The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2025/40 — replaces the former Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC) with directly-applicable, EU-wide rules. Because it is a Regulation rather than a Directive, it applies uniformly across all member states without national transposition, reducing the divergence sellers previously had to manage country by country.
What it covers
Recyclability — design-for-recycling criteria and performance grades for packaging placed on the market.
Recycled content — minimum recycled-content thresholds for plastic packaging, rising over time and varying by packaging type.
Packaging minimisation — limits on unnecessary packaging and empty space.
Labelling — harmonised EU recycling symbols and, increasingly, digital data carriers.
Reuse and refill — targets for certain packaging formats.
Why it matters for importers
Obligations phase in over several years. Non-EU sellers typically place packaging on a national market through an importer or an authorised representative, who carries the registration and reporting duties. Planning packaging design and supplier sourcing early — before production — is far cheaper than remediating non-compliant shipments later.
Always verify specific dates, thresholds and grades against the official consolidated text before making compliance decisions.
