The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
The PPWR is the new European regulation on packaging and packaging waste.
The aim of this regulation is to reduce the amount of waste, encourage recycling and reuse, and hold producers in all Member States accountable.
From 12 August 2026, this regulation will radically change the rules of the game in Europe.
To know what your responsibilities and obligations are, you must first determine your role in the packaging value chain.
Who is a producer according to the PPWR?
According to the PPWR, being a producer means that the company is obliged to contribute financially at the end of the life cycle of the packaging for which it is responsible.
To meet this obligation, producers can join an extended producer responsibility system, such as Valipac.
MANUFACTURER
- You sell empty service or rigid transport packaging (pallets) to a company in the same Member State.
- You sell packaged goods directly to an end user in another Member State (including from third countries).
- You package goods in sales and group packaging and sell them to a company in the same Member State.
→ Consult our decision tree
IMPORTER
- You import packaged goods from a third country and distribute them in your own Member State.
DISTRIBUTOR
- You import packaged goods from another Member State and distribute them in your own Member State.
Conformity of packaging
Packaging placed on the European market must comply with the requirements of the PPWR. Some obligations will come into force directly on 12 August 2026, while others will be phased in gradually.
Below is an overview of the different roles and responsibilities in the value chain.
SUPPLIER
- Supplies packaging or packaging materials to a manufacturer.
- Provides technical documentation to the manufacturer.
MANUFACTURER
- Manufactures packaging or packaged products under its own name.
- Carries out the conformity assessment.
- Draws up the declaration of conformity.
- Keeps the technical documentation.
- Applies the necessary identification.
IMPORTER
- Imports packaging or packaged products from a third country.
- Ensures that the declaration of conformity and technical documentation are available.
- Keeps the documents.
- Checks the manufacturer’s identification.
DISTRIBUTOR
- Imports packaging or packaged products from another Member State.
- Ensures that the declaration of conformity and technical documentation are available.
- Keeps the documents.
- Checks the manufacturer’s identification.
END DISTRIBUTOR
- Supplies packaged products to the end user.
- Retailer & HORECA.
How to draw up a declaration of conformity?
From 12 August 2026, all packaging placed on the European market must undergo a conformity assessment.
This declaration must be based on the technical documentation provided by the manufacturer of the packaging or packaging material. It must be based on the model in Annex VIII of the PPWR.
What must a declaration of conformity contain?
- 2026: absence of substances of concern
- 2028: biobased, compostable, labelling of sorting instructions
- 2029: labelling of reusability
- 2030: recyclability, recycled content, minimisation
Learn more about the obligations of the PPWR
The obligations of the PPWR go far beyond extended producer responsibility and packaging compliance.
Discover all the objectives of this legislation in our brochure.
To our PPWR brochure