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PPWD Environment & Waste 12 min

PPWD: Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (Directive 94/62/EC), explained

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive set the first EU-wide rules for all packaging, essential requirements, heavy-metal limits, recycling targets and producer responsibility, binding producers, fillers, importers and distributors. It was repealed from 12 August 2026 by Regulation (EU) 2025/40; only its marking, minimisation and reporting provisions survive, until 2028 or 2029.

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Reviewed 24 September 2026 by Conphora compliance team · Next review 13 March 2027 · Not legal advice

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Who it applies to

Covered by the act

  • All packaging placed on the market in the Union and all packaging waste, whether used or released at industrial, commercial, office, shop, service, household or any other level, regardless of the material used
  • Sales or primary packaging, grouped or secondary packaging and transport or tertiary packaging, of plastic, paper and board, glass, metal, wood or composite materials, plus non-returnable items used for the same purposes
  • The economic operators named in Article 3, point 11: suppliers of packaging materials, packaging producers and converters, fillers and users, importers, traders and distributors, authorities and statutory organizations
  • Member States, which carry almost every duty in the directive: transposition, the return, collection and recovery systems, the extended producer responsibility schemes, the recovery and recycling targets, the databases and the reporting to the Commission

Derived and downstream products

  • Since 12 August 2026 the directive is repealed and Regulation (EU) 2025/40 governs packaging; references to the directive are construed as references to that regulation and read through the correlation table in its Annex XIII (Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Art. 70(1) and (5))
  • Four groups of provisions survive the repeal: Article 8(2) until 30 months from the entry into force of the labelling implementing act under Article 12(6) of the regulation, Article 9(1) and (2) for the first indent of point 1 of Annex II until 31 December 2029, Article 5(2) and (3), Article 6(1) points (d) and (e) and Article 6a until 31 December 2028, and Article 12(3a), (3b), (3c) and (4) until 31 December 2028, with the transmission of data to the Commission until 31 December 2029 (Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Art. 70(1))
  • Transport packaging does not include road, rail, ship and air containers, and items that are an integral part of a product, necessary to contain, support or preserve it throughout its lifetime and disposed of with it are not packaging; Annex I, as replaced by Commission Directive 2013/2/EU, lists the borderline cases (Art. 3(1) and Annex I)
  • Only Article 9 and Article 18 bound products directly: packaging could be placed on the market only if it met the Annex II essential requirements, and Member States could not impede packaging that satisfied the directive; the targets in Articles 5, 6 and 7 bind Member States, not individual companies (Art. 9(1), Art. 18 and Art. 6(1))
  • Packaging complying with harmonised standards whose references were published in the Official Journal, or with notified national standards where no harmonised standard existed, was presumed to meet the essential requirements (Art. 9(2) and (3))
  • Commission Decisions 2001/171/EC for glass packaging and 2009/292/EC for plastic crates and pallets in a closed and controlled chain, the two derogations from the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit, remain in force and continue to apply until repealed by delegated acts under Article 5(8) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Art. 70(3))

Roles under the act

Packaging producer or converter, and supplier of packaging materials

The directive has no definition of manufacturer; Article 3, point 11 lists the economic operators in relation to packaging as suppliers of packaging materials, packaging producers and converters, fillers and users, importers, traders and distributors, authorities and statutory organizations, and Member States decided in transposition which of them carried which duty. Under the Danish order the duties to document composition and heavy-metal content fall on the operator that manufactures or imports packaging.

Source · Art. 3, point 11Source · § 14
Filler or user of packaging (the brand owner that packs or fills products)

One of the economic operators of Article 3, point 11. Anyone who makes packaging available in Denmark must be able to show on request that it meets the essential requirements and the heavy-metal limit, and a filler that first makes packaged products available in Denmark is also a producer for extended producer responsibility.

Source · Art. 3, point 11Source · § 13
Importer

One of the economic operators of Article 3, point 11. Under the Danish order the operator that manufactures or imports packaging must hold the composition information of annex 3 for five years and produce it and the heavy-metal documentation on request from Miljøstyrelsen, and an operator that exports or imports packaging must keep the annual number of packaging units and the materials used for five years.

Source · Art. 3, point 11Source · § 14 and § 19
Trader or distributor, including retailers

One of the economic operators of Article 3, point 11. Member States had to ensure that return, collection and recovery systems were open to the economic operators of the sectors concerned and applied to imported products on non-discriminatory terms; in Denmark points of sale must also charge the statutory minimum price for certain carrier bags.

Source · Art. 3, point 11, and Art. 7(1)Source · § 12
Producer under an extended producer responsibility scheme

The directive required Member States to have extended producer responsibility schemes for all packaging by 31 December 2024, set up in accordance with Articles 8 and 8a of Directive 2008/98/EC, whose definition of an extended producer responsibility scheme the directive adopts; who counts as a producer was therefore set nationally. In Denmark a producer that makes packaging available must register, or have its representative register, in the producer register kept by Dansk Producentansvar at the latest 14 days before it starts.

