The EU packaging regulation now applies — what changes for anyone shipping into Europe

If you sell into any EU member state, the packaging rules you have to meet are no longer twenty-seven different national ones. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) began applying on 12 August 2026, and because it is a regulation rather than a directive it applies directly, without national transposition.

What bites immediately

The most concrete change on day one is the restriction on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food-contact packaging. The European Commission puts it plainly: food-contact packaging containing PFAS above strict limits can no longer be placed on the EU market. In practice that reaches grease-resistant takeaway board, bakery paper, moulded fibre bowls and any paper wrap that relied on fluorochemical treatment for oil resistance.

For most buyers this is a specification question rather than an artwork question. If your greaseproof board is sourced in Asia and the mill has not confirmed a PFAS-free barrier, that is the first thing to ask for — in writing, with a declaration of compliance, not a verbal assurance.

2028: harmonised labelling

From 2028 a single EU-wide labelling scheme applies, so consumers sort by the same symbols in every member state. That has a lead time implication most brands underestimate: it touches every SKU’s artwork. If you are already planning a repack or a rebrand between now and then, folding the new label scheme into that cycle is far cheaper than a standalone artwork sweep later.

2030: the structural changes

The 2030 package is where packaging design actually changes:

• All packaging must be recyclable.
• Minimum recycled content in plastic packaging becomes mandatory.
• Certain single-use plastic packaging formats are restricted outright.
• Reuse targets apply to defined categories.
• New limits on empty space in packaging take effect.

The empty-space limit is the one that quietly reshapes rigid gift boxes and e-commerce cartons. A box built with generous void for visual drama is exactly the sort of pack the rule is aimed at — and, separately, it is the pack that costs you the most in freight.

What we do differently as a result

For EU-bound work we now default to mono-material constructions where the job allows: water-based dispersion barriers instead of PE lamination on food board, paper-based void fill instead of plastic, and dispersion varnish instead of film lamination where scuff protection is the only requirement. Where a laminate or a holographic board really is needed for the effect, we say so up front and flag the recyclability trade-off rather than discovering it at customs.