Three different European clients asked me about PPWR in the past two weeks.
Three different European clients asked me about PPWR in the past two weeks. Fair enough, it applies from August 12. That's next Tuesday.
Quick version for anyone shipping packaged goods into the EU:
PPWR is Regulation (EU) 2025/40. It replaces the old packaging directive from 1994. Because it's a regulation, not a directive, it applies directly in all 27 member states from day one. No national versions, no grace period for stock placed on the market after August 12.
What actually changes next week, from where I sit as a supplier:
Every packaging type needs its own EU Declaration of Conformity, backed by technical documentation (Article 39, Annex VIII). Five packaging formats = five DoCs. Keep them 5 years for single-use, 10 for reusable.
PFAS limits on food-contact packaging kick in the same day. Here's the uncomfortable part: there's still no harmonised EU test method for verifying those limits. The Commission's own FAQ from March acknowledged this. The obligation applies anyway.
Recyclability grades and recycled-content minimums come later, from 2030. So no, your carton doesn't need a recyclability grade next week. But your DoC file does need to exist.
We've spent the last month going through our export packaging file by file. Some of it was fine. Some of it was "we assumed the old directive covered this." It didn't always.
If your supplier hasn't mentioned PPWR to you yet, that's worth a question.
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