Source · Art. 3, point 2c, and Art. 7(2)Source · § 20 and § 21

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  1. Road, rail, ship and air freight containers · any · any Not in scope Road, rail, ship and air containers are excluded from the definition of transport packaging and were never covered by the directive. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 keeps the same exclusion, so nothing changed for them on 12 August 2026. Source · Art. 3(1), point (c)Source · Art. 3(1), point (1)
  2. Items that are not packaging under the Annex I criteria, such as tea bags, printer cartridges, tool boxes, sausage skins, wrapping paper sold separately and clothes hangers sold on their own · any · any Not in scope An item is not packaging when it is an integral part of a product, necessary to contain, support or preserve that product throughout its lifetime, and all elements are intended to be used, consumed or disposed of together. Annex I, as replaced by Commission Directive 2013/2/EU, lists the borderline cases decided this way, among them tea bags, wax layers around cheese, sausage skins, tool boxes, printer cartridges, soluble detergent bags, clothes hangers sold separately, wrapping paper sold separately, disposable cutlery, stirrers and RFID tags. The same three criteria and an equivalent list are now in Article 3 and Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2025/40, so an item outside the directive is normally outside the regulation too, but check the regulation's own list before concluding. Source · Art. 3(1), criteria (i) to (iii), and Annex ISource · Art. 1 and the Annex
  3. Packaging placed on the market before 12 August 2026 · any · any It depends Packaging placed on the market before 12 August 2026 had to meet the national law transposing the directive as it stood then, including the Annex II essential requirements and the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit. The repeal does not oblige anyone to withdraw it, but from 12 August 2026 packaging placed on the market must comply with Regulation (EU) 2025/40, and that regulation gives only one general grace period: packaging manufactured in the Union or imported before the labelling deadlines of Article 12(1), (2) and (4) that does not meet those criteria may be made available for up to three years from the entry into force of the labelling requirements. Check the date on which each batch was placed on the market, not the date it was manufactured. Source · Art. 9(1) and Art. 11(1)Source · Art. 4(1), Art. 12(12), Art. 70(1) and Art. 71
  4. Glass packaging above the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit because of recycled input · Packaging producer or converter, and supplier of packaging materials, Filler or user of packaging (the brand owner that packs or fills products), Importer · any It depends Article 11 of the directive, the 100 ppm limit on the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium, was repealed on 12 August 2026 and Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 now sets the same sum at 100 mg/kg. Commission Decision 2001/171/EC, the derogation for glass packaging, remains in force and continues to apply until repealed by a delegated act under Article 5(8) of the regulation. In Denmark glass packaging may still be marketed above the limit if the sum stays at or below 250 ppm, no lead, cadmium, mercury or hexavalent chromium was deliberately added during manufacture and the excess comes only from recycled material, and the manufacturer samples every glass furnace monthly and reports to Miljøstyrelsen when the twelve-month average exceeds 200 ppm. Failing to take the samples or to submit the report is a fineable offence. Source · Art. 11(1) and (2)Source · Art. 5(4), Art. 70(1) and Art. 70(3)Source · § 5, § 6, § 7 and § 120
  5. Plastic crates and plastic pallets used in a closed and controlled chain · Packaging producer or converter, and supplier of packaging materials, Filler or user of packaging (the brand owner that packs or fills products), Importer, Trader or distributor, including retailers · any It depends Commission Decision 2009/292/EC, the derogation that lets plastic crates and plastic pallets stay in product loops in a closed and controlled chain above the heavy-metal limit, remains in force and continues to apply until repealed by a delegated act under Article 5(8) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40. In Denmark the crates and pallets must be made and repaired inside the closed chain with only a technical minimum of outside raw material, the chain must meet the conditions of the packaging order, the operator must report to Miljøstyrelsen and must keep the technical documentation for four years after the report. Breaching the manufacture, repair, use or reporting conditions is a fineable offence. Source · Art. 70(3) and Art. 5(8)Source · § 8, § 9, § 10, § 11 and § 120
  6. Sales or primary packaging: the sales unit handed to the final user or consumer at the point of purchase, Grouped or secondary packaging: a grouping of sales units, removable without affecting the product, Transport or tertiary packaging: pallets, crates, stretch wrap and similar packaging for handling and transport, Reusable packaging designed for multiple trips or rotations by being refilled or reused for the same purpose, Plastic carrier bags, including lightweight bags below 50 microns and very lightweight bags below 15 microns · Producer under an extended producer responsibility scheme · any It depends The directive's reporting provisions survive the repeal, but they bind Member States, not producers: Article 12(3a), (3b), (3c) and (4) continue to apply until 31 December 2028, and until 31 December 2029 as regards the transmission of data to the Commission, because reporting under Article 56 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 only starts with the second full calendar year after the reporting-format implementing act, which the Commission must adopt by 12 February 2027. Article 12(6), the provision that made Member States require economic operators to supply reliable data, was not carried over and fell away on 12 August 2026; the equivalent duty is now Article 56(8) of the regulation. Your own registration and reporting duties come from national law: in Denmark you register in the producer register kept by Dansk Producentansvar at the latest 14 days before you start making packaging available, and report the quantities made available in the previous calendar year by 1 June each year, in kilograms per material category, split into household and business packaging and into single-use and reusable packaging, with a simplified report for producers below 8 tonnes a year. Source · Art. 12(3a) to (4) and Art. 12(6)Source · Art. 70(1), point (d), Art. 56(3), Art. 56(7) and Art. 56(8)Source · § 21, § 27 and § 120
  7. Sales or primary packaging: the sales unit handed to the final user or consumer at the point of purchase, Grouped or secondary packaging: a grouping of sales units, removable without affecting the product, Transport or tertiary packaging: pallets, crates, stretch wrap and similar packaging for handling and transport, Reusable packaging designed for multiple trips or rotations by being refilled or reused for the same purpose, Plastic carrier bags, including lightweight bags below 50 microns and very lightweight bags below 15 microns · Packaging producer or converter, and supplier of packaging materials, Filler or user of packaging (the brand owner that packs or fills products), Importer, Trader or distributor, including retailers · any In scope A directive binds the Member States, not companies, so this duty reaches you only through your national law — but one duty from the directive is still there to be transposed: Article 8(2) and (3), which say packaging shall indicate the nature of the packaging materials used on the basis of Commission Decision 97/129/EC, on the packaging itself or on the label, clearly visible, easily legible and appropriately durable and lasting, including when the packaging is opened. In Denmark the material marking is optional under the packaging order, but packaging that carries it must use the abbreviations and number codes of annex 4 and meet the same visibility and durability conditions, and marking packaging in breach of that rule is a fineable offence. It continues to apply until 30 months from the entry into force of the labelling implementing act under Article 12(6) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which the Commission had to adopt by 12 August 2026 and which was still unadopted on 17 September 2026, when the Commission's implementation page and the industry tracker of the secondary legislation both recorded it as delayed in preparation, so no end date is fixed yet. Check this date before relying on it. Everything else about this packaging, from substances of concern and the heavy-metal limit to recyclability, minimisation, labelling, the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity, now comes from Regulation (EU) 2025/40. Source · Art. 8(2) and (3)Source · Art. 12(1), Art. 12(6), Art. 15 and Art. 70(1), point (a)SourceSource · § 18 and § 120
  8. any · any · any It depends Whether anything in the directive still reaches you turns on three questions: whether the item is packaging under the Article 3(1) criteria and the Annex I examples, whether the duty you are looking at is one of the four groups of provisions that survived the repeal of 12 August 2026, and what your national law says, since the directive only ever bound companies through it. For everything else, read Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and the guide to it. Source · Art. 3(1), Art. 9 and Art. 22Source · Art. 70(1) and Art. 71

