European Plastics converting
How the tracked legislation reaches the sector — 44 measures name it directly, and 38 more reach it through supply chains, procurement or other acts.
Direction
74 burden · 5 benefit
3 unchanged — counted in neither
Status
82 adopted
Channel
44 direct · 38 reached
reached via supply chain 1 · procurement 1 · regulatory dependency 36
The platform holds 82 measures for European plastics converting: 74 imposing a burden, 5 conferring a benefit, 3 carried over unchanged. Of these, 82 from law in force; 44 arrive directly, 38 through a channel.
Named in the text
Measures that address plastics converting directly
FREE-01Place packaging on the market only if it complies with this Regulation.Any economic operator placing packaging on the market · BusinessesRequirementFREE-03Packaging that meets Arts. 5 to 12 may be placed on the market anywhere in the Union: no Member State may block it, and no additional national sustainability or information requirement may be enforced against it. One compliance route replaces 27.Economic operators placing compliant packaging on the market · BusinessesEntitlementSUB-01Manufacture packaging so that the presence and concentration of substances of concern is minimised, including in emissions and in waste-management outputs such as secondary raw materials and ashes.Manufacturers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementSUB-02Keep the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in packaging or packaging components at or below 100 mg/kg.Manufacturers and importers of packaging · BusinessesNeutralSUB-03Rely on a heavy-metals exemption only where a Commission delegated act grants it; the exemptions are now time-limited, subject to marking, information and regular reporting requirements, and reviewable.Manufacturers relying on a heavy-metals derogation · BusinessesRequirementSUB-04Do not place food-contact packaging on the market at or above 25 ppb for any single PFAS, 250 ppb for the sum of targeted PFAS, or 50 ppm for total PFAS including polymeric.Manufacturers and importers of food-contact packaging · BusinessesProhibitionREC-01Make all packaging recyclable: designed for material recycling, and collectable, sortable and recycled at scale when it becomes waste.Manufacturers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementREC-02Assess and grade each packaging unit A, B or C for recyclability; from 2030 do not place packaging below grade C on the market, and from 1 January 2038 do not place packaging below grade B.Manufacturers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementREC-03Re-comply with design-for-recycling criteria within 3 years each time the Commission adopts or updates them by delegated act.Economic operators placing packaging on the market · BusinessesRequirementREC-04Pay EPR financial contributions modulated by the packaging's recyclability performance grade.Producers subject to extended producer responsibility · BusinessesRequirementREC-05Packaging that qualifies as innovative may be sold for up to five years from the end of the year it was first placed on the market even though it does not meet the recyclability requirement -- a run-in period no other packaging gets.Economic operators placing innovative packaging on the market · BusinessesEntitlementRCY-01Meet minimum recycled content in every plastic part of packaging, averaged per manufacturing plant per year: 30% for contact-sensitive PET, 10% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 30% for single-use plastic beverage bottles, 35% for all other plastic packaging.Manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging · BusinessesRequirementRCY-02Meet the 2040 recycled-content step: 50% for contact-sensitive PET, 25% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 65% for single-use plastic beverage bottles, 65% for all other plastic packaging.Manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging · BusinessesRequirementRCY-03Calculate and verify recycled-content percentages by the Commission's methodology, and where the methodology requires it submit to independent third-party audit.Manufacturers of recycled content and of plastic packaging placed on the market · BusinessesRequirementCMP-01Make the packaging listed in Art. 3(1) point (1)(f) and sticky labels on fruit and vegetables compostable in industrially controlled conditions, and home-compostable where the Member State requires it.Manufacturers of the listed packaging and of fruit and vegetable labels · BusinessesRequirementCMP-02Design biodegradable-polymer and other biodegradable packaging for material recycling under Art. 6, without affecting the recyclability of other waste streams.Manufacturers of biodegradable packaging · BusinessesRequirementMIN-01Design packaging so weight and volume are reduced to the minimum necessary for functionality, and document the assessment against the Annex IV performance criteria.Manufacturers and importers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementMIN-02Do not place on the market packaging failing the Annex IV performance criteria, or packaging whose features exist only to increase perceived product volume -- double walls, false bottoms, unnecessary layers.Manufacturers and importers of packaging · BusinessesProhibitionREU-01Meet all nine reusability criteria before packaging counts as reusable: designed for multiple rotations, emptiable and refillable without damage, reconditionable