The first major PPWR milestone has passed, but a lot of questions remain around how the packaging industry can actually implement its key requirements.
Ahead of the 2026 Sustainable Packaging Summit, we caught up with Anna Perlina, sustainable packaging consultant at Integrity Solutions, to discuss this issue and other the other talking points that will shape this year’s conversation.
Click here to learn more about attending this year’s Sustainable Packaging Summit.
What do you think will be the key talking points at the 2026 Sustainable Packaging Summit?
I remember that at the Sustainable Packaging Summit 2025 last year, there was a panel with European Commissioner Jessika Roswall and industry leaders discussing the (non-)readiness of the industry for the first PPWR milestone on 12 August 2026.
One of the panelists asked the audience to raise their hands if they had a Declaration of Conformity prepared. I think there were none. He then asked whether the audience had an understanding of what a DoC should look like, and only a limited number of hands were raised.
Now we have definitely passed that stage and progressed a lot as an industry. And I think that at this year’s SPS, we will continue coming back to PPWR and its next steps, as there are still many unknowns.
I anticipate conversations about the ineffective start, where companies had to figure out who was responsible for what and how to implement the requirements, something that should be avoided for the next obligations. There will be a clear demand for implementation clarity, and no room for interpretation can be afforded when it comes to requirements related to packaging design, as investments will be at stake.
In this context, I also expect talks about circularity in practice, which concerns technology readiness, scalability, and economics.
Despite the recent August deadline, the PPWR is far from a dead issue, and we expect it to feature heavily in discussion at the Summit. In your view, what is one element of PPWR compliance that more packaging professionals need to be made aware of?
Yes, indeed, the PPWR journey is only starting, and there is much more to come. PPWR was intended to be a packaging design improvement regulation aimed at reducing packaging waste and its environmental impact. However, the more I get involved, the more I observe that it is actually a data management project.
If we look only at the requirements that became applicable on 12 August 2026, they are largely about collecting data and creating documentation around it, with both internal and external data flows. It is already complex to collect the data, but now we also need to keep it up to date while packaging changes happen all the time and trigger updates to data and documentation.
If we add all the upcoming requirements to the picture, the data management processes become impossible to manage manually and increasingly unreliable. Therefore, I see 4 key factors for successful PPWR implementation:
1. Clearly defined PPWR role(s) and packaging classification according to PPWR definitions to ensure that the correct obligations and requirements are identified and acted upon.
2. Granular and readily available data.
3. Effective data exchange across the value chain.
4. A reliable and effective change management system that supports and connects the 3 points above.
We see a lot of concerning/negative packaging stories every day, so much so that it can be hard to remember positive stories about innovation and sustainability successes. What has been your favourite packaging-related good news story from the past year?
I think the majority of the negative stories in the EU context have been triggered by regulatory uncertainty. The industry was, and still is, stressed by the number of requirements where the “what” and the “how” are still not clear, leaving room for individual interpretations and requiring time and resources to figure out what needs to be done on top of running the business. That turbulence is probably inevitable given the transformation the industry is going through in the EU.
However, I have also seen positive stories from my clients, who went through all the hurdles of implementing the first PPWR milestone and got things done despite the challenges.
I also see a strong push for compliant packaging innovation and all kinds of solutions, including digitalization in the packaging space, from reusable palletization solutions replacing strapping and stretch film to AI-powered packaging assessments and compliance checks.
Let’s admit the need created by PPWR has generated significant business opportunities and opened new innovation horizons, taking us another step closer to the circular economy vision, moving from talk to action, despite the turbulence along the way.
When you think about the 2026 Sustainable Packaging Summit, what is the part you are most excited for?
At this year’s Summit, there will once again be a great panel, “European Regulation at the Crossroads,” featuring a European Commission representative, EUROPEN, and industry leaders. At last year’s event, European Commissioner Jessika Roswall confirmed that the PPWR implementation date of 12 August 2026 would not be delayed, as a delay would only prolong uncertainty for the industry. So I am curious to hear the key discussions of this year and learn which PPWR challenges will be raised and debated.
I look forward to meeting the packaging community and having conversations about how PPWR implementation is progressing. Hopefully, I can help with a few tips.
I am also looking forward to participating in the PPWR Q&A session alongside my colleagues and moderating the panel “Debate: Fixing the Circular Economy,” where we will discuss the roadblocks to and enablers of circularity.
And the party! I think we need to celebrate how far we’ve come over the past 12 months.
If you liked this story, you might also enjoy:
The ultimate guide to global packaging sustainability regulation in 2026
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