Key dates

  1. European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste adopted, repealing Council Directive 85/339/EEC on containers of liquids for human consumption from the transposition date Source · title and Art. 23
  2. Entry into force on the day of publication in OJ L 365 of 31 December 1994 Source · Art. 24Source · OJ reference
  3. Deadline for Member States to bring the transposing laws into force; packaging manufactured before 31 December 1994 and conforming to existing national law could still be placed on the market for five years from entry into force Source · Art. 22(1), (4) and (5)
  4. Three years after entry into force: packaging may be placed on the market only if it complies with all the essential requirements of Annex II on minimisation, reuse and recoverability Source · Art. 9(1) and Annex II
  5. The first targets bite: 50 to 65 per cent of packaging waste recovered or incinerated with energy recovery and 25 to 45 per cent recycled with at least 15 per cent per material; the heavy-metal limit reaches its final 100 ppm for the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium, five years after the transposition date Source · Art. 6(1) points (a) and (c), and Art. 11(1)
  6. Directive 2004/12/EC enters into force: it adds the three criteria and the Annex I list of illustrative examples to the definition of packaging and sets the 2008 recovery and recycling targets, with transposition by 18 August 2005 Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  7. Directive 2005/20/EC enters into force, letting the ten Member States that acceded in 2004 postpone the 2008 targets to dates between 31 December 2012 and 31 December 2015, with transposition by 9 September 2006 Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  8. The 2008 targets apply: at least 60 per cent of packaging waste recovered or incinerated with energy recovery, 55 to 80 per cent recycled, and per material 60 per cent glass, 60 per cent paper and board, 50 per cent metals, 22,5 per cent plastics counting only material recycled back into plastics and 15 per cent wood Source · Art. 6(1) points (b), (d) and (e)
  9. Commission Directive 2013/2/EU enters into force and replaces Annex I, the illustrative examples of what is and is not packaging, with transposition by 30 September 2013 Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  10. Directive (EU) 2015/720 enters into force: Member States must cut the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags below 50 microns to 90 per person by 31 December 2019 and 40 by 31 December 2025, or stop giving them out free of charge by 31 December 2018, with transposition by 27 November 2016 Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  11. Directive (EU) 2018/852 enters into force with the circular economy package: the 2025 and 2030 recycling targets, the calculation rules of Article 6a, extended producer responsibility schemes for all packaging by 31 December 2024 and the new reporting regime of Article 12 Source · Art. 1 and Art. 3
  12. Deadline for Member States to transpose Directive (EU) 2018/852 Source · Art. 2(1)
  13. Member States must have extended producer responsibility schemes in place for all packaging, set up in accordance with Articles 8 and 8a of Directive 2008/98/EC Source · Art. 7(2)
  14. Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, enters into force as the act that repeals the directive Source · Art. 71
  15. Danish executive order nr. 1146 of 29 September 2025, the emballagebekendtgørelse, in force, replacing order nr. 323 of 20 March 2025; it still transposes the directive as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/852 and parts of Directive (EU) 2019/904 Source · § 121 and the EU footnote to the title
  16. Directive 94/62/EC is repealed and Regulation (EU) 2025/40 applies; references to the directive are read as references to the regulation through the correlation table in its Annex XIII; four groups of provisions of the directive continue to apply for a time Source · Art. 70(1), Art. 70(5) and Art. 71
  17. Commission Decision 97/129/EC, the numbering and abbreviation system that Article 8(2) of the directive refers to, is repealed Source · Art. 70(2)
  18. Last day on which Article 5(2) and (3), Article 6(1) points (d) and (e), Article 6a and Article 12(3a), (3b), (3c) and (4) of the directive continue to apply, except that the transmission of data to the Commission under Article 12 runs one year longer Source · Art. 70(1) points (c) and (d)
  19. Last day on which Article 9(1) and (2) of the directive continue to apply for the first indent of point 1 of Annex II, the requirement that packaging volume and weight be limited to the minimum, and last day for transmitting data to the Commission under Article 12; the minimisation duty of Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 takes over from 1 January 2030 Source · Art. 70(1) points (b) and (d), and Art. 10(1)
  20. End of the period in which Member States may maintain national provisions restricting the placing on the market of packaging in the formats and for the uses listed in points 2 and 3 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2025/40; its Article 4(3) applies to those national measures from this date Source · Art. 70(4)

