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On August 6, 2026, the European Commission initiated a public consultation on a draft implementing regulation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40, with the core objective of establishing harmonized registration formats and reporting requirements for producer registers.

With less than two weeks to go, the EU’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) becomes fully mandatory on August 12, 2026. Recently, we've seen a surge in inquiries from exporters across the chemical, machinery, personal care, and consumer goods sectors. Many businesses are struggling to navigate critical requirements—such as regulated packaging scopes, testing standards, Declarations of Conformity (DoC), EPR registration, and supply-chain liability. To help clients quickly assess its readiness and ensure compliance, we’ve put together this essential enterprise FAQ guide.

PPWR imposes on all companies placing packaging on the EU market a full chain of obligations spanning substances, design, and recyclability. Medical device companies are no bystanders — although, given the special nature of their products, the primary packaging in direct contact with the product enjoys certain relaxations with regard to "recyclability" and "recycled content," core responsibilities such as minimization, hazardous substances, labeling, EPR, and the Declaration of Conformity apply in full. There is therefore no such thing as a complete exemption for medical device packaging under the PPWR framework.

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40), will become mandatorily applicable across the entire EU from August 12, 2026, replacing the 94/62/EC Directive that has been in force for nearly 30 years. PPWR is upgraded into a directly applicable regulation and it imposes full-chain requirements on all packaging placed on the EU marke

On 12 August 2026, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40) will become fully mandatory. This is not a "recommendatory" guidance document. It is a regulation with direct legal force, uniformly applicable to all EU Member States. From that date onwards, packaging that fails to meet requirements – including excessive heavy metals, non-compliant PFAS levels, incomplete EPR registration, or missing mandatory labels – may face product delisting, customs detention, heavy fines, or even exclusion from the EU market.

On June 5, 2026, the European Commission published the Guidance Document on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).