per Annex VI Part B, labellable, safe to handle, and recyclable at end of life.Manufacturers of reusable packaging · BusinessesRequirementLAB-01Mark packaging with the harmonised material-composition label, pictogram-based and understandable including for people with disabilities; mark compostable packaging as compostable, not home-compostable and not for disposal in nature.Economic operators placing packaging on the market · BusinessesRequirementLAB-02Label reusable packaging as reusable, carry a QR code or open digital data carrier giving re-use system and collection-point information and enabling trip and rotation counting, and distinguish reusable from single-use packaging at the point of sale.Economic operators placing reusable packaging on the market · BusinessesRequirementLAB-03Do not display labels, marks, symbols or inscriptions likely to mislead or confuse consumers about packaging sustainability, other packaging characteristics, or waste-management options where this Regulation has harmonised the labelling.Economic operators · BusinessesProhibitionLAB-04Packaging made or imported before the labelling deadlines may still be sold for three years after those requirements enter into force, so existing stock and pre-printed material do not have to be written off on the deadline.Economic operators holding pre-deadline packaging stock · BusinessesEntitlementLAB-06Make an environmental claim about a packaging property regulated here only where the packaging exceeds the applicable minimum requirement, and state whether the claim covers the unit, part of it, or all the operator's packaging.Economic operators making environmental claims about packaging · BusinessesRequirementOPS-01Carry out the Annex VII conformity assessment, draw up the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity, and keep both for 5 years for single-use and 10 years for reusable packaging.Manufacturers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementOPS-02Keep series production in conformity, tracking changes in packaging design and characteristics and in harmonised standards, common specifications and other technical specifications.Manufacturers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementOPS-03Give the packaging manufacturer all information and documentation it needs to demonstrate conformity, including the Annex VII technical documentation, in a language the manufacturer easily understands.Suppliers of packaging or packaging materials · BusinessesRequirementOPS-04Before placing packaging on the market, verify that the manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment and drew up the technical documentation, that the packaging is labelled under Art. 12 and accompanied by the required documents, and mark your own name, trade name and contact address on the packaging.Importers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementOPS-07On request, identify to market surveillance authorities every operator that supplied you with packaging or packaged products and every operator you supplied, retaining the ability to do so for 5 years for single-use and 10 years for reusable packaging.Economic operators · BusinessesRequirementBAN-01Do not place on the market any packaging in the formats and for the uses listed in Annex V -- single-use grouped packaging for multipacks, single-use packaging for unprocessed fresh fruit and vegetables, single-use packaging for food and drink consumed on premises in the HORECA sector, single-use condiment and sauce sachets, hotel miniature toiletries, and very light plastic carrier bags outside hygiene or loose-food use.Economic operators placing packaging on the market · BusinessesProhibitionRSY-01Ensure a re-use system meeting Annex VI, including a collection incentive, exists in each Member State where you first make reusable packaging available, and document the system's compliance in the technical documentation with written confirmations from system participants.Economic operators first making reusable packaging available in a Member State · BusinessesRequirementRSY-02Participate in one or more Annex VI Part A re-use systems, recondition reusable packaging per Annex VI Part B before offering it again, and in closed-loop systems return packaging to an approved collection point.Economic operators using reusable packaging · BusinessesRequirementCNF-01Demonstrate compliance with Arts. 5 to 12, 24 and 26 using reliable, accurate and reproducible test, measurement and calculation methods reflecting the state of the art, with results of low uncertainty.Economic operators demonstrating conformity · BusinessesRequirementCNF-02No longer required to prove conformity from first principles where a harmonised standard covers the requirement: conformity is presumed, and Art. 37 adds a Commission common-specification fallback where no standard exists or the standard is inadequate.Economic operators demonstrating conformity of packaging · BusinessesSimplificationCNF-03Prove conformity without relying on a national standard: the route by which a notified national standard conferred a presumption of conformity where no harmonised standard existed is not carried over.Economic operators in Member States that had notified national packaging standards · BusinessesRequirementCNF-04Run the Annex VII internal production control conformity assessment procedure for the Arts. 5 to 12 requirements.Manufacturers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementCNF-05Draw