One year on from the adoption of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, and with roughly six months to go until the next phase of implementation begins, ambition has turned into action. Bilyana Ignatova, VP of Public Affairs and Head of EU Policy at TOMRA, takes a closer look at the past, present and future of the PPWR.
As Europe works to build a more competitive and resilient economy, the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is one of the defining steps being taken.
For the first time, Europe has a single, directly enforceable framework that governs packaging across all of the bloc’s member states. This consistency removes fragmented efforts, creates a level playing field, and sends a clear market signal: packaging placed on the EU market must perform within a circular system.
The question now is not whether change is coming, but whether we will move fast enough to deliver it. Clear, timely and practical implementation guidance will be essential for all actors across the value chain can prepare and invest with confidence.
From policy agreement to system transformation
Packaging represents around 40% of EU plastic use, accounting for more than a third of municipal waste. While progress has been made under previous directives, collection and recycling rates remain uneven, and valuable material is still lost.
The PPWR addresses this through binding requirements that span the full packaging lifecycle. It reinforces the 90% separate collection target for plastic beverage bottles by 2029 and extends equivalent ambitions to aluminium cans. To achieve this, member states without Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) will be required to introduce them. Well-designed DRS consistently delivers collection rates above 90% - scaling them across Europe is one of the fastest ways to secure high-quality material streams for recycling.
For plastics, the target of mandatory recycled content thresholds of 10-35% by 2030 – rising to between 25%-65% by 2040 – creates a strong demand pull for secondary raw materials. At the same time, new reuse obligations for certain beverage and food formats embed circular models into everyday consumption.
Taken together, these measures represent a structural shift. The PPWR is not about incremental optimisation. It is about redesigning Europe’s packaging system.
Awareness is high. Implementation must follow
Across the industry, awareness of the PPWR is growing, with large brands, retailers, and producers mapping their portfolios against future criteria and engaging in policy discussions at national level.
However, awareness now needs to convert into readiness. Recyclability requirements under the PPWR are inherently transformational. They do not only require packaging to be recyclable by design, but recyclable in practice and at scale. That means redesigning packaging formats, while simultaneously ensuring sufficient collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure is in place across Europe.
Therefore, investment decisions – whether in redesigning of packaging, DRS, advanced sorting facilities or high-quality recycling capacity – cannot wait until 2029 as infrastructure planning, permitting, and construction timelines mean systems must be in place well before regulatory targets take effect. That is why it is great to see several EU Member States move towards DRS implementation – more will have to follow.
Smart policy design, including eco-modulated extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees, will also be essential to reward better-performing packaging and ensure fair cost allocation across the value chain.
However, no single actor can deliver compliance alone. Producers, retailers, recyclers, waste operators, and technology providers must align around common standards and long-term material flows. Ultimately, circularity is not the result of individual action, but a system-level outcome.
What should be happening now
As implementation approaches, alignment on practical guidance will be critical to translate regulatory ambition to real-world delivery. Businesses should also be:
- Conducting detailed portfolio assessments against 2030 recyclability thresholds
- Engaging proactively in DRS roll-outs and national implementation processes
- Securing access to high-quality recycled feedstock through long-term partnerships
- Integrating reuse and circular design into core business planning
A framework for acceleration
The PPWR delivers what industry has long called for: regulatory clarity and consistency across Europe. As a directly enforceable framework, it reduces fragmentation and establishes a common direction of travel.
For Europe’s circular economy, this is a defining moment. If implemented with ambition, the regulation has the potential to significantly increase high-quality material recovery, reduce dependence on virgin resources, and strengthen Europe’s industrial resilience.
One year on, and with just six months until the next critical phase, the opportunity, and responsibility, is clear. The PPWR sets the course. Now, decisive action is needed to ensure Europe’s packaging system is ready to deliver.
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