Since 12 August 2026, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 governs packaging placed on the EU market. Here is what applies now, what arrives in 2028 and 2030 — and what to ask your bottle supplier.
On 12 August 2026, the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) began to apply across all Member States, replacing the 1994 Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. For anyone placing packaged goods on the EU market — including brands and contract packers buying plastic bottles, jars and closures — the practical question is no longer whether packaging rules will change, but which parts of your bottle specification they will change first.
What already applies
The first measure to take effect is a restriction on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food-contact packaging. Above specified limits, such packaging can no longer be placed on the EU market. The restriction targets the fibre and coated formats where PFAS have commonly been used — takeaway containers, wrappers, bakery paper and similar — while plastic bottles are governed mainly by the rules below.
At the same time, the Regulation replaces a patchwork of national packaging rules with one directly applicable EU framework, which reduces compliance complexity for brands selling into several Member States.
What arrives in 2028: harmonised labelling
From 2028, a harmonised EU labelling system for packaging applies, designed to make waste sorting clearer for consumers and more efficient for recyclers. Practically, this means the marking on your bottle, cap and label — including material identification and sorting information — should be planned as part of the pack design, not added at the end.
What arrives in 2030: recyclability and recycled content
Two changes deserve early attention from buyers:
- All packaging placed on the EU market must be recyclable in an economically viable way. Industry analyses of the Regulation indicate that from 2030 packaging will need to meet defined recyclability performance grades, with weaker grades phased out in the following years.
- Minimum recycled content in plastic packaging becomes mandatory, with limited exemptions. For contact-sensitive PET packaging, published industry summaries cite a 30% recycled content requirement by 2030, rising to 50% by 2040 — figures that directly affect beverage and dairy bottles.
2030 also brings waste-reduction measures: limits on empty space in packaging, restrictions on certain single-use plastic formats, and reuse targets for specific applications.
Why this is a bottle-design conversation, not a paperwork exercise
A bottle is not one material. It is a body, a closure, a liner, an adhesive and a decoration — and recyclability is assessed on that combination. Two consequences follow:
- Material choices interact. A cap in one polymer on a body in another, a liner that behaves differently in a recycling stream, or a full-body sleeve that interferes with sorting can each pull a well-designed bottle down a grade.
- Documentation follows the pack, not the shipment. Recycled content claims, material information and design-for-recycling assessments increasingly need to be traceable to the specific packaging your brand puts on the market.
What we can support — and what stays with you
As a manufacturer of HDPE and PET bottles, jars and closures, we can support your compliance work in concrete ways:
- Bottle and closure moulded in-house, so the closure, liner and body can be engineered and documented as one packaging system rather than assembled from several suppliers.
- Material and dimensional documentation for your compliance files, including material information and batch records on request.
- Design-for-recycling input at specification stage — material choices, decoration methods and closure design — so recyclability is designed in rather than assessed afterwards.
- [rPET availability: to be confirmed] — please ask us about recycled-content options for your specific format.
- To be clear about the boundary: regulatory compliance of the filled, finished product sits with the brand or importer placing it on the EU market. Our role is to give you a packaging system and the documentation that make that compliance work easier.
Five questions to ask your bottle supplier this quarter
- Are the bottle, closure and liner designed as one recyclable system, and is that documented?
- Which recyclability performance grade is this pack expected to achieve — and what would change it?
- Can you supply recycled content, at what percentage, with what documentation per shipment?
- How are labels, sleeves and adhesives handled so they do not undermine the body's recyclability?
- What marking and material identification will the pack carry for the 2028 labelling requirements?
This article is general information for packaging buyers and is not legal advice. For the definitive text, consult Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and the European Commission's guidance and FAQs.
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