On January 22, 2025, Regulation 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The regulation establishes obligations for the
entire lifecycle of packaging concerning environmental sustainability and labelling, to allow market placement. It also sets requirements for
extended producer
responsibility and
waste prevention.
It applies to all types of packaging and all types of packaging waste.
Packaging may only be placed on the market if it complies with the regulation.
It is important to note that the text signed by the European Commission introduces three definitions:
- Supplier: a natural or legal person who supplies packaging or packaging materials to the manufacturer.
- Manufacturer: any natural or legal person who manufactures packaging or a packaged product,
- except in cases where a natural or legal person has packaging or a packaged product designed or manufactured under their own name or brand, regardless of whether any other brand is visible on the packaging or the packaged product. In such cases, the manufacturer is considered to be that natural or legal person,
- if the natural or legal person who has the packaging designed or manufactured under their own name or brand falls within the definition of a microenterprise according to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, and the supplier of the packaging is located in the same Member State, the "manufacturer" is considered to be the supplier of the packaging.
- Producer: The manufacturer, importer, or distributor to whom the following applies, regardless of the sales technique used, including distance contracts:
- The manufacturer, importer, or distributor is established in a Member State and makes available for the first time from the territory of that Member State and within that same territory transport packaging, service packaging, or primary production packaging, either as single-use or reusable packaging; or
- The manufacturer, importer, or distributor is established in a Member State and makes available for the first time from the territory of that Member State and within that same territory products packaged in packaging other than those referred to in point (a); or
- The manufacturer, importer, or distributor is established in a Member State or a third country and makes available for the first time within the territory of another Member State, directly to consumers, transport packaging, service packaging, or primary production packaging, either as single-use or reusable packaging, or products packaged in other packaging; or
- The manufacturer, importer, or distributor is established in a Member State and makes available for the first time within the territory of another Member State packaging, directly to users of packaged products other than those referred to in point (c); or
- The manufacturer, importer, or distributor is established in a Member State and unpacks the packaged products without being the end user, unless another person is the producer as defined in points (a), (b), (c), or (d).”
Sustainability Requirements
Hazardous Chemicals Packaging must be manufactured to minimize the presence of hazardous substances, even during waste management operations, within the secondary raw materials obtained or ashes, and the release of microplastics. For example, the sum of the concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium resulting from substances present in the packaging must not exceed 100mg/kg. Compliance with this requirement must be demonstrated within the technical documentation of the packaging.
Recyclability All packaging placed on the market must be recyclable. This means they must be designed to allow the recycling of materials and to obtain secondary raw materials of sufficient quality to be used in place of the primary raw material. Additionally, to be considered recyclable, once they become waste, they must be able to be collected separately without affecting the recyclability of other streams. A delegated act will be issued for the evaluation of the recyclability of packaging, which will be divided into classes A, B, and C based on performance. The goal by 2038 is to limit non-classifiable and type C packaging.
The evaluation will be based on the predominant material of the packaging and will be the responsibility of the manufacturer or first importer.
Based on the performance of the packaging used, the financial contributions that producers must pay for extended responsibility will be modulated.
Recycled Content By January 1, 2030, or three years after the entry into force of the implementing act, each non-compostable plastic part of the packaging weighing more than 5% of the total must contain a minimum amount of post-consumer recycled content. This percentage will increase over time.
Compliance with the requirements will again be demonstrated by the manufacturer or first importer through technical documentation.
The recycled content can also be considered to modulate the financial contributions paid by producers to fulfil their extended responsibility obligation.
The European Commission reserves the right to review the case of bio-based plastic packaging by February 12, 2028, and to introduce, if necessary, sustainability requirements for such materials and/or targets for increasing such materials within plastic packaging.
Minimization of Packaging Packaging must be designed to reduce the use of material and space. By February 12, 2027, the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) will prepare or update harmonized standards for the method of calculation and measurement of compliance with the regulation's requirements.
Such compliance will be demonstrated in the technical documentation.
Labelling and Information Requirements
All packaging must have a label identifying the materials within and whether they are compostable at home or in a specific site, subject to a deposit return system, or reusable.
Attention! Environmental claims about the sustainability characteristics of the packaging will only be possible if the properties for which they are formulated exceed the minimum applicable according to the regulation.
Manufacturer Obligations
Below are some of the obligations of packaging manufacturers:
- They must place only compliant packaging on the market.
- They must conduct a conformity assessment and draft a CE declaration of conformity.
- Maintain documentation for 5 years in the case of single-use packaging and 10 years for reusable packaging.
- Ensure the product has a serial or batch number and the manufacturer's contact details, thus ensuring traceability.
- Obligation to inform if they believe that packaging placed on the market is non-compliant. They must also implement corrective measures to make it compliant or withdraw or recall it.
It is emphasized that CE marking of the packaging will not be mandatory to avoid possible confusion with the marking of the packaged product. For packaging, a harmonized label is required.
It is the obligation of packaging product suppliers to provide all necessary information to the producer to certify that the packaging complies with the regulation.
Obligations for Economic Operators
Obligation Regarding Excessive Packaging By January 1, 2030, or three years from the date of entry into force of the implementing acts, economic operators filling multiple packaging, transport packaging, or e-commerce packaging must ensure that the proportion of maximum empty space, in percentage, is at most 50%. The space occupied by materials such as paper, air cushions, sponges, foam lining, bubble wrap, polystyrene, wood wool is considered empty space.
Restrictions on the Use of Certain Packaging From January 1, 2030, economic operators will no longer be able to place certain packaging on the market. For example, single-use plastic multiple packaging, except those necessary for handling.
Producer Register Producers will be required to register with a national register of packaging producers through an application to the competent authority. The producer or their authorized representative must then, by June 1 of each year, submit to the competent authority information such as:
- National identification code of the producer.
- Reference period of the data (year preceding the one in which the communication is drafted).
- Quantities by weight of the categories of packaging that the producer makes available in the territory of the Member State or that they unpack without being the end user.
The regulation applies from August 12, 2026, and will not apply to packaging placed on the market before the date of application of the relevant requirements and stored by distributors.
For info:Matilde Ceschia
+39 432 747241
[email protected]
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