EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation: Three Things You Need to Know
min readThe definition of packaging is very broad: anything used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery or presentation of goods. It includes items you might not immediately think of as packaging: clothes hangers sold with clothing items, tags hung from products, sticky labels, tubes around which foil or film are wrapped, single-serve units containing tea and coffee and so on. Think broadly and take advice if you are unsure.
The first entity that makes packaging or packaged goods available in the Member State where they become waste is a Producer. Producers must register in each relevant Member State by 12 August 2026 and will be obliged to pay fees and collect/report data.
A manufacturer of packaging – typically the brand owner for branded packaging – is primarily responsible for complying with the sustainability and labelling requirements of the PPWR and must draw up technical documentation and a Declaration of Conformity by 12 August 2026.
📄 For the full compliance briefing, visit EU and UK packaging regulations briefing.
