The PPWR calendar: every date that changes what you pack, label or pay

The calendar, 2026 to 2040

One table, one row per date. The fourth column is how much weight the date carries here: Regulation means we read it in the text of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on EUR-Lex; Regulation + FAQ means the Commission's own Q&A says the same thing; disputed means the two do not agree — see the next section. The FAQ is not binding law and says so about itself; the Regulation is.

When What changes Where it is written Confidence

12 August 2026 The Regulation applies. The 1994 Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive is repealed, with listed exceptions. Food-contact packaging may not be placed on the market with PFAS at or above 25 ppb for any PFAS, 250 ppb for the sum of PFAS, or 50 ppm including polymeric PFAS. The sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium stays capped at 100 mg/kg for all packaging. Art. 71, second subparagraph; Art. 70(1); Art. 5(5); Art. 5(4) Regulation + FAQ (ch. V q12 dates Art. 5(1) and (4) to 12 August 2026)

31 December 2026 Two Commission deadlines that shape your file: the report on substances of concern in packaging, prepared with the European Chemicals Agency, and the implementing act fixing the methodology for calculating recycled content. Art. 5(2); Art. 7(8) Regulation. Not a duty on you — but the recycled-content method it produces decides when your 2030 percentages start

12 February 2027 More Commission deadlines: the request to the European standardisation organisations for the updated minimisation methodology (the successor to EN 13428:2004), guidelines explaining Annex V and its exemptions, and a correction factor for tourism in the prevention target. Art. 10(3); Art. 25(6); Art. 43(2) Regulation + FAQ (ch. VII q3, ch. XII q1)

12 February 2028 The first date that bites. Sales packaging: whoever fills it must keep empty space to the minimum necessary for the packaging's function, including product protection — filler counts as empty space, protective gas does not. Compostability: permeable tea, coffee and other beverage bags and soft single-serve units, plus sticky labels on fruit and vegetables, must be compatible with industrial composting standards. All other packaging must be designed for material recycling. The Commission also owes the implementing act that fixes how the empty-space ratio is calculated. Art. 24(4); Art. 24(3); Art. 9(1); Art. 9(3); Art. 24(2) Disputed on the sales-packaging date — the Regulation says 12 February 2028, the FAQ's date list points to 1 January 2030. See below

12 August 2028 Packaging placed on the market must carry a harmonised, easily understandable label on its material composition for sorting — or 24 months from entry into force of the implementing acts on labelling, whichever is later. Compostable packaging must say so on that label, that it is not suitable for home composting and that it is not to be discarded in nature. Labelling of recycled content follows the same date and the same "whichever is later" clause. Art. 12(1); Art. 12(4) Regulation. The repeal of Decision 97/129/EC takes effect the same day (Art. 70(2))

1 January 2029 Member States must ensure separate collection of at least 90% per year by weight of single-use plastic beverage bottles up to three litres and single-use metal beverage containers up to three litres, and must set up deposit and return systems with a deposit charged at the point of sale. The duty is the Member State's; the label on the packaging and the deposit at the till are what you see. Art. 50(1); Art. 50(2) Regulation + FAQ (ch. XVI q11, ch. I summary)

12 February 2029 Reusable packaging placed on the market must bear a label saying it is reusable, with a QR code or other digital carrier for the re-use system and collection points — or 30 months from the implementing act, whichever is later. Art. 12(2) Regulation

1 January 2030 The wave. Minimisation: weight and volume reduced to the minimum necessary, and no double walls, false bottoms or unnecessary layers whose only aim is to increase the perceived volume. Empty space: a 50% cap for grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging — or three years after the empty-space method, whichever is later. Bans: the formats in Annex V, including single-use plastic packaging for pre-packed fresh fruit and vegetables under 1.5 kg and for food and drink consumed on the premises in the HORECA sector. Refill: final distributors with a sales area over 400 m² "shall endeavour" to give 10% of it to refill stations. Recyclability: grades A, B or C only. Recycled content: 30% for contact-sensitive PET (except single-use bottles), 10% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 30% for single-use plastic beverage bottles, 35% for other plastic packaging — or three years after the recycled-content method, whichever is later. Reuse: 40% of listed transport packaging, all of it between sites and within a member state, 10% of grouped packaging in the form of boxes other than cardboard. Prevention: member states cut packaging waste per person by at least 5% against 2018. Art. 10(1); Art. 10(2); Art. 24(1); Art. 25(1) with Annex V; Art. 28(5); Art. 6(3); Art. 7(1); Art. 29(1)–(3), (5); Art. 43(1)(a) Regulation. The FAQ's date list agrees on minimisation, the 50% cap and the recycled-content window (ch. X q2)

