Packaging has to accomplish a lot to safely get a product to the customer. It needs to fit the product, shield the product from damage or tampering, communicate essential details, and eventually be easily disposed of. These aspects can conflict, as packaging designed for convenience or protection may not also be easy to recycle or contain sustainable materials. The European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) focuses on this issue by making recyclability an increasingly important requirement instead of a consideration of packaging design.
Companies need to seriously think about what happens to packaging after it becomes waste and redesign their packaging accordingly to continue selling packaged products in the EU. But this is a more complex process than one might think, as a package may contain recyclable materials but still have problems when getting processed if its components cannot be sorted with ease. Labels, coatings, sealants, and the use of combined materials can all affect a packaging’s recyclability.
Missed recycling targets detected in the 2010s along with growing public and political concern over plastic pollution, led to legislative actions that culminated into the proposition of the PPWR by the European Commission in 2022. The new regulation replaced the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) of 1994, which had a goal of stopping and diminishing packaging waste while boosting recyclability and increasing the use of circular materials.
The PPWR creates a common regulatory framework for packaging across the EU, applying rules throughout the different stages of a package’s life cycle. The PPWR took effect in February 2025, with work on secondary legislation beginning later that year. The PPWR’s requirements began applying throughout all 27 EU member states in August 2026.
The PPWR presents a timeline of the EU’s packaging waste reduction targets throughout the next couple of years, which provide businesses with a timeline to plan around. The EU intends to make all packaging circulating the EU market designed for recycling by 2030, with implementation increasing to a wider scale by 2035 and even tighter restrictions placed by 2038. Packaging is evaluated using an assessment of recyclability per unit, in terms of weight. This performance-based “Design for Recycling” (DfR) framework determines whether packaging is deemed Grade A (more than 95% recyclable), Grade B (more than 80% recyclable), or Grade C (more than 70% recyclable) with anything below a Grade C considered “technically non-recyclable” and is ineligible to remain in the market by 2030.
With the growing restrictions placed on single-use plastic packaging, what could be a positive replacement? Many consumer brands might find it beneficial to turn to paperboard as a reliable packaging material that complies with the PPWR as it is highly recyclable, has access to effective collection systems that decrease compliance risks, and aligns with recycled-content requirements. Europe already typically sees 87% of paperboards being recycled versus less than 50% for plastic. The fibers in paperboard also have the potential to be recycled about 10 times, making valuable materials usable multiple times while being eco-efficient.
The PPWR could strongly impact packaging decisions beyond Europe’s borders. Multinational companies that sell packaged products in the EU, including those with origins in other countries, must comply with the new requirements. For consumer brands wanting to stay ahead of the competition, adopting packaging that meets these standards across several markets could simplify production and help them respond to growing expectations around sustainability.