What you must do

Obligations by role

Packaging producer or converter, and supplier of packaging materials5
  • Keep applying the material identification marking. Article 8(2) and (3) survived the repeal: packaging shall indicate, for identification and classification by the industry concerned, the nature of the packaging materials used on the basis of Commission Decision 97/129/EC, on the packaging itself or on a label, clearly visible, easily legible and durable and lasting, including after the packaging is opened. The provision runs until 30 months from the entry into force of the labelling implementing act under Article 12(6) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which the Commission had to adopt by 12 August 2026 and which was still unadopted on 17 September 2026, when the Commission's implementation page and the industry tracker of the secondary legislation both recorded it as delayed in preparation, so no end date is fixed yet. Check this date before relying on it. Art. 8(2) and (3)Art. 70(1), point (a), and Art. 12(6)
  • Keep minimising packaging volume and weight. Article 9(1) and (2) continue to apply, but only for the first indent of point 1 of Annex II, the requirement that packaging be so manufactured that its volume and weight are limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer; conformity with the relevant harmonised standards published in the Official Journal still gives the presumption of compliance. That bridge ends on 31 December 2029, when Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 takes over with its own minimisation duty and Annex IV performance criteria. Art. 9(1) and (2) and Annex II, point 1Art. 70(1), point (b), and Art. 10(1)
  • Keep the heavy metals down, but under the new legal basis. Article 11(1), which capped the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in packaging and packaging components at 600 ppm from 30 June 1998, 250 ppm from 30 June 1999 and 100 ppm from 30 June 2001, was repealed on 12 August 2026; Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 sets the same sum at 100 mg/kg and is directly applicable. The two derogations, Commission Decision 2001/171/EC for glass packaging and Commission Decision 2009/292/EC for plastic crates and pallets in a closed and controlled chain, remain in force until repealed by delegated acts under Article 5(8) of the regulation. Art. 11(1) and (2)Art. 5(4), Art. 5(8), Art. 70(1) and Art. 70(3)
  • Hold the Danish composition file. Whoever manufactures or imports packaging must hold the information listed in annex 3 of the Danish packaging order, including the lists of materials, substances and components with their weight distribution and the lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium content, keep it for five years and produce it, and documentation that the sum stays under the limit, on request from Miljøstyrelsen; Miljøstyrelsen can order an accredited laboratory investigation at your expense if it is not satisfied. § 13, § 14, § 16 and § 17
  • Keep the Danish statistical records. Whoever exports or imports packaging must hold, for five years, the total annual number of packaging units produced, exported or imported and the materials used, and produce them on request; whoever puts reusable packaging into circulation must hold the number of units, the materials and substances used, their weight and a general description of the packaging for the same period. § 19
Filler or user of packaging (the brand owner that packs or fills products)5
  • Place only compliant packaging on the market. Article 9(1) allowed packaging on the market only if it complied with all the essential requirements defined by the directive including Annex II; in Denmark § 4 of the packaging order still says packaging may be marketed here only if it meets the essential requirements of its annex 2, and § 5(1) that it may be marketed only if the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium stays at or below 100 ppm by weight, while § 5(2) still exempts packaging made entirely of lead crystal glass as defined in executive order nr. 122 of 6 March 1973 — an exemption that came from Article 11(2) of the directive and has no counterpart in Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40, which is directly applicable. Making packaging available in breach of § 4 or § 5(1) is a fineable offence. Art. 9(1) and Annex II§ 4, § 5 and § 120
  • Apply or omit the material code deliberately. Article 8(2) still requires packaging to indicate the nature of the materials used on the basis of Commission Decision 97/129/EC, but Denmark transposed it as an option: packaging marketed in Denmark may carry the marking, and if it does the marking must follow the abbreviations and number codes of annex 4 of the packaging order, sit on the packaging or on a label attached to it, be immediately visible and easily legible and be appropriately durable, including after opening. Art. 8(2) and (3)§ 18
  • Produce the compliance evidence on request. Anyone who markets packaging in Denmark must, at Miljøstyrelsen's request, produce documentation that it meets the essential requirements of annex 2, and must help obtain the composition information from the operator that holds it and pass it on; failing to do either is a fineable offence. § 13, § 15 and § 120
  • Where you are the first to make packaging available in Denmark, have yourself or your representative entered in the producer register kept by Dansk Producentansvar at the latest 14 days before you start. § 21
  • As a registered producer, report to Dansk Producentansvar by 1 June each year the quantities of packaging you made available in the previous calendar year. § 27
Importer7
  • Hold the annex 3 composition information for five years and produce it, together with documentation that the sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium does not exceed the limit, whenever Miljøstyrelsen asks; the duty falls squarely on the operator that manufactures or imports the packaging. § 14
  • Keep the import and export statistics. An operator that exports or imports packaging must hold the total annual number of packaging units and the materials used for five years and produce them at Miljøstyrelsen's request. § 19
  • Check the material marking before the goods ship. Article 8(2) and (3) still apply, so packaging that carries the identification marking must use the Decision 97/129/EC codes and the visibility and durability conditions; in Denmark the marking is optional but a wrong marking is a fineable offence. Art. 8(2) and (3)§ 18 and § 120
  • If you are the first to make the packaging available in Denmark, register as a producer in the producer register kept by Dansk Producentansvar before you start. § 21
  • Report the quantities by 1 June each year in kilograms per material category, split into household and business packaging and into single-use and reusable packaging; producers under 8 tonnes a year may report only the total weight split into household and business packaging. § 27
  • From 12 August 2026 place packaging on the market only if it complies with Regulation (EU) 2025/40. Art. 4(1)
  • If you place packaging on the market under your own name or trademark, or modify packaging already placed on the market in a way that could affect compliance, you carry the manufacturer's obligations under Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40. Art. 15 and Art. 21
Trader or distributor, including retailers6
  • Charge the Danish minimum price for carrier bags. Points of sale that hand out carrier bags with a handle made of material other than plastic, or plastic carrier bags with or without a handle with a wall thickness above 30 microns, must charge a minimum price of DKK 4 per bag; failing to do so is a fineable offence. § 12 and § 120
  • Produce documentation on request. Anyone who markets packaging in Denmark must produce documentation at Miljøstyrelsen's request that it meets the essential requirements, and must help obtain and pass on the composition information held further up the chain. § 13 and § 15
  • Keep the material marking correct on what you resell. Article 8(2) and (3) survive the repeal, and packaging that carries the identification marking must use the Decision 97/129/EC codes, sit on the packaging or its label and stay visible, legible and durable after opening. Art. 8(2) and (3)§ 18
  • From 12 August 2026, before making packaging available, verify that it carries the required labelling and identification and is accompanied by the required documents. Art. 19
  • Do not make packaging available where you consider or have reason to believe that it does not comply with Articles 5 to 12 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40. Art. 19
  • Cooperate with the national authority on any corrective action concerning packaging you made available. Art. 19
Producer under an extended producer responsibility scheme5
  • Register before you start. The directive obliged Member States to run extended producer responsibility schemes for all packaging by 31 December 2024 in accordance with Articles 8 and 8a of Directive 2008/98/EC; in Denmark a producer that makes packaging available must have itself or its representative entered in the producer register kept by Dansk Producentansvar at the latest 14 days before it begins, and producers of reusable packaging had to be registered by 1 February 2025. Art. 7(2)§ 20, § 21 and § 22
  • Report every year by 1 June. Report to Dansk Producentansvar the quantity of packaging made available in the previous calendar year, in kilograms, split by the material categories of annex 6, marked as household or business packaging, split between single-use and reusable packaging and flagged where the packaging must be sorted as hazardous or residual waste; composite packaging that cannot easily be separated is reported under its main material, and producers below 8 tonnes a year may report only the total weight split into household and business packaging. § 27
  • Register every change to your registered producer information, and the cessation of your producer status, with the producer register. § 24 and § 25
  • Join a collective scheme as the packaging order requires for your producer responsibility. § 80
  • Carry out the self-control the packaging order requires; omissions and false or misleading information are fineable offences. § 90, § 91 and § 120