12 February 2032 The Commission reviews the 50% empty-space ratio and its exemptions, and looks at whether sales packaging should get a ratio of its own — including for toys, cosmetics, DIY kits and electronics. Art. 24(6) Regulation

1 January 2035 Packaging must be recycled at scale, not merely recyclable in design — or five years from the implementing act on recycling at scale, whichever is later. Member states cut packaging waste per person by at least 10% against 2018. Art. 6(2), point (b); Art. 43(1)(b) Regulation

1 January 2038 Only packaging in recyclability grades A or B may be placed on the market. Grade C, acceptable from 2030, falls away. Art. 6(3), third subparagraph Regulation

1 January 2040 Second stage of recycled content: 50% for contact-sensitive PET, 25% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 65% for single-use plastic beverage bottles and 65% for other plastic packaging. Reuse becomes an endeavour rather than a duty in places: 70% of listed transport packaging, 40% of beverage products in reusable packaging. Member states cut packaging waste per person by at least 15% against 2018. Art. 7(2); Art. 29(1), (6); Art. 43(1)(c) Regulation. This is where the "phased in until 2040 at the latest" line in the trade coverage lands

When	What changes	Where it is written	Confidence
12 August 2026	The Regulation applies. The 1994 Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive is repealed, with listed exceptions. Food-contact packaging may not be placed on the market with PFAS at or above 25 ppb for any PFAS, 250 ppb for the sum of PFAS, or 50 ppm including polymeric PFAS. The sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium stays capped at 100 mg/kg for all packaging.	`Art. 71`, second subparagraph; `Art. 70(1)`; `Art. 5(5)`; `Art. 5(4)`	Regulation + FAQ (ch. V q12 dates `Art. 5(1)` and `(4)` to 12 August 2026)
31 December 2026	Two Commission deadlines that shape your file: the report on substances of concern in packaging, prepared with the European Chemicals Agency, and the implementing act fixing the methodology for calculating recycled content.	`Art. 5(2)`; `Art. 7(8)`	Regulation. Not a duty on you — but the recycled-content method it produces decides when your 2030 percentages start
12 February 2027	More Commission deadlines: the request to the European standardisation organisations for the updated minimisation methodology (the successor to `EN 13428:2004`), guidelines explaining Annex V and its exemptions, and a correction factor for tourism in the prevention target.	`Art. 10(3)`; `Art. 25(6)`; `Art. 43(2)`	Regulation + FAQ (ch. VII q3, ch. XII q1)
12 February 2028	The first date that bites. Sales packaging: whoever fills it must keep empty space to the minimum necessary for the packaging's function, including product protection — filler counts as empty space, protective gas does not. Compostability: permeable tea, coffee and other beverage bags and soft single-serve units, plus sticky labels on fruit and vegetables, must be compatible with industrial composting standards. All other packaging must be designed for material recycling. The Commission also owes the implementing act that fixes how the empty-space ratio is calculated.	`Art. 24(4)`; `Art. 24(3)`; `Art. 9(1)`; `Art. 9(3)`; `Art. 24(2)`	Disputed on the sales-packaging date — the Regulation says 12 February 2028, the FAQ's date list points to 1 January 2030. See below
12 August 2028	Packaging placed on the market must carry a harmonised, easily understandable label on its material composition for sorting — or 24 months from entry into force of the implementing acts on labelling, whichever is later. Compostable packaging must say so on that label, that it is not suitable for home composting and that it is not to be discarded in nature. Labelling of recycled content follows the same date and the same "whichever is later" clause.	`Art. 12(1)`; `Art. 12(4)`	Regulation. The repeal of Decision 97/129/EC takes effect the same day (`Art. 70(2)`)
1 January 2029	Member States must ensure separate collection of at least 90% per year by weight of single-use plastic beverage bottles up to three litres and single-use metal beverage containers up to three litres, and must set up deposit and return systems with a deposit charged at the point of sale. The duty is the Member State's; the label on the packaging and the deposit at the till are what you see.	`Art. 50(1)`; `Art. 50(2)`	Regulation + FAQ (ch. XVI q11, ch. I summary)
12 February 2029	Reusable packaging placed on the market must bear a label saying it is reusable, with a QR code or other digital carrier for the re-use system and collection points — or 30 months from the implementing act, whichever is later.	`Art. 12(2)`	Regulation
