EU publishes Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR), repealing Directive 94/62/EC

The EU has published Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) in the Official Journal (OJ L, 2025/40, 22.1.2025). The PPWR replaces/repeals the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 94/62/EC and establishes a directly applicable, harmonised EU-wide framework for packaging sustainability and packaging-waste prevention/management (including recyclability design requirements, recycled content provisions, packaging minimisation, labelling and EPR-related obligations and governance mechanisms). Compliance teams should treat this as the controlling legal instrument for EU packaging requirements going forward and align product/packaging design, labelling, EPR registration/reporting readiness and supply-chain evidence collection to the regulation’s phased requirements and forthcoming secondary acts.