up, continuously update and keep the EU declaration of conformity in the Annex VIII model, translated as the Member State of marketing requires, and assume responsibility for the packaging's compliance by drawing it up.Manufacturers of packaging · BusinessesRequirementREG-01Register in the national producer register of every Member State where you first make packaging or packaged products available, or where you unpack packaged products without being an end user, supplying the Annex IX Part A information; do not make packaging available at all until registered.Producers of packaging and packaged products · BusinessesRequirementREG-02Report the Annex IX Part B information to the register by 1 June each year for the preceding calendar year, with a lighter Part B point 2 return for producers under 10 tonnes; submit quarterly instead where the Member State requires it for budgetary reasons, and notify changes and cessation without undue delay.Producers, their authorised representatives, or their producer responsibility organisation · BusinessesRequirementEPR-01Carry extended producer responsibility for all packaging first made available or unpacked in a Member State, with financial contributions additionally covering the cost of labelling waste receptacles under Art. 13 and of compositional surveys of mixed municipal waste.Producers of packaging and packaged products · BusinessesRequirementEPR-04A producer whose fulfilment service is suspended for an EPR information failure may challenge that decision before a court in the Member State where the fulfilment service provider is established.Producers whose fulfilment service has been suspended · BusinessesEntitlementEPR-05Apply to the competent authority for authorisation to fulfil extended producer responsibility, individually or through a producer responsibility organisation, and notify changes or cessation without undue delay.Producers fulfilling EPR individually, and producer responsibility organisations · BusinessesRequirementEPR-06Provide an adequate financial guarantee covering waste management costs owed in the event of non-compliance, permanent cessation of operations or insolvency.Producers fulfilling EPR individually, and producer responsibility organisations · BusinessesRequirementINF-01Make available to end users information on their role in waste prevention, the re-use arrangements available, their role in separate collection including for packaging containing hazardous products, the meaning of on-pack labels and symbols, and the impact of littering and of discarding packaging in mixed municipal waste.Producers, producer responsibility organisations, or appointed public authorities · BusinessesRequirement
Reaches you without naming you
Measures that land through a channel
Another act 36 · Supply chain 1 · Procurement 1
FREE-02Do not prohibit, restrict or impede the placing on the market of packaging that complies with Arts. 5 to 12, and do not enforce additional national requirements against compliant packaging.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementSUB-05Where total fluorine exceeds 50 mg/kg, supply on request proof of whether the measured fluorine is PFAS or non-PFAS, so the packaging manufacturer or importer can complete its technical documentation.Manufacturers, importers and downstream users under REACH supplying materials to packaging makers · BusinessesRequirementLAB-05Ensure harmonised labels enabling separate collection of each material fraction are affixed visibly, legibly and indelibly on all packaging-waste receptacles.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementOPS-05Before making packaging available, verify that the producer is registered in the Art. 44 register, that the packaging carries its Art. 12 labelling, and that the manufacturer and importer have marked their identification; do not make it available until any non-compliance is corrected.Distributors of packaging · BusinessesRequirementOPS-06Ensure warehousing, handling, packing, addressing and dispatch conditions do not jeopardise the packaging's compliance with Arts. 5 to 12.Fulfilment service providers · BusinessesRequirementOPS-08Report the Annex XII Table 3 packaging-waste information to the competent authority annually through the Art. 35(1) electronic registry, and give producers or their producer responsibility organisation everything they need for their own Art. 44(10) reporting.Packaging waste management operators · BusinessesRequirementEXC-01Keep empty space in grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging at or below 50%, counting filling materials such as paper cuttings, air cushions, bubble wrap and foam chips as empty space.Economic operators who fill grouped, transport or e-commerce packaging · BusinessesRequirementEXC-02Reduce empty space in sales packaging to the minimum necessary for functionality and product protection, assessed at the time of filling for products subject to settlement or requiring headspace.Economic operators who fill sales packaging · BusinessesRequirementRTG-01Ensure at least 40% of transport packaging -- pallets, foldable plastic boxes, trays, crates, IBCs, pails, drums, canisters, pallet wrappings and straps -- is reusable within a re-use system, rising to an endeavour of 70% from 2040.Economic operators using transport packaging in the Union · BusinessesRequirementRTG-02Use only reusable transport packaging within a re-use system