1 January 2030	The wave. Minimisation: weight and volume reduced to the minimum necessary, and no double walls, false bottoms or unnecessary layers whose only aim is to increase the perceived volume. Empty space: a 50% cap for grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging — or three years after the empty-space method, whichever is later. Bans: the formats in Annex V, including single-use plastic packaging for pre-packed fresh fruit and vegetables under 1.5 kg and for food and drink consumed on the premises in the HORECA sector. Refill: final distributors with a sales area over 400 m² "shall endeavour" to give 10% of it to refill stations. Recyclability: grades A, B or C only. Recycled content: 30% for contact-sensitive PET (except single-use bottles), 10% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 30% for single-use plastic beverage bottles, 35% for other plastic packaging — or three years after the recycled-content method, whichever is later. Reuse: 40% of listed transport packaging, all of it between sites and within a member state, 10% of grouped packaging in the form of boxes other than cardboard. Prevention: member states cut packaging waste per person by at least 5% against 2018.	`Art. 10(1)`; `Art. 10(2)`; `Art. 24(1)`; `Art. 25(1)` with Annex V; `Art. 28(5)`; `Art. 6(3)`; `Art. 7(1)`; `Art. 29(1)`–`(3)`, `(5)`; `Art. 43(1)(a)`	Regulation. The FAQ's date list agrees on minimisation, the 50% cap and the recycled-content window (ch. X q2)
12 February 2032	The Commission reviews the 50% empty-space ratio and its exemptions, and looks at whether sales packaging should get a ratio of its own — including for toys, cosmetics, DIY kits and electronics.	`Art. 24(6)`	Regulation
1 January 2035	Packaging must be recycled at scale, not merely recyclable in design — or five years from the implementing act on recycling at scale, whichever is later. Member states cut packaging waste per person by at least 10% against 2018.	`Art. 6(2)`, point (b); `Art. 43(1)(b)`	Regulation
1 January 2038	Only packaging in recyclability grades A or B may be placed on the market. Grade C, acceptable from 2030, falls away.	`Art. 6(3)`, third subparagraph	Regulation
1 January 2040	Second stage of recycled content: 50% for contact-sensitive PET, 25% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 65% for single-use plastic beverage bottles and 65% for other plastic packaging. Reuse becomes an endeavour rather than a duty in places: 70% of listed transport packaging, 40% of beverage products in reusable packaging. Member states cut packaging waste per person by at least 15% against 2018.	`Art. 7(2)`; `Art. 29(1)`, `(6)`; `Art. 43(1)(c)`	Regulation. This is where the "phased in until 2040 at the latest" line in the trade coverage lands

Two rows are not in the table on purpose. The transition out of the old regime is one: until 31 December 2029 the minimisation rules of the repealed Directive continue to apply, which the Commission attributes to Art. 70(1)(b), and so does the standard EN 13428:2004. And the substance report of 31 December 2026 may end in lower heavy-metal limits by delegated act — Art. 5(7) allows the Commission to lower them, so the 100 mg/kg figure is a floor, not a ceiling that is fixed forever.

The sales-packaging date is disputed

This is the one place where a careful reader can end up with two different dates, and it is not our invention — it is a real disagreement between the text of the Regulation and the Commission's own Q&A. It matters because the sales-packaging duty is the one that reaches ordinary parcels.

What the Regulation says: Art. 24(4): "By 12 February 2028, the economic operators who fill sales packaging shall ensure that empty space is reduced to the minimum necessary for ensuring the packaging functionality, including product protection." Read plainly, that is a duty from 12 February 2028, and it is how a TÜV SÜD consumer briefing of 7 October 2026 reads it too ("Ab Februar 2028 müssen Verkaufsverpackungen ihren Leerraum aufs Nötigste beschränken").
What the Commission's FAQ says: Its list of application dates puts minimisation under Art. 10(1)–(2) at 1 January 2030, and for void space it says: "as regards void space in sales packaging, see Art. 10". Its empty-space chapter answers the "minimum necessary" question in Art. 24(4) without naming any date at all. On that reading the sales-packaging duty starts in 2030.
What governs: The Regulation. The FAQ's own front matter says it reflects only the views of its authors and that the Commission is not liable for reuse; where the two differ, the text on EUR-Lex decides. That does not make the FAQ wrong about your file, though — it tells you what the Commission's own staff will say when asked.
The practical reading: Plan for 12 February 2028 and be pleased if the Commission's reading prevails. The measure itself is cheap and reversible: know the internal volume of your boxes against the volume of what goes in them, and stop treating filler as a substitute for the right size. Nothing in Art. 24(4) depends on the calculation method that is still owed under Art. 24(2) — that method is for the 50% cap on grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging.