PPWD in plain terms

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD), formally Directive 94/62/EC, was the EU’s first common law for packaging. It covered all packaging placed on the market in the Community and all packaging waste, whether used or released at industrial, commercial, office, shop, service, household or any other level, regardless of the material used (Art. 2(1)). It pursued two goals at once: preventing or reducing the environmental impact of packaging, and keeping the internal market open by harmonising the requirements packaging had to meet so that Member States could not impede packaged goods that satisfied them (Art. 1(1) and Art. 18).

The directive is no longer in force. Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), repealed it with effect from 12 August 2026, the day the regulation itself started to apply, and references to the directive are now construed as references to the regulation and read through the correlation table in its Annex XIII (Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Art. 70(1) and (5), and Art. 71). The Commission puts it the same way on its packaging waste page: the directive was generally repealed on 12 August 2026, although some provisions continue to apply after that date. If you are looking for the rules your packaging must meet today, read the PPWR guide. This page explains what the directive required, what still survives and until when.

Official text Read the directive on EUR-Lex: consolidated text of 4 July 2018 (01994L0062-20180704) or the original in OJ L 365 of 31 December 1994. The document information page lists the seven amending acts, the two corrigenda and the repeal. The repeal article itself is Article 70 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40.

What survives the repeal, and until when

Article 70(1) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 repeals Directive 94/62/EC with effect from 12 August 2026 with the exception of four groups of provisions. Read word for word, they are:

  • Article 8(2) — packaging shall indicate, for identification and classification by the industry concerned, the nature of the packaging material(s) used on the basis of Commission Decision 97/129/EC. Applies until 30 months from the date of entry into force of the implementing act adopted under Article 12(6) of the regulation.
  • Article 9(1) and (2) — packaging may be placed on the market only if it complies with the essential requirements, with the presumption of conformity from harmonised standards, but only with regard to the first indent of point 1 of Annex II, the minimisation of packaging volume and weight. Applies until 31 December 2029.
  • Article 5(2) and (3), Article 6(1) points (d) and (e), and Article 6a — the reuse adjustments to the 2025 and 2030 targets and the wooden packaging repaired for reuse; the 2008 recycling targets; and the rules on calculating the attainment of the targets. Apply until 31 December 2028.
  • Article 12(3a), (3b), (3c) and (4) — the annual reporting of the Article 6(1) data and the reusable packaging data, the quality check report, the Commission’s review of the reported data, and the account taken of the particular problems of small and medium-sized enterprises. Apply until 31 December 2028, except as regards the transmission of data to the Commission, which runs to 31 December 2029.

Three further dates in the same article matter:

  • Commission Decision 97/129/EC, the numbering and abbreviation system that Article 8(2) points to, is repealed with effect from 12 August 2028 (Art. 70(2)).
  • Commission Decisions 2001/171/EC (glass packaging) and 2009/292/EC (plastic crates and pallets in a closed and controlled chain), the two derogations from the heavy-metal limit, remain in force and continue to apply until repealed by delegated acts adopted under Article 5(8) of the regulation (Art. 70(3)).
  • Member States may maintain national provisions restricting the placing on the market of packaging in the formats and for the uses listed in points 2 and 3 of Annex V to the regulation until 1 January 2030, and Article 4(3) of the regulation does not apply to those national measures until then (Art. 70(4)).

The one duty that still reaches the packaging you put on the market is the material identification marking in Article 8(2), and it has no fixed end date yet: it runs for 30 months from the entry into force of the labelling implementing act under Article 12(6) of the regulation, which the Commission was required to adopt by 12 August 2026 and which was still unadopted on 17 September 2026, when the Commission’s implementation page and the industry tracker of the secondary legislation both recorded it as delayed in preparation. Check this date before relying on it. Everything else — substances of concern, the heavy-metal limit, recyclability, recycled content, minimisation from 2030, the format restrictions, the harmonised label, the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity — now comes from Regulation (EU) 2025/40.

