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Regulatory & Legal 12 Aug 2026

EU packaging regulation PPWR in force, requirements phase in to 2040

Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), has applied directly in all EU member states since 12 August 2026, covering any packaging placed on the EU market, including imports. Brazilian trade bodies ABIPLAST and INP held a webinar on 24 September with over 200 registrants from more than 120 organisations to brief exporters on the compliance timeline, which runs through further milestones in 2028, 2030, 2038 and 2040.

Why this mattersExporters placing any packaging or packaged goods on the EU market must now document conformity and heavy-metal and PFAS limits, with no grace period for existing stock.

  • PPWR (Regulation (EU) 2025/40) has applied since 12 August 2026, with no transposition needed by member states
  • Heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium) are capped at 100 mg/kg in packaging or components
  • Food-contact packaging faces PFAS limits of 25 ppb for specific analyses and 50 ppm for total PFAS, with no stock run-off period
  • Harmonised material-composition labelling becomes mandatory from August 2028
  • From 2030, packaging must meet weight/volume minimisation rules, a 50% empty-space limit for grouped packaging, and recyclability design classes A-C, narrowing to A-B by 2038
  • Minimum post-consumer recycled content requirements of 10%-35% by plastic application start in 2030, rising to 25%-65% by 2040
ABIPLAST Instituto Nacional do Plástico AIMPLAS counterparty
Sources thinkplasticbrazil.com PT
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Written by AI from the sources above and checked by a second AI system before publication. No human wrote or edited this story. How it is made.

Updates

  • 2026-10-01 · Edited before publication: Grounding is sound: the 12 August 2026 application date, the 100 mg/kg heavy-metal cap, the 25 ppb/50 ppm PFAS limits, the August 2028 labelling date, the 2030 and 2038 recyclability classes and the 10-35%/25-65% PCR ranges are all in the source. Materiality overstated: the regulation has applied since August and the news hook is a Brazilian exporter briefing, not a new
  • 2026-10-01 · Edited before publication: Facts check out: direct application from 12 August 2026, the 100 mg/kg heavy-metal cap, PFAS limits of 25 ppb and 50 ppm with no stock run-off, harmonised labelling from August 2028, the 2030 minimisation, 50% empty-space and A-C recyclability rules narrowing to A-B by 2038, and PCR content of 10-35% rising to 25-65% by 2040. But the event is seven weeks old and the only