PPWR · EU Packaging Regulation
Do you place packaged goods on the European market?
The Packaging Regulation has applied since 12 August 2026, to every kind of packaging: pallets, film and boxes moving between businesses too.
The PPWR already applies
93 days
The PPWR has applied since 12 August 2026.
12 Aug 2028
At the earliest: a label showing the material
1 Jan 2030
Recyclable, less empty space, reuse
All packaging counts, in transport too
The PPWR covers all packaging of any material: sales, grouped and transport packaging, between businesses too. Road, rail, ship and air containers are not packaging.
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Pallets
Wood or plastic, reusable too
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Boxes and cardboard
Outer cartons, trays, layer pads
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Film and strapping
Stretch film, shrink film, strapping
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Crates and boxes
Reusable transport packaging
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Big bags and sacks
For bulk goods
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Void fill
Loose fill, air cushions, paper
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Sales packaging
Bottles, cans, jars, cartons
Not sure which obligations you have?
The obligations follow your role, per packaging and per country: manufacturer, importer, producer or distributor. One company often holds several at once.
Producer responsibility
Whoever places packaging on the market pays for the waste.
As a producer you register, report each year how much packaging you placed on the market and pay a fee. In the Netherlands with Verpact, formerly Afvalfonds Verpakkingen, where you report and pay above 50,000 kg a year.
What the PPWR asks
An EU regulation that makes packaging safer, smaller and easier to recycle, the same way in every EU country. Since 12 August 2026, three things apply.
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1
A declaration per packaging type
The manufacturer draws up technical documentation and an EU declaration of conformity. The importer checks they exist and puts its own name and address on the packaging.
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2
Limits on substances
Lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium together at most 100 mg per kilo. In food-contact packaging, no added PFAS above the limits.
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3
Producer responsibility
Whoever first places packaging on the market in a country registers there, reports the quantities each year and pays a fee.
Per packaging type
Every packaging on record, with its parts and weight
Orin records each packaging type with its parts, materials and weights, works out your role per packaging and country, and asks your suppliers for their composition and declaration. From that, Orin draws up the declaration of conformity and your annual report.
Self-test in three questions
See straight away which obligations apply to you.
Your outcome
Choose your packaging
Answer the three questions. You see straight away which obligations have applied to you since 12 August 2026.
Then the PPWR does not affect you
The PPWR is about packaging. If your goods arrive with no packaging at all, not even a pallet, film or box, you have no obligations under it.
What do you do with packaging?
Answer question 2. Your obligations follow your role: do you make packaging, import packaged goods or resell them?
Manufacturer
For each packaging type you draw up technical documentation and an EU declaration of conformity, and you put your name and address on the packaging. If you are the first to place it on the market in your country, you are also the producer there: register, report each year and pay.
Manufacturer, and producer in each country
For each packaging type you draw up technical documentation and an EU declaration of conformity. In every country where you supply end users you are also the producer: register, report and pay there. If you are not established there, through an authorised representative.
Importer
You check that the manufacturer assessed the packaging and has a declaration of conformity, keep a copy and put your own name and address on the packaging. If you are the first to place it on the market in your country, you are also the producer there: register, report each year and pay.
Importer, and producer in each country
You check that the manufacturer has a declaration of conformity, keep a copy and put your own name and address on the packaging. In every country where you supply end users you are also the producer: register, report and pay there. If you are not established there, through an authorised representative.
Distributor
You check that the packaging carries the required information and that the producer is registered. If you bring goods in from another EU country and are the first to make them available in yours, you are the producer there yourself.
Distributor, and producer in each country
You check that the packaging carries the required information and that the producer is registered. In every country where you supply end users you are the producer: register, report and pay there. If you are not established there, through an authorised representative.
An indication based on your answers, not legal advice.
Let Orin work it outWhen the PPWR applies to you
In force for 93 days
12 August 2026
Substances, the declaration of conformity, identification and producer responsibility. For every packaging you have placed on the market since.
