The 12 August 2026 deadline is no longer a distant warning. It is an immediate compliance requirement, and most of the industry is either unprepared, misinformed, or quietly hoping someone else will deal with it.
RePack has worked on reusable e-commerce packaging since 2013. We were involved in shaping this regulation during its preparation, and we felt its consequences directly when the final text killed provisions we had built our original business model around. We are not neutral observers, but we are informed ones.
Reading it for the legal detail? Go to the full reference version.
12 August 2026
What is actually enforceable today
There is a lot of noise about recyclability grades, reuse targets and void fill limits. Most of it is real. Almost none of it applies yet. Three things landed in August 2026.
- A Declaration of ConformityEach packaging type first placed on the EU market needs a signed Declaration backed by technical documentation. It is not linked to CE marking, and no contract transfers the manufacturer's legal responsibility for compliance.
- The heavy metals limitLead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium, combined, below 100 mg/kg in the packaging or any component. You need a test report saying so.
- Minimising substances of concernA documented assessment of the substances present in materials, components and emissions.
And one that is not new. EPR registration in every Member State where you sell has existed for years under the previous directive. Many cross-border sellers have never registered. PPWR did not create that duty, but it is making it visible.
First question: which role are you?
Everything else follows from the answer, and it is the step most operators skip. You can hold more than one of these at once.
Manufacturer
You order packaging made to your specifications, or your brand is on it.
The Declaration and the technical documentation are yours. A lab may run the assessment and a representative may draft the Declaration, but you cannot delegate the documentation and you stay legally responsible. Custom packaging makes you the manufacturer whether or not your logo is on it, because you decided the specifications.
Importer
You buy generic unbranded packaging from outside the EU.
Different duties. Confirm the third-country manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment and drew up the Declaration, check the identification requirements are met, make sure the documents travel with the packaging, and add your own name, address and contact details.
Producer
You first make packaging available in a Member State.
This is the EPR role: registration, reporting and fees, market by market. It is separate from the two above and it is assessed country by country. Selling into Germany, France, Finland and the Netherlands means four registrations, and in most cases registration has to precede the first shipment.
What lands when
Several later obligations depend on implementing acts that have not been adopted yet. Where that is the case, the clock has not started.
Declaration, heavy metals, substances of concern
The three obligations above. Existing stock produced but not yet placed on the market does not have to be destroyed or relabelled, and packaging already on the market may stay there.
Harmonised sorting labels
A physical pictogram label showing material composition. Due 24 months after the implementing acts enter into force. Those acts were due in August 2026 and had not been adopted, so the clock has not started. If you are designing packaging now, leave room for the label.
Labels and data carriers for reusable packaging
Applies only where packaging is placed on the market as reusable, which is a system question, not a design one. Open-loop systems without an operator are exempt.
Recyclability grades A to C
Packaging will need a grade to be placed on the EU market. Multi-material construction that combines laminated board, film inserts and adhesives is likely to be harder to qualify than mono-material. The detailed criteria are still pending, so nobody can promise a grade today.
Packaging minimisation
Packaging reduced to the minimum needed for functionality.
Empty space in transport and e-commerce packaging
For grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging, empty space capped at 50% of internal volume. Applies from 1 January 2030, or three years after the Art. 24(2) implementing act enters into force, whichever is later. Bubble wrap, paper cuttings and foam fillers all count as empty space.
Digital marking and the Digital Product Passport
The direction is clear, the detail is not. Leave room for digital integration. Do not treat the substances list or the marking method as settled.
The regulator will warn you first. Your customers will not.
Non-compliant packaging is not automatically banned. A Member State has to require you to end the non-compliance first, which means a warning and a reasonable opportunity to fix it. Prohibition, recall or withdrawal only follow if it persists. The Commission has told market surveillance authorities to support responsible operators rather than lead with sanctions.
The commercial risk arrives sooner. B2B partners, marketplaces and enterprise buyers are already asking for Declarations of Conformity as part of procurement qualification. If you cannot produce one when asked, that is a lost contract, a delisted product or a paused shipment.
Marketplaces make it concrete. A platform that lets consumers buy from you has to obtain your producer registration details for the consumer's Member State, plus a self-certification that your packaging EPR obligations are met, before it lets you sell. That is an enforcement route that does not wait for a regulator to take an interest.
Three actions that matter right now
- Establish who the PPWR manufacturer is for each packaging type.If your supplier holds that role, request its signed Declaration and supporting documents. If your company holds it, request the Article 16 information from the supplier and compile your own documentation and Declaration.
