EU packaging legislation is changing - five things to think about
by Annis Mapleston at 09:15 in Circular Economy, Emerging, Environmental, Packaging

​The EU is in the process of significantly altering its packaging legislation, thanks to recently published laws including Directive 2024/825 Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition and the Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), and a large number of proposals including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the Green Claims Directive. With so many proposals to track and analyse, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

We've created this (hopefully helpful) overview of key things to consider, to support you in prioritising the actions you may need to help.

Extended Producer Responsibility

Packaging EPR already exists in virtually all EU Member States (MS), with current legislation mandating it by 2025. Unsurprisingly, this won't change: any producers selling into an EU country will be likely to have EPR obligations, whether or not they have a physical base in the EU.

However all MS will have to introduce eco-modulated fees to acknowledge the greater cost of some materials / packaging formats. Not only will this likely result in higher fees for some packaging, it will also create far more detailed reporting requirements (especially in countries which currently only request the most basic material splits). Producers will need to ensure that their packaging data is sufficiently detailed to allow them to meet these more specific requests.

Lorax EPI does not anticipate that the new legislation will lead to any significant level of harmonisation in EPR registration or reporting requirements: it is likely to still be necessary to register and report separately in each MS, with different reporting requirements.

Bans and restrictions

The PPWR contains a number of proposed bans and restrictions, including (but not limited to):

• Packaging designed to increase the perceived volume of a product
  
• Some packaging (e.g. e-commerce packaging) with greater than 50% empty space
  
• Single use plastic packaging used at point of sale to encourage the purchase of multipacks
  
• Packaging for cosmetics, hygiene and toiletry products for use in hotels etc which is intended to be discarded after use by a single guest
  
• Plastic packaging containing individual portions of sauces etc
  

Additional bans on packaging containing PFAS and BPA have been proposed in separate legislation.

Labelling

Any producer selling across multiple MS will be very aware of the increasing country-specific labelling requirements (with Spain and Portugal being the most recent countries to impose mandatory sortation labelling). Juggling all the different obligations is becoming more and more difficult - and this is one area where the proposed EU legislation may introduce some harmonisation.

Packaging will have to be labelled with a pictogram identifying which packaging material has been used (in a similar way to the current voluntary Nordic labelling system) - these pictograms will then also be used on bins across the EU to allow consumers to easily identify which bin should be used for each packaging item.

Additional labelling requirements will also be introduced to identify reusable packaging as well as bottles and cans that are part of a deposit return scheme. Restrictions will be placed on how packaging containing recycled materials can be labelled, and on the use of any symbols to identify participation in an EPR system (including the Green Dot).

Finally, clear rules will come into force around the use of environmental claims (including labels, brands and product names), with the aim of reducing any possibility of consumers being confused or misled about the environmental credentials of any product or company.

Packaging design

For many years, the EU has been promising to review the Essential Requirements. The approach proposed under the new laws replaces the Essential Requirements with the requirement to ensure that all packaging has undergone a conformity assessment. This will then be supplemented by a recyclability assessment: packaging will be graded A-C, with anything failing to achieve Grade C being banned from 2030, and Grade C packaging being banned from 2038. Little information is currently available on which packaging will fall into which grade.

The PPWR also introduces minimum recycled content thresholds for plastic packaging and reuse / refill requirements for certain types of packaging.

Additional requirements will be introduced for beverage containers (including mandatory deposit return systems in all MS).

If you would like to talk to a consultant about any of these topics and how they might apply to your business, please contact us and we'll be happy to discuss how we can help.

Click here to receive regular updates on blog posts, webinars, and regulatory changes directly to your inbox