Labels
12 August 2028
An EU label showing the material, so the user knows where the packaging goes. This is the earliest date: the label applies 24 months after the Commission adopts the rules for it, which are expected in 2027.
Design
1 January 2030
Recyclable design, a minimum of recycled plastic, at most 50% empty space in grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging, and reuse of transport packaging. Some of these can start later, if the Commission adopts the rules for them later.
Without a declaration your packaging may not go on the market.
Suppliers have to provide composition, weights and declarations, per part. That takes weeks, especially with many packaging types.
- 01
Withdrawn from the market. Authorities can have packaging that does not comply withdrawn from the market.
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Penalties. Every EU country sets penalties for breaking the rules. In the Netherlands the ILT supervises.
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Documents within ten days. If the authority asks for your technical documentation or declaration of conformity, you provide it within ten days. An importer keeps the declaration for five years, ten for reusable packaging.
Orin PPWR check
The PPWR check: we work it out for you
You do not have to master the regulation yourself. Orin lists your packaging and works out your obligations per packaging and country.
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Step 1
Your packaging
We record your packaging types with their parts, materials and weights, including the pallets and film from your shipments.
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Step 2
Your role per country
Manufacturer, importer, producer or distributor, per packaging and per country, with the reasoning alongside.
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Step 3
Your suppliers
Suppliers get only the questions still open, on a page of their own: composition, substances, their declaration of conformity.
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Step 4
Your declaration and report
Orin draws up the declaration of conformity per packaging type and your annual report per country. You approve and submit the report.
Self-test
Free
Three questions, one minute. You get a first indication of your role and the obligations that come with it.
- An indication based on your own answers
- No check per packaging type
- Online, straight away
PPWR check
Tailored
Orin works out your full PPWR position from your own packaging, shipments and suppliers. You receive a quote first, based on the number of packaging types and suppliers.
- Your packaging types with parts and weights
- Your role per packaging and per country
- An overview of what suppliers still have to provide
- You go through the outcome with a specialist
Frequently asked questions
- Do pallets and film fall under the PPWR?
- Yes. Transport packaging counts, between businesses too: pallets, crates, film, strapping, big bags and void fill. Road, rail, ship and air containers do not.
- We import packaged goods. What do we have to do?
- Check that the manufacturer has a declaration of conformity, keep a copy and put your name and address on the packaging. If you are the first to place the packaging on the market in your country, you also register there as its producer.
- Does the PPWR apply the same way in every EU country?
- The requirements on the packaging do: it is a regulation. Each country arranges the registration, reporting and fees for producers itself.
- Do we have to change our labels now?
- Not yet. The EU label showing the material applies on 12 August 2028 at the earliest, and only 24 months after the Commission adopts the rules for it. Those are expected in 2027, so in practice it will be later.
- Can Orin do the report for us?
- Orin prepares your annual report per country from your packaging types and shipments. You submit it and record the reference in Orin.
- Do we need an authorised representative in every EU country?
- If you supply end users directly in a country where you are not established, the PPWR has required an authorised representative there for your producer responsibility since August 2026. The Commission proposes to suspend that duty and asks countries not to impose penalties in the meantime. No decision has been taken yet. In Orin you see per country where you are the producer.
Talk to a specialist
In force for 93 days. Start today.
The PPWR applies. Start today.
In a 30-minute introduction we go through your packaging and suppliers. Then you receive a quote for your PPWR check.
Photo credits
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, cropped: Pallets W.carter (CC0), Boxes and cardboard Henry Söderlund (CC BY 2.0), Film and strapping Cjp24 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Crates and boxes Nino Barbieri (CC BY 2.5), Big bags and sacks Bitzer Wiegetechnik GmbH (CC BY-SA 3.0 de), Void fill Fourteenzerozero (CC0), Sales packaging George Chernilevsky (Public domain), Distribution centre Nick Saltmarsh (CC BY 2.0), Cardboard bales Lance Cpl. Michelle Brinn (Public domain), Pallets in film Cjp24 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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