Scope

The directive’s definition of packaging is the one the market still works with, because Regulation (EU) 2025/40 carries the same three criteria forward. Packaging is all products made of any materials of any nature used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods, from raw materials to processed goods, from the producer to the user or the consumer, plus non-returnable items used for the same purposes, and it consists only of sales or primary packaging, grouped or secondary packaging and transport or tertiary packaging — the last of which does not include road, rail, ship and air containers (Art. 3(1)).

Directive 2004/12/EC added the three criteria that decide the borderline cases, and Commission Directive 2013/2/EU replaced the Annex I list of illustrative examples. An item is packaging if it meets the definition regardless of other functions it also performs, unless it is an integral part of a product, necessary to contain, support or preserve that product throughout its lifetime, with all elements intended to be used, consumed or disposed of together; items designed to be filled at the point of sale and disposable items sold or designed to be filled there are packaging if they perform a packaging function; and packaging components and ancillary elements integrated into packaging are part of it (Art. 3(1), criteria (i) to (iii)). Annex I decides, among many others, that sweet boxes, film overwrap around a CD case, glass bottles for injection solutions, sterile barrier systems, beverage system capsules left empty after use and refillable steel gas cylinders are packaging, while flower pots meant to stay with the plant, tool boxes, tea bags, wax layers around cheese, sausage skins, printer cartridges, soluble detergent bags, clothes hangers sold separately, disposable cutlery, wrapping paper sold separately and RFID tags are not.

The duties reached companies only through national law. Article 3, point 11 defines economic operators in relation to packaging as suppliers of packaging materials, packaging producers and converters, fillers and users, importers, traders and distributors, authorities and statutory organizations, and each Member State decided in transposition which of them carried which obligation. Only two provisions bound products directly: Article 9(1), under which packaging could be placed on the market only if it complied with all the essential requirements including Annex II, and Article 11(1), the heavy-metal limit. The recovery, recycling, collection and extended producer responsibility duties in Articles 5, 6 and 7 bound Member States.

In Denmark the transposing instrument is bekendtgørelse nr. 1146 of 29 September 2025 on certain requirements for packaging, extended producer responsibility for packaging and other waste collected with packaging waste — the emballagebekendtgørelse — in force since 1 October 2025 and replacing order nr. 323 of 20 March 2025. Its footnote states that it implements parts of Directive 94/62/EC as last amended by Directive (EU) 2018/852 and parts of Directive (EU) 2019/904 on single-use plastics, and it is still the order in force (executive order nr. 1146/2025, title footnote and § 121).

What the directive required

Essential requirements

Annex II set the essential requirements in three parts. Requirements specific to manufacturing and composition: packaging shall be so manufactured that its volume and weight are limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer; it shall be designed, produced and commercialised so as to permit its reuse or recovery, including recycling, in line with the waste hierarchy, and to minimise its impact on the environment when packaging waste or residues are disposed of; and it shall be so manufactured that the presence of noxious and other hazardous substances is minimised with regard to emissions, ash or leachate when packaging or residues are incinerated or landfilled. Requirements specific to reusable packaging: the physical properties must enable a number of trips or rotations in normally predictable conditions of use, the used packaging must be processable to meet health and safety requirements for the workforce, and it must meet the recoverability requirements once it becomes waste. Requirements specific to recoverable packaging, in four forms: material recycling of a certain percentage by weight into marketable products, energy recovery with a minimum inferior calorific value, composting without hindering the separate collection and composting process, and biodegradation such that most of the finished compost decomposes into carbon dioxide, biomass and water, with oxo-degradable plastic packaging expressly not counted as biodegradable (Annex II, points 1 to 3, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/852).

Packaging that complied with harmonised standards whose references were published in the Official Journal, or with notified national standards where no harmonised standard existed, was presumed to satisfy the essential requirements (Art. 9(2) and (3)). Of this whole scheme only the first indent of point 1, the minimisation of volume and weight, still applies, and only until 31 December 2029, when Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 takes over.

Heavy metals

Article 11(1) required the sum of the concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium present in packaging or packaging components not to exceed 600 ppm by weight two years after the transposition date, 250 ppm after three years and 100 ppm after five years — that is, 100 ppm from 30 June 2001. Packaging made entirely of lead crystal glass was exempt (Art. 11(2)), and Article 11(3) empowered the Commission to set the conditions under which the limit does not apply to recycled materials and to closed and controlled product loops, and to exempt packaging types. Article 11 was repealed on 12 August 2026; Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 now sets the same sum at 100 mg/kg and applies directly, and its Article 5(5) adds the PFAS limits for food-contact packaging from the same date. The two derogation decisions stay alive until repealed by delegated acts under Article 5(8).

The Danish order still carries the whole structure: packaging may be marketed in Denmark only if the sum stays at or below 100 ppm by weight, with lead crystal glass exempt; glass packaging may exceed it up to 250 ppm where no heavy metal was deliberately added and the excess comes only from recycled material, provided the manufacturer samples every glass furnace monthly and reports to Miljøstyrelsen when the twelve-month average exceeds 200 ppm; and plastic crates and plastic pallets may stay above the limit inside a closed and controlled chain where the manufacture and repair conditions, the chain conditions and the reporting duty are met, with the technical documentation kept for four years after the report (executive order nr. 1146/2025, §§ 5 to 11).