- Check your EPR registration in every Member State where you sell.This is separate from the manufacturer question and it is assessed country by country. It is also the one most cross-border sellers have quietly skipped.
- Audit both substance obligations.The heavy metals limit and the minimisation of substances of concern are different requirements with different methods. Ask for the evidence in writing. Commission an independent assessment if it is not available.
Ask your packaging supplier these questions
Suppliers are required to give the manufacturer all information and documentation needed to demonstrate conformity, including the relevant technical documentation. The Commission has confirmed a supplier cannot refuse. Copy this and send it.
Declaration of Conformity
- Can you provide a signed Declaration of Conformity for each packaging type you supply to us?
- Is it backed by a complete technical dossier, including manufacturing drawings, material descriptions and harmonised standard references?
- Who is listed as the manufacturer on the Declaration, your company or ours?
Substance compliance
- Can you provide a Certificate of Analysis confirming lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium are below 100 mg/kg for each component?
- Which CEN or EN method was used to verify it?
- Can you confirm the minimisation assessment for substances of concern, and the method used?
- Has the packaging been tested for PFAS content?
Material documentation
- Can you provide full material composition data, including coatings, adhesives, inks and lamination layers?
- Are your fibre or material inputs traceable to certified sources such as FSC?
- At what level is the packaging traceable: item, model or production batch?
- In which languages can you supply supporting documentation?
Recyclability
- How are you preparing to assess the packaging against the recyclability criteria once the delegated act is in force?
- Is the packaging mono-material, or does it combine materials that need separating before recycling?
- Are all components easy to disassemble for separate recycling streams?
If you will place it on the market as reusable
- Does the packaging already carry a machine-readable code to track rotations?
- Is there a plan to add the required label and digital data carrier before the deadline?
- Which collection, reconditioning and redistribution system does it circulate in, and who operates it?
- Which design-side evidence can you supply, and which parts must we produce ourselves?
If your supplier cannot answer these clearly and in writing, you have a compliance gap to close.
Designed for reuse is not the same as placed on the market as reusable
Most operators assume the classification travels with the packaging. It does not, and this one catches people out.
Design is only half the test. The other half is the system: collection, reconditioning, redistribution, and counting the rotations. The operator that first makes reusable packaging available in a Member State has to ensure a compliant system is in place there.
So the same physical box can be treated differently in two customers' hands. One puts a system behind it and places it on the market as reusable. Another buys the identical design and uses it once. The second does not become reusable packaging just because the supplier designed it to last.
That changes the work. Reusable classification brings system duties, the reusable label and data carrier when they apply, rotation counting, and ten year documentation retention instead of five.
Treat supplier claims the same way. A supplier can accurately say packaging is designed for reuse if it can substantiate the design. Saying it is reusable, or implying a reuse system exists when none does, is a different claim and needs evidence for the full regulatory position.
Where RePack Vie sits
EU-manufactured and built from materials that are straightforward to certify. The tray is a starch and cellulose compound, over 80% bio-based carbon content, recyclable with paper at a validated 99% fibre recovery rate, FSC certified fibres, heavy metal content well below the Article 5 limits. The sleeve is standard mono-material paperboard. Components are designed to come apart for separate recycling.
Vie meets the design-side criteria for reuse, and we supply the material, design and test evidence customers need for that part of their technical documentation.
We do not operate a reuse system. A customer placing Vie on the market as reusable has to ensure its own system meets the requirements and count its own rotations. That evidence is theirs to supply, not ours. A customer that does not run a reuse system is not placing Vie on the market as reusable, and those duties simply do not arise.
Vie already carries a machine-readable QR code, so if a customer does place it as reusable, the data carrier does not need retrofitting later.
The EPR arithmetic sits apart from all of this. A durable box bought once and used for four journeys is one unit made available. Four single-use boxes are four. That holds whether or not the packaging is classified as reusable.
Work through it with us
If you want to know what PPWR compliance looks like in practice for your current packaging setup, we are happy to go through it with you. No obligation, and no pretence that we are your lawyers.
Need the legal detail?
The full reference version covers the article-by-article requirements, the manufacturer and importer cases in full, EPR mechanics, every conditional date, and the complete source list.
This article reflects Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and the European Commission's PPWR Frequently Asked Questions, 2nd edition, August 2026. The regulation includes delegated and implementing acts still being developed. Verify current requirements with your legal and compliance advisers. RePack is not a legal services provider.