PPWR compliance overview summary
- The EU’s The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) becomes enforceable from 12 August, affecting EU packaging
- Brand owners often bear primary responsibility for PPWR compliance
- PFAS limits now apply to food-contact packaging across Europe
- Recycling requirements and harmonised labelling will tighten from 2030
- Compliance may be costly, but EU predicts long-term savings
The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, will be enforced from 12 August. The regulation, which entered into force in February last year, is now applicable.
For any food manufacturer that operates in the EU and works with packaging, a familiarity with the legislation is important. What do manufacturers need to know about PPWR?
1. It’s not a directive, but still leaves room for flexibility
The PPWR is a regulation, not a directive. In EU law, a directive essentially sets a goal for Member States to meet through their own legislation. The PPWR was preceded by, and replaces, a directive on packaging, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD).
A regulation leaves fewer details up to the Member States. “PPWR applies directly across all EU Member States, creating a far more harmonised framework than the previous Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive”, says Naomi Carlin, packaging consultant at waste management company Biffa.
But this does not mean that the PPWR is entirely uniform across the EU.
The regulation still leaves some room for Member States to maintain or adopt national measures, explains Manon Ombredane, director of environment, health and safety practice at law firm Squire Patton Boggs. This is especially the case in the area of extended producer responsibility (EPR) – competent authorities within Member States will be responsible for laying out EPR requirements.
Member States will maintain flexibility for other elements as well, such as compostable packaging and waste collection systems, says Biffa’s Carlin.
Importantly, points out Ombredane, it is still the responsibility of Member States to enforce the rules and issue penalties.
“As a result, while the substantive rules will be more harmonised, businesses should not expect a completely identical compliance or enforcement landscape across the EU.”
2. Brand owners are often responsible for compliance
When packaging is placed on the market, manufacturers will need to include Declarations of Conformity (DoC) to outline compliance with the PPWR.
Responsibility for this DoC lies with the manufacturer. But this is not necessarily defined as the actual creator of the packaging.
The manufacturer, under the definition of the PPWR, is often the brand owner or the packaging decision-maker. Therefore, it is they who are responsible for compliance, says Biffa’s Carlin, not necessarily the company who is physically producing the food or packaging.
The manufacturer is often the company whose trademark is on the packaging. “If your name or trademark appears on the packaging, you are probably considered the manufacturer under the PPWR, even if you neither manufacture the packaging itself nor package the food product”, says Squire Patton Boggs’ Ombredane.
It is important for manufacturers to know who is responsible for what when it comes to compliance. “Incorrect assumptions can create compliance gaps, unnecessary duplication and confusion over who is responsible for the documentation needed to demonstrate conformity”, says Erkam Narinç, senior policy and regulatory affairs manager at Stora Enso, a renewable materials company.
3. PFAS limits must be complied with
PFAS, colloquially known as ‘forever chemicals’, are one of the most enduring controversies in the food industry. Forever chemicals, which are often found in food packaging, have been linked to increased cancer risk, thyroid disease, liver damage and fertility issues. Therefore, the EU is aiming to limit their presence in packaging.
From 12 August, PPWR limits on PFAS in food contact packaging will apply. Its presence will be limited to 50 parts per million (ppm) for polymeric PFAS, 250 parts per billion (ppb) for the sum total of non-polymeric PFAS detected, and 25 ppb for any individual type of non-polymeric PFAS detected by targeted PFAS analysis.
Non-polymeric PFAS is smaller than polymeric PFAS, more reactive and is considered more harmful, according to the University of Rhode Island.
Compliance with these limits will involve the whole supply chain working together, says Biffa’s Carlin, and suppliers must provide and maintain technical evidence to demonstrate conformity. However, the manufacturer, often the brand owner as mentioned above, is responsible for bringing this information together and issuing a Declaration of Conformity (DoC).
A harmonised testing approach for PFAS is currently being developed, and will be released at a future date.
Several potential issues exist for compliance, says Squire Patton Boggs’ Ombredane. Limits currently apply to the packaging unit as a whole, including inks, adhesives, and coatings. They also apply regardless of whether PFAS is present intentionally or unintentionally.
Food manufacturers who are most directly responsible for compliance, in this case the brand owner or packaging decision-maker, often have limited visibility over all components used in complex packaging structures, Ombredane explains.
The PPWR’s rules on PFAS explicitly apply to food contact packaging, rather than packaging in general.
4. Recycling rules will get more stringent
Of course, recycling is central to the PPWR.
From 2030, packaging will be expected to be designed for recycling by standards harmonised across the whole of the EU. Packaging will be assessed against recyclability performance grades, with a better grade the higher the percentage of recyclability. Packaging under 70% recyclability is considered technically non-recyclable. These grades are expected to influence market access and EPR fees paid by producers, suggests Roger Wright, waste strategy and packaging manager at Biffa.
At the same time, packaging across Europe will move towards common sorting labels to help consumers identify materials and correctly dispose of packaging, he explains.
Packaging will include standardised labels detailing how it should be sorted after use, and corresponding labels will also appear on waste collection containers to help consumers match packaging to the correct disposal. The final guidance is expected to be released in autumn this year, says Wright.
Of course, systems like this exist across Europe, but the aim of this is to harmonise it.
Because of the PPWR’s focus on recycling, Europe’s recycling infrastructure may change, predicts Wright. “While people may not notice immediate changes, PPWR is intended to drive significant improvements over time.”
At the moment, recycling systems and capabilities vary widely between Member States. Yet mandatory packaging and waste-container labelling introduced by PPWR may improve collection, sorting and recycling performance across Europe.
A change in recycling infrastructure is one of the legislators’ objectives, says Ombredane.
“The PPWR introduces requirements covering the entire life cycle of packaging, from design through collection and recycling. By linking packaging design requirements with recycling performance and waste management obligations, the Regulation aims to make packaging more circular and to drive further investment in recycling infrastructure across Europe.”
5. The regulation may cost industry, but it is estimated to save more
Implementation could be costly. Deloitte, a professional services network, predicts that implementing reuse schemes, deposit return systems (DRS), and certifying packaging recyclability and recycled content could cost business €5.9bn.
Nevertheless, the European Commission’s economic modelling predicts that, in the long run, the regulation could result in economic savings of €47.2bn, or €100 for every EU citizen.
One particularly costly aspect of compliance will be obtaining compliance data, suggests Ombredane.
Many PPWR obligations rely on data, but it is difficult to obtain robust and reliable data from the complex packaging supply chain.
6. Some elements of the regulation are yet to apply
12 August is only the beginning. Many major aspects of the PPWR will only become applicable at a later date.
Standards on designing packaging for recycling, for example, will be enforceable from 2030, and expanded in 2035 and 2038.
Deposit return schemes for single-use plastic bottles and metal beverage containers must be in place by 2029, unless an exemption applies.
Some elements of the regulation do not apply until 2040. Many of the targets it sets out, for example minimum requirements for recycled content recovered from post-consumer plastic waste, are raised in 2040.
And these are only the tip of the iceberg. “From 2030 onwards, many of the most significant packaging design requirements take effect, including recyclability and recyclability performance grades, minimum recycled content in plastic packaging, packaging minimisation requirements, restrictions on certain packaging formats, reuse targets and the requirement for packaging to be recyclable at scale”, says Wright.
The PPWR aims to harmonise European packaging law across its 27 Member States. The process will be long, complex and potentially very costly. But in the end, at least according to the EU, it will be worth it.