Marking and identification

Article 8(2) says packaging shall indicate, for the purposes of its identification and classification by the industry concerned, the nature of the packaging material(s) used on the basis of Commission Decision 97/129/EC, and Article 8(3) that the marking shall be on the packaging itself or on the label, clearly visible and easily legible, and appropriately durable and lasting, including when the packaging is opened. This is the provision that survives the repeal. Denmark transposed it as an option with conditions: packaging marketed in the country may carry a marking of the nature of the packaging materials, and if it does, the marking must follow the abbreviations and number codes of annex 4 of the order — PET 1, HDPE 2 and the rest — sit on the packaging or a label attached to it, be immediately visible and easily legible and be appropriately durable, including after opening. Marking packaging contrary to that rule is a fineable offence (executive order nr. 1146/2025, § 18 and § 120, no. 19).

Recovery and recycling targets

Article 6(1) set nine sets of targets, all addressed to Member States:

  • By 30 June 2001 (points (a) and (c)) — 50 to 65 per cent by weight of packaging waste recovered or incinerated at waste incineration plants with energy recovery, and 25 to 45 per cent of the totality of packaging materials recycled, with a minimum of 15 per cent by weight for each packaging material.
  • By 31 December 2008 (points (b), (d) and (e)) — at least 60 per cent recovered or incinerated with energy recovery; 55 to 80 per cent recycled; and, per material, 60 per cent glass, 60 per cent paper and board, 50 per cent metals, 22,5 per cent plastics counting exclusively material that is recycled back into plastics, and 15 per cent wood.
  • By 31 December 2025 (points (f) and (g)) — 65 per cent by weight of all packaging waste recycled, and 50 per cent plastic, 25 per cent wood, 70 per cent ferrous metals, 50 per cent aluminium, 70 per cent glass and 75 per cent paper and cardboard.
  • By 31 December 2030 (points (h) and (i)) — 70 per cent by weight of all packaging waste recycled, and 55 per cent plastic, 30 per cent wood, 80 per cent ferrous metals, 60 per cent aluminium, 75 per cent glass and 85 per cent paper and cardboard.

A Member State could postpone the material-specific 2025 and 2030 deadlines by up to five years within limits (Art. 6(1a) and (1b)), and Greece, Ireland and Portugal (Art. 6(7)) and the 2004 accession states (Art. 6(11)) had their own postponements. Article 6a set the rules for calculating attainment: the weight of packaging waste generated may be deemed equal to the amount of packaging placed on the market; recycled weight is measured when the waste enters the recycling operation, or at the output of sorting under conditions; biodegradable packaging waste entering aerobic or anaerobic treatment may count as recycled; end-of-waste materials count unless used as fuel, incinerated, backfilled or landfilled; waste sent to another Member State counts only for the Member State where it was collected; and exported waste counts only if the shipment complies with the waste shipment rules and the treatment outside the Union was broadly equivalent to Union environmental law.

The 2025 and 2030 sets moved to Article 52 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on 12 August 2026, with the calculation rules in its Article 53. Only points (d) and (e), the 2008 targets, and Article 6a survive in the directive, until 31 December 2028.

Collection systems, extended producer responsibility and reporting

Article 7 obliged Member States to set up systems for the return or collection of used packaging and packaging waste and for its reuse or recovery including recycling, open to the economic operators of the sectors concerned and to the competent authorities, applying to imported products on non-discriminatory terms and designed to avoid barriers to trade or distortions of competition; and, from Directive (EU) 2018/852, to have extended producer responsibility schemes in place for all packaging by 31 December 2024, in accordance with Articles 8 and 8a of Directive 2008/98/EC. Article 12 required harmonised national databases and annual electronic reporting to the Commission within 18 months of the end of the reporting year, with a quality check report. The reporting provisions survive to 31 December 2028, and to 31 December 2029 for the transmission of data to the Commission, because reporting under Article 56 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 only begins with the second full calendar year after the reporting-format implementing act, which the Commission must adopt by 12 February 2027.

In Denmark the scheme is run by Dansk Producentansvar: a producer that makes packaging available must have itself or its representative registered in the producer register at the latest 14 days before it starts, and must report by 1 June each year the quantity of packaging made available in the previous calendar year, in kilograms, by the material categories of annex 6, marked as household or business packaging, split between single-use and reusable packaging and flagged where the packaging must be sorted as hazardous or residual waste. Producers below 8 tonnes a year may report only the total weight split into household and business packaging (executive order nr. 1146/2025, §§ 20 to 27).

Plastic carrier bags

Directive (EU) 2015/720 inserted Article 4(1a): Member States had to take measures to achieve a sustained reduction in the consumption of lightweight plastic carrier bags — bags with a wall thickness below 50 microns — including either an annual consumption of no more than 90 bags per person by 31 December 2019 and 40 by 31 December 2025, or instruments ensuring that lightweight bags are not provided free of charge at the point of sale by 31 December 2018, with very lightweight bags below 15 microns excludable in both cases. Article 8a required labelling specifications for biodegradable and compostable bags. These provisions were repealed on 12 August 2026; Article 34 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 carries the reduction duty forward with the 40 bags per capita figure measured from 31 December 2025 and each year thereafter. In Denmark, points of sale that hand out carrier bags with a handle made of material other than plastic, or plastic carrier bags with or without a handle above 30 microns, must charge a minimum price of DKK 4 per bag (executive order nr. 1146/2025, § 12).

Enforcement and penalties

The directive had no penalty article and no market surveillance chapter. It was addressed to the Member States, which had to bring transposing laws into force before 30 June 1996 and could, where the objectives of Articles 4 and 6 were met, transpose Article 4(1a) and Article 7 through enforceable, published and monitored agreements with the economic sectors concerned (Art. 22(1) and (3a)). Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 lists the directive as point 9 of its Annex I and listed it as point 8 of its Annex II, the list of acts for which Member States must lay down penalties for infringements that impose obligations on economic operators; Article 66 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 deleted that Annex II point and added the regulation as point 75 of Annex I. Since 12 August 2026 the penalty duty for packaging therefore runs through Article 68 of the regulation: effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in place and notified by 12 February 2027, with administrative fines for infringements of Articles 24 to 29.