for movements between your own sites and those of linked or partner enterprises.Economic operators moving goods between their own or linked sites · BusinessesRequirementRTG-03Use only reusable transport packaging within a re-use system for deliveries to another economic operator inside the same Member State.Economic operators delivering to another operator in the same Member State · BusinessesRequirementRTG-04Ensure at least 10% of grouped packaging in the form of boxes, excluding cardboard, is reusable within a re-use system, rising to an endeavour of 25% from 2040.Economic operators using grouped packaging boxes · BusinessesRequirementRTG-05Make at least 10% of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages available in reusable packaging within a re-use system, rising to an endeavour of 40% from 2040, and ensure own-brand packaged products contribute fairly and proportionately.Final distributors of beverages · BusinessesRequirementRTG-08Calculate achievement of each re-use target separately, in equivalent units of the listed formats for transport and grouped packaging, and in sales units or volume of beverages for the final-distributor targets.Economic operators and final distributors subject to the Art. 29 targets · BusinessesRequirementRTG-09Report re-use target achievement to the competent authority within 6 months of each reporting year's end, through its electronic system and in its format, with further information on request.Economic operators subject to the Art. 29 re-use targets · BusinessesRequirementTKA-01Provide a system letting consumers bring their own container to be filled with take-away hot or cold beverages and with ready-prepared food, at no higher cost and on no less favourable terms than the same product in single-use packaging, and inform consumers of the option at the point of sale.Final distributors in the HORECA sector selling take-away food and drink · BusinessesRequirementTKA-02Offer consumers the option of take-away food and drink in reusable packaging within a re-use system, at no higher cost and on no less favourable terms than single-use, informed at the point of sale; from 2030 endeavour to offer 10% of products in a reusable format.Final distributors in the HORECA sector selling take-away food and drink · BusinessesRequirementBAG-01Meet the 40-bags-per-capita ceiling in EVERY year after 2025, not only in 2025, and lose the alternative route of discharging the duty by ensuring bags are not supplied free of charge.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementBAG-02Keep annual consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags at or below 40 per capita -- the level itself, unchanged from the repealed directive.Member States · GovernmentsNeutralAUT-01Designate competent authorities for this Chapter and for Arts. 6(10), 29(1)-(7) and (9) and 30 to 34, lay down their organisation and the administrative and procedural rules for registration, reporting oversight, EPR supervision, EPR authorisation and information, and notify the Commission by 12 July 2025.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementAUT-02Add a dedicated packaging chapter to the Directive 2008/98/EC waste management plan covering Arts. 48, 50 and 52 measures, and a dedicated packaging chapter to the waste prevention programme covering Arts. 43 and 51 measures and litter.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementPRV-01Reduce packaging waste generated per capita against a 2018 baseline by at least 5% by 2030, 10% by 2035 and 15% by 2040, and endeavour to reduce plastic packaging waste specifically.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementEPR-02Before allowing a producer to use the platform, obtain its Art. 44 registration details and registration number for the consumer's Member State and a self-certification of EPR compliance, and make best efforts to assess whether that information is complete and reliable.Providers of online platforms allowing distance contracts with producers · BusinessesRequirementEPR-03Check the producer's registration and EPR self-certification against an official database or the public register, require correction where the information looks inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, and suspend the service until it is corrected, giving reasons.Fulfilment service providers · BusinessesRequirementCOL-01Set up return and separate collection covering the whole territory and all packaging waste, open to operators, authorities and third parties and to imported products on non-discriminatory terms; collect design-for-recycling-compliant packaging for recycling and prohibit its incineration and landfill.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementCOL-02Set mandatory national collection objectives for the Art. 52 materials, consistent with the recycling targets and with the Art. 7 recycled-content requirements.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementDRS-01Separately collect at least 90% by weight per year of single-use plastic beverage bottles and single-use metal beverage containers up to three litres.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementDRS-02Set up deposit and return systems for single-use plastic beverage bottles and metal beverage containers, with a deposit charged at the point of sale, meeting the Annex X minimum requirements.