Our own page carried the 2030 framing as a flat statement. We have corrected it: the void-fill note now says the sales-packaging duty is dated 12 February 2028 in the Regulation and 1 January 2030 in the FAQ, and prints both. See Void fill and the PPWR minimisation duty.

Where the briefing and the Regulation part ways

We checked the consumer briefing that prompted this page against the Regulation, line by line. Most of it holds. Four things do not, and they are worth knowing because they are the kind of detail that gets repeated.

"Compostability standards from next February"

No February 2027 obligation exists. Art. 9(1) dates the compostability requirement for beverage bags, soft single-serve units and produce stickers to 12 February 2028, and the Commission's FAQ says the same in as many words ("As Article 9 on compostability applies from 12 February 2028"). The only February 2027 item in this area belongs to the Commission: a request to the standardisation organisations.

"Coffee capsules must be compostable"

Only half true. The mandatory compostability route covers permeable bags and soft single-serve units (Art. 3(1), point (1)(f)) and produce stickers. Rigid capsules and hard pads (Art. 3(1), point (1)(g)) are covered only where a member state has chosen to require it under Art. 9(2)(a), which it may do only where bio-waste collection and treatment infrastructure exists. The briefing's line about "special recyclability rules for coffee capsules" is not something we could find in the Regulation.

"Stricter heavy-metal limits"

The PFAS limits are new and are the sharp end. The heavy-metal limit is not: Art. 5(4) restates the sum of 100 mg/kg for lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium that already applied under the repealed Directive, and recital 72 says so. It can be lowered later by delegated act under Art. 5(7) — it has not been.

"At least 10% for refill stations"

Softer than it sounds. Art. 28(5) says final distributors with a sales area of more than 400 m² "shall endeavour to" dedicate 10% of that area to refill stations for food and non-food products from 1 January 2030. The other 2030 items in the table are duties; this one is an effort obligation. The single-use plastic bans the briefing lists do have a date — 1 January 2030, Art. 25(1) — and its "August 2028" for material information matches Art. 12(1).

In Germany: the VerpackDG

The Regulation is directly applicable, so most of the calendar above needs no German act. What the national law supplies is the machinery around it — enforcement, competences and fines.

The act: Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz (VerpackDG) — full title "Gesetz zur Durchführung der Verordnung (EU) 2025/40 betreffend Verpackungen", dated 13 July 2026 (BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 207).
The date: TÜV SÜD states it entered into force on 12 August 2026, the day the Regulation started to apply, and the act's own transitional rules split on exactly that line: they speak of the registration and system-participation duties of the old Verpackungsgesetz as in force until 11 August 2026, with the first notification deadline on 12 November 2026.
What it adds: Registration, system participation, data reporting and completeness declarations for the German market; the authorised-representative duty for foreign producers; and the fines that go with them. The Germany desk follows that side, and the registry deadlines are the ones a small seller actually meets first.

What to do with this

Not legal advice, and not a compliance programme. Three rows of the table are close enough to need data from suppliers now, and one is close enough to need nothing but a tape measure.

1. The 2028 rows: ask suppliers now: If you sell tea, coffee, pads or loose produce, ask now which of your items is a permeable bag or soft pod and which is a rigid capsule, and what the supplier's compostability certificate says. Certification takes longer than a season, and Art. 9(1) applies on 12 February 2028.
2. The 2028 substance and label rows: PFAS limits are live today, and run through coatings on food-contact board — burger boxes, snack packaging, freezer trays, bakery cartons. Ask for the declaration rather than the assurance. On labelling, the label design is the Commission's job, but the material data behind it is yours.
3. The 2030 rows: get the numbers, not the boxes: Recycled content is averaged across a plant and a year, and recyclability is graded per packaging category, so this is a conversation with your converter — starting with which of your formats has a plausible route to grade A or B by 2038.
4. And the one you can do this afternoon: Measure a box: internal volume, and the volume of what goes in it. Keep the number and the date. That is not a compliance answer, and it is the thing every one of these duties will ask you for.