In Denmark, Miljøstyrelsen supervises and can order an operator to produce documents, technical specifications, data, compliance information and supply-chain, distribution-network and website-ownership information, acquire packaging samples including under a concealed identity and reverse engineer them, order the making available of packaging to stop, and order the owner of an online interface to change or remove content referring to non-compliant packaging where no other effective means exist to eliminate a serious risk (executive order nr. 1146/2025, §§ 115 to 117). The order punishes with a fine, unless a higher penalty is due under other legislation, fifty-nine listed breaches, among them making packaging available contrary to the essential requirements or the heavy-metal limit, breaching the glass or closed-loop plastic crate derogations, failing to sample the glass furnaces or report an average above 200 ppm, failing to charge the DKK 4 minimum price, failing to hold or produce the composition and statistical information, marking packaging contrary to § 18, making packaging available without being registered as a producer, giving false or misleading information, failing to report the quantities, failing to run the self-control and failing to comply with a supervisory order. The penalty rises to imprisonment of up to 2 years where the breach was intentional or grossly negligent and either damaged or endangered the environment or obtained or was intended to obtain an economic advantage, including through savings, and legal persons can be held criminally liable under chapter 5 of the Danish criminal code (executive order nr. 1146/2025, § 120). Decisions of Dansk Producentansvar can be appealed to Miljøstyrelsen, and Miljøstyrelsen’s own decisions cannot be taken to another administrative authority (§ 119).

How Conphora helps

Conphora tracked the Packaging Directive through its seven amendments and now tracks the transition: which of its provisions still bite, when each of them ends, and which article of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 has taken over. The platform maps your packaging by material, weight and role, keeps the composition files, the heavy-metal documentation and the producer registrations that the Danish order still demands, flags the packaging that will fail the regulation’s recyclability, minimisation, format and labelling rules well before their dates, and alerts you when the Commission adopts the implementing acts that fix the remaining deadlines.

See how Conphora works · See plans and pricing

Sources

This guide is for general information and is not legal advice.

Penalties

Enforced by The directive was addressed to the Member States and was enforced only through their transposing law; it contains no penalty article of its own. In Denmark it is still transposed by bekendtgørelse nr. 1146 of 29 September 2025 on certain requirements for packaging, extended producer responsibility for packaging and other waste collected with packaging waste, the emballagebekendtgørelse, in force since 1 October 2025, which names Miljøstyrelsen (the Danish Environmental Protection Agency) as the supervisory authority and Dansk Producentansvar as the keeper of the producer register. Since 12 August 2026 the packaging requirements themselves are enforced as Regulation (EU) 2025/40 by the market surveillance authorities designated under Regulation (EU) 2019/1020: the directive is point 9 of Annex I to that regulation, and Article 66 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 deleted it from Annex II, the list of acts for which Member States must set penalties, and added the regulation as point 75 of Annex I. Miljøstyrelsen's toolkit under the Danish order is orders to produce documents, technical specifications, data, compliance information and supply-chain and website-ownership information, test purchases including under a concealed identity with reverse engineering of the samples, orders to stop making packaging available, orders to the owner of an online interface to change or remove content, and fines that rise to imprisonment of up to 2 years where the breach was intentional or grossly negligent and damaged or endangered the environment or produced an economic advantage.

Directive 94/62/EC contains no penalty article: it was addressed to the Member States, which had to bring transposing laws into force before 30 June 1996 and could, provided the objectives of Articles 4 and 6 were met, transpose Article 4(1a) and Article 7 through enforceable, published and monitored agreements with the economic sectors concerned. Enforcement therefore ran entirely through national law. Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 lists the directive as point 9 of Annex I and listed it as point 8 of Annex II, the list of Union harmonisation legislation for which Member States must lay down penalties applicable to infringements that impose obligations on economic operators; Article 66 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 deleted that Annex II point and added the regulation as point 75 of Annex I, so since 12 August 2026 the penalty duty for packaging runs through Article 68 of the regulation, under which Member States must have effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties in place and notified by 12 February 2027, including administrative fines for infringements of its Articles 24 to 29. In Denmark the emballagebekendtgørelse punishes with a fine, unless a higher penalty is due under other legislation, fifty-nine listed breaches, among them making packaging available in breach of the essential requirements or the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit, breaching the glass and plastic crate derogations, failing to take the monthly glass furnace samples or to report an average above 200 ppm, failing to charge the DKK 4 minimum price for certain carrier bags, failing to hold or produce the composition and statistical information, failing to comply with an order for an investigation, marking packaging contrary to the marking rule, making packaging available without being registered as a producer or a collective scheme, giving false or misleading information, failing to report the quantities, failing to run the required self-control, failing to stop making packaging available after an order from Miljøstyrelsen, failing to produce documents, data or information demanded by the supervisory authority and failing to change or remove content on an online interface after an order. The penalty rises to imprisonment of up to 2 years where the breach was intentional or grossly negligent and either damaged or endangered the environment or obtained or was intended to obtain an economic advantage for the offender or for others, including through savings, and criminal liability may be imposed on legal persons under chapter 5 of the Danish criminal code. Miljøstyrelsen may also order an operator to produce documents, technical specifications, data, compliance information, supply-chain and distribution information and website-ownership information, acquire packaging samples including under a concealed identity and reverse engineer them, order the making available of packaging to stop, and order the owner of an online interface to change or remove content referring to non-compliant packaging where no other effective means exist to eliminate a serious risk; decisions of Dansk Producentansvar can be appealed to Miljøstyrelsen, and Miljøstyrelsen's own decisions cannot be taken to another administrative authority.

Source · Art. 22(1) and (3a)Source · Art. 41(1), Annex I point 9 and Annex II point 8Source · Art. 66 and Art. 68Source · § 115, § 116, § 