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European Heat Council · Position 07

Issued 2026-06-25

Under Council authority

Packaging compliance under PPWR

The Council’s position on Regulation (EU) 2025/40 — the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — as it applies to small food producers from 12 August 2026.

Part I. Findings

The Council records three conditions affecting how the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation lands on small EU food producers. Each is supported by sources cited at the foot of this Position.

Finding 1. PPWR is the most significant change to EU packaging law in a generation, applicable from 12 August 2026.

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 replaces Directive 94/62/EC and was adopted by the Council on 19 December 2024, entering into force on 11 February 2025 and applying from 12 August 2026 after an 18-month transition period[1]. The European Commission’s Packaging Waste policy page describes the regulation as a comprehensive shift toward circular economy principles, with phased obligations on recyclability, recycled content, reuse, and labelling extending through to 2040[2],[3]. The Commission published its final PPWR guidance in advance of the application date, signalling that the legal landscape is now stable enough for producers to begin concrete compliance work[4].

Finding 2. PPWR does not exempt small or micro producers from its core obligations.

All companies placing packaging on the EU market must comply with the PPWR’s core obligations, including reporting, design requirements, and registration, regardless of size[5]. Micro-enterprises (under 10 employees or under EUR 2 million turnover) are subject to lighter rules under specific provisions but are not granted a general exemption from the regulation[6]. Independent legal commentary records that SMEs in the food and beverage sector face the full weight of the recycled content, recyclability, and design obligations from the relevant phase-in dates[8].

Finding 3. Glass packaging, the dominant format for hot sauce, receives differential treatment under PPWR but is not exempt.

Glass packaging is not subject to PPWR’s minimum recycled-content thresholds for plastic, reflecting the different recycling chemistry of glass; however, glass packaging remains subject to PPWR’s recyclability, reporting, design, and labelling obligations[7]. Article 24(1) sets a 50-per-cent maximum empty-space ratio for e-commerce, grouped and transport packaging, applying from 1 January 2030 or three years from the entry into force of the implementing acts establishing the calculation methodology, whichever is the later; the Commission must adopt that methodology by 12 February 2028. It bears on glass-bottled products, which are typically shipped with significant protective void volume, and Article 24(3) counts filling materials such as air cushions, paper and foam chips as empty space[10]. Independent legal analysis confirms that the regulation’s practical effect on glass-using producers comes through design, labelling, reuse-system, and parcel-space obligations rather than through recycled-content thresholds[5].

Part II. Position

On the basis of these Findings the Council holds that:

  1. The Council supports the circular economy direction of PPWR. The Council does not advocate for delay, dilution, or weakening of the regulation’s environmental objectives.
  2. The Council holds that PPWR’s phased obligations land disproportionately on small food producers, who do not have packaging compliance teams and who source from packaging suppliers whose own redesign timelines they do not control. The lighter micro-enterprise provisions are a partial acknowledgement of this; they are not a full solution.
  3. The 50-per-cent empty-space limit under Article 24, applying from 1 January 2030 at the earliest, is a particular concern for glass-bottled producers, whose protective void volumes may exceed that threshold under current packaging designs and whose protective filling counts towards it. The Council holds that the calculation methodology due from the Commission by 12 February 2028, and the operational guidance that follows it, should reflect the structural difference between glass and other packaging formats.

Part III. Commitments

The Council will:

  1. Publish and maintain a member-facing summary of PPWR obligations, phased by application date, with particular attention to the obligations affecting glass-bottled food producers.
  2. Submit comment in EU and Member State consultations on PPWR implementing acts, particularly where the operational interpretation of the empty-space rule, the digital labelling requirement, and the recyclability grading is being settled. The empty-space calculation methodology is due from the Commission by 12 February 2028 and is the Council’s priority intervention.
  3. Track Commission and Member State guidance on micro-enterprise exemptions, and publish updates when materially new guidance is issued.

Revision

This Position will be reviewed annually, or sooner if the Commission publishes new PPWR implementing acts, if the empty-space or digital labelling provisions are materially clarified, or if a successor instrument amends the micro-enterprise treatment.

Sources

  1. [1]Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR), adopted 19 December 2024, in force 11 February 2025, applicable from 12 August 2026. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/packaging-and-packaging-waste-from-2026.html
  2. [2]European Commission, Packaging Waste Regulation (Environment Directorate-General policy page). https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/packaging-waste/packaging-packaging-waste-regulation_en
  3. [3]European Commission, Packaging waste (Environment Directorate-General topic overview). https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/packaging-waste_en
  4. [4]European Commission, Final PPWR Guidance published in advance of 12 August 2026 application date. https://www.packaginglaw.com/news/european-commission-publishes-final-ppwr-guidance-advance-august-2026-application-date
  5. [5]Latham & Watkins, European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation: Summary of Provisions and New Guidance (independent legal analysis). https://www.lw.com/en/insights/european-packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation-summary-of-provisions-and-new-guidance
  6. [6]Gleiss Lutz, The new EU Packaging Regulation: Key requirements from August 2026 (independent legal analysis). https://www.gleisslutz.com/en/know-how/new-eu-packaging-regulation-key-requirements-august-2026
  7. [7]European Container Glass Federation (FEVE), The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR): How glass can support the EU's circular economy ambition (industry technical position). https://feve.org/glass-industry-positions/circular-economy/packaging-packaging-waste-regulation-ppwr/
  8. [8]Fieldfisher, New EU packaging and packaging waste rules: 10 key things every global business should know (independent legal analysis). https://www.fieldfisher.com/en/insights/new-eu-packaging-and-packaging-waste-rules-10-key-things-every-global-business-should-know
  9. [9]Greenberg Traurig LLP, EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation: New Compliance Requirements for E-Commerce. https://www.gtlaw.com/en/insights/2025/8/eu-packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation-new-compliance-requirements-for-e-commerce
  10. [10]Regulation (EU) 2025/40, full text — Article 24 (obligation related to excessive packaging) and Article 10 (packaging minimisation). Primary source; consulted in preference to secondary summaries. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32025R0040

Issued under Council authority. European Heat Council, 2026-06-25.

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