not packaging
• Definition of a) a manufacturer of packaging, b) a producer of packaging, with an overview of the different roles of manufacturers and producers in the PPWR and c) an importer and the status of a ‘branch’
• ‘Enforcement of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) restrictions in food contact packaging (FCP) and exhaustion of stocks’:
• Specifying that FCP is packaging intended to be brought into contact with food or is already in contact with food and were intended for that purpose
• Indicating that there are several protocols and methods to test for PFAS in different matrices, but no harmonized method for PFAS in FCP at the EU level
• Recommending the following stepwise approach for PFAS limits as samples are compliant with test 1 are also compliant with tests 2 and 3 based on the evidence currently available to the EC:
1. Total fluorine (TF) quantification (step 1): the sample could be considered compliant if TF is less than 50 mg/kg
2. If TF is more than 50 mg/kg, methods such as pyrolysis GC/MS can be deployed to confirm whether the fluorine is organic (PFAS) or inorganic (step 2): the sample could be considered compliant If organic fluorine is less than 50 mg/kg
3. Use of direct total oxidizable precursors (TOP) to check compliance with the (less than) 25 µg/kg and 250 µg/kg limits (step 3)
• Clarifying that FCP placed on the market after August 12, 2026, must comply with the PFAS limits, while those placed on the market before that day may remain on the market until stocks are exhausted
• ‘Date of application of the requirements to ensure that packaging is recyclable’:
• Specifying that Article 6(2)(a) will apply from January 1, 2030, or 24 months from the date of entry into force (EIF) of the delegated acts, whichever is the latest, and this delegated act should be adopted by January 1, 2028
• ‘Exemptions from recycled content targets’
• ‘Flexibility for Member States to mandate compostable packaging and presumption of conformity’
• ‘Definition of the terms ‘permeable’ and ‘soft after-use’ in the context of compostable packaging’:
• Indicating that Article 9(1) could refer to permeable tea, coffee or other beverage bags, or soft after-use system single-serve units made of any material, including paper-based single-serve units. Such packaging must be designed for composting by February 12, 2028
• ‘Packaging minimization’:
• Mandating the EC to request the European Committee for Standardization (Comité Européen de Normalisation, CEN) to amend EN 13428:2004 by February 12, 2027, by updating the method for assessment and to include maximum adequate weight and volume limits for most common packaging types and formats
• Scope of harmonized packaging labeling’:
• Prohibiting member states to keep their national labels next to EU harmonized labels after August 12, 2028, or 24 months from the date of EIF of the implementing act specifying the labeling rules and pictograms
• Scope of packaging bans in Article 25 and Annex V, points 1-4, as regards plastic content:
• Clarifying that these provisions do not cover only items that are made of 100% plastic materials. In the absence of a definition for ‘single-use plastic packaging’, composite packaging, including paper-based packaging, containing at least 5% plastic falls within the scope of this ban

What elements are in the FAQ document?

The FAQ document provides an overview of the key provisions in the PPWR, clarifies some of the issues and addresses emerging specific questions since the adoption of this legislation. It complements the Commission guidance document.

Who is impacted?

These two documents affect stakeholders across the packaging and food packaging supply chain, including manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers and other intermediaries operating in the EU market.

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