Not legal advice. Nothing here is a substitute for the text of the Regulation, and no date on this page has been confirmed with a market surveillance authority. Where a date carries a "whichever is later" clause, that clause decides the date, and two of the underlying Commission acts were still outstanding when we last checked.

Sources

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) — EUR-Lex, English text Official, and the governing text. Read in full for this page — this time we did get the text, having failed to when we wrote the void-fill note. Everything in the "Where it is written" column is taken from it: Art. 3(1), points (1)(f) and (1)(g) for the compostability categories; Art. 5(1), (2), (4), (5) and (7) for substances of concern, the 100 mg/kg heavy-metal sum and the PFAS limits; Art. 6(2) and (3) for recyclability and the 2035 and 2038 steps; Art. 7(1), (2) and (8) for recycled content; Art. 9 for compostability; Art. 10 for minimisation; Art. 12 for labelling; Art. 24 for empty space; Art. 25(1) and (6) and Annex V for the bans; Art. 28(5) for refill; Art. 29 for reuse; Art. 43 for prevention targets; Art. 50(1) and (2) for deposit and return; Art. 70 and Art. 71 for application and transition dates; and recital 72 on the heavy-metal limit not being new
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 — EUR-Lex, German text Official. Read to check the one date this page turns on, because it reads oddly in both versions: Art. 24(4) — „Bis zum 12. Februar 2028 stellen die Wirtschaftsakteure, die die Verkaufsverpackungen befüllen, sicher, dass der Leerraum auf das für die Gewährleistung der Verpackungsfunktionen, einschließlich des Produktschutzes, erforderliche Mindestmaß beschränkt ist."
European Commission — PPWR Frequently Asked Questions, 2nd edition (KH-01-26-068-EN-N), August 2026 Official, not binding. Read for this page from the copy we mirror and describe here. Source for the divergences we flag: chapter X question 2, whose date list puts minimisation at 1 January 2030 and sends void space in sales packaging to Art. 10; chapter XI questions 1 to 4, which set out the 50% cap, the obligated party, the "minimum necessary" test and the empty-space method due by 12 February 2028; chapter VI question 1 for compostability applying from 12 February 2028; chapter VII questions 1 and 3 for minimisation dates and the standardisation request; chapter V question 12 for Art. 5(1) and (4) applying to all packaging from 12 August 2026; and chapter I's summary of main provisions
TÜV SÜD — "Lebensmittel: TÜV SÜD informiert über die neue EU-Verpackungsverordnung" (press release, 7 October 2026) Secondary, and the briefing this page answers. Read in full. Source for the "Ab Februar 2028" void-space line, the "ab nächstem Februar" compostability line we could not confirm, the "strengere Grenzwerte" for heavy metals, the refill figure, the 2029 deposit-return line and the statement that the VerpackDG entered into force on 12 August 2026. A certification body's consumer summary, not the legal text, and it carries commercial interest in PPWR conformity work
Wochenblatt Reporter — "Neue EU-Regeln für Lebensmittelverpackungen" (7 October 2026) Secondary. The republication that put the briefing in front of us, read in full. It carries the same dates as the TÜV SÜD release and adds the "Nach Angaben von TÜV SÜD" attribution, which is why both are listed as secondary on every row above
Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz (VerpackDG) — full text, gesetze-im-internet.de Official text, non-official consolidation. Source for the title, the date of 13 July 2026 and the citation BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 207, and for § 68, whose transitional rules distinguish the old Verpackungsgesetz as in force until 11 August 2026 and set the first notification deadlines on 12 August 2026 and 12 November 2026. The consolidated text does not print an entry-into-force article, so the exact in-force date comes from the transition rules and the TÜV SÜD release

Help us keep this page honest

This page is a table, so it is only as good as its rows. The most useful thing anyone could add is a row we cannot write from Vienna: what a market surveillance authority in your country actually asks for, and when. If your Kammer, your Verband or your authority has published its own reading of Art. 24(4) — especially if it takes the 2030 side — send it over.

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