PackInPro Aligned with Regulation: Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)
A guide developed by PackInPro to help companies navigate the Italian and European regulatory landscape
PackInPro Certification verifies the compliance of packaging products and materials with the requirements established under applicable legislation, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
What is the PPWR?
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is the European regulation governing packaging and packaging waste throughout their entire lifecycle.
The Regulation applies to all packaging placed on the European Union market, regardless of material type or intended use. It covers every stage of the packaging lifecycle, including design, production, labelling, placing on the market, use, collection, sorting, reuse and recycling.
Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which entered into force on 11 February 2025, introduces increasingly specific requirements regarding recyclability, recycled content, packaging minimisation, reuse, labelling and substances contained in packaging materials.
Its objective is to improve circularity across packaging systems by reducing waste generation and promoting the reuse and recovery of materials and resources.
The Regulation does not apply all requirements simultaneously. Instead, it follows a structured implementation timeline with clearly defined milestones.
The PPWR replaces Directive 94/62/EC and establishes more detailed and harmonised requirements across the European market. While previous legislation focused primarily on packaging waste management, the new Regulation introduces obligations from the design and manufacturing stages onwards, promoting a more preventive and circular approach.
PackInPro and the PPWR
PackInPro Certification verifies compliance with selected ESG criteria and assesses whether packaging products and materials meet the requirements established by the European PPWR Regulation.
PackInPro does not replace existing legislation. Instead, it complements regulatory requirements through an independent, transparent and scientifically validated verification framework aligned with European objectives for packaging and packaging waste.
PackInPro Certification also provides a structured method for measuring and validating packaging ESG performance, offering companies a practical tool to document design choices and demonstrate their commitment to more sustainable packaging solutions.
With PackInPro, regulatory compliance and sustainability performance become measurable, verifiable and documented
What Changes for Packaging?
The PPWR focuses on six key areas:
🛡︎ Materials and Substance Safety
From August 2026, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 establishes limits for certain hazardous substances in packaging.
The objective is to strengthen the protection of human health and the environment throughout the entire packaging lifecycle.
Specific restrictions also apply to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food-contact packaging, according to the conditions established by the Regulation.
As a result, understanding material composition and maintaining accurate technical documentation become increasingly important.
Source: Article 5 PPWR – "Requirements for substances in packaging"
♻︎ Recyclability
The Regulation requires packaging placed on the market to be recyclable through existing collection and recycling systems.
Packaging design must therefore consider recyclability from the outset, prioritising solutions that facilitate collection, sorting and material recovery.
From 2030 onwards, more detailed Design for Recycling requirements and recyclability assessment criteria will progressively apply.
Source: Article 6 PPWR – "Recyclable Packaging"
↻ Recycled Content
For plastic packaging, minimum recycled content requirements are not yet fully applicable, but companies should already begin collecting the information needed to prepare for future obligations.
From 2030, plastic packaging will be required to contain minimum levels of post-consumer recycled content, with percentages varying according to packaging type.
These targets will increase over time, reaching significantly higher levels for certain categories by 2040.
Source: Article 7 PPWR – "Minimum Recycled Content in Plastic Packaging"
⌗ Packaging Minimisation
The PPWR requires packaging weight and volume to be reduced to the minimum necessary for the packaging to fulfil its intended function.
This requires packaging design to be supported by technical evidence demonstrating why specific characteristics, dimensions or quantities of material are necessary.
At present, the quantitative minimisation requirements set out in Article 10 of the PPWR are not yet applicable. These obligations will become effective from 2030.
Source: Article 10 PPWR – "Packaging Minimisation"
⟳ Reuse
One of the key objectives of the PPWR is to increase the reuse of packaging through solutions designed to be used multiple times while maintaining safety, functionality and performance.
Minimum requirements and specific application areas have not yet been fully defined and are expected to be validated by 2030.
As a result, reuse will become a packaging characteristic that must be demonstrated through evidence, rather than simply claimed.
Source: Article 11 PPWR – "Reusable Packaging"
🏷︎ Labelling
The PPWR introduces a harmonised framework for environmental information related to packaging.
The objective is to facilitate material identification and support the proper collection, sorting and end-of-life management of packaging.
The new labelling requirements will become applicable from 2028, according to the implementation timeline established by the Regulation.
Source: Article 12 PPWR– "Labelling of Packaging"
Frequently Asked Questions
PPWR Insight
DISCLAIMER: The information below has been reformulated using Artificial Intelligence tools.