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementRRF-01Take measures encouraging re-use and refill systems that comply with Arts. 27 and 28 and Annex VI without compromising food hygiene or consumer safety, and ensure EPR schemes and deposit and return systems allocate a minimum share of their budget to reduction and prevention.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementRCT-01Achieve recycling of at least 65% of all packaging waste by weight by 31 December 2025 and 70% by 31 December 2030, with material lines of 50/55% plastic, 25/30% wood, 70/80% ferrous metals, 50/60% aluminium, 70/75% glass and 75/85% paper and cardboard.Member States · GovernmentsNeutralRCT-02Calculate packaging waste generated and packaging waste recycled each calendar year on the Art. 53 rules, exhaustively, adjusted for comparability, reliability and completeness under the Art. 56(7) implementing act.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementRCT-03Where an adjusted recycling target is claimed for re-use, calculate it by subtracting the three-year average share of reusable sales packaging, capped at five percentage points, and account separately for wooden packaging repaired for re-use.Member States claiming a re-use adjustment · GovernmentsRequirementINF-02Report to the Commission each calendar year on recycling target implementation and reusable packaging, per-capita consumption of each carrier-bag category, the DRS separate collection rate, and the quantities of packaging made available, collected and recycled by category.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementINF-03Establish harmonised packaging and packaging waste databases carrying the Annex XII data and information on flows, made publicly accessible in a machine-readable, interoperable and re-usable format.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementMSV-01Lay down effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties for infringements, including administrative fines for breaches of Arts. 24 to 29, and notify the Commission of the rules and of any later amendment.Member States · GovernmentsRequirementMSV-02Where there is sufficient reason to believe packaging presents a risk to the environment or human health, evaluate it against all relevant requirements, require the operator to take corrective action, and where the operator does not act, prohibit or restrict the packaging or withdraw or recall it.Member State market surveillance authorities · GovernmentsRequirementMSV-03Communicate national non-compliance measures without delay to the Art. 25(1) authorities under Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 so they feed the border risk analysis, and act on formal non-compliance under Art. 62.Member State market surveillance and designated border authorities · GovernmentsRequirementGPP-01Apply the Commission's minimum mandatory green public procurement requirements when awarding contracts where packaging or packaged products represent more than 30% of the estimated contract value or of the value of products used by the contracted services.Contracting authorities and contracting entities under Directives 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU · GovernmentsRequirement
Findings
What this means for plastics converting
2026-08-19
The packaging regulation applies directly to the food and beverage industry, not just the companies that make packaging.
36 of the packaging regulation's measures name the food and beverage sector directly.
5 measures · Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation · chemicals and refining = 21.6% of plastics converting inputs
Food, drink and tobaccoPlastics convertingChemicals and refining
2026-08-18
74 new obligations for plastic packaging makers, with no support to match.
The packaging regulation places 74 requirements and prohibitions on the companies that make plastic packaging.
8 measures · Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation
Plastics converting
Where the pressure comes from
Pressure arrives from 1 act directly
Pressure arrives at European plastics converting from 1 act that names it directly.
Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — names the sector in 44 measures, reaches it in 38 more via another act and procurement and supply chain
Net position
What the corpus does to this sector, in total
82measures reach this sector · 73 press, 5 relieve or grant
In force Proposed or mixed basis
Supply chain and country exposure
What plastics converting buys, sells and imports
Inputs come from
What this sector buys
- chemicals21.6%
- wholesale trade10%
- electricity & gas4%
- land transport4%
- retail trade2.9%
- fabricated metal products2.8%
- legal, accounting & consulting2.5%
- waste & sewerage2.3%
- everything else49.8%
Goods go to
Who buys from this sector
- construction19.1%
- vehicles11.7%
- food, drink & tobacco6.7%
- machinery4.5%
- electrical equipment3.4%
- chemicals3.2%
- wholesale trade3%
- fabricated metal products2.9%
- everything else45.4%
Import exposure
17.3% of inputs come from outside the EU
- rest of world29.4%
- China12.6%
- United States12.5%
- Switzerland11.4%
- United Kingdom7.7%
- South Korea3.9%
- Türkiye3.8%
- India3.6%
- everything else15%
rubber & plastics (C22). percent of sector's total inputs (suppliers) / total output (customers); OTHER row carries the remainder to 100. Source: Eurostat input-output data, 2026 edition, 2024 reference year (EU inter-country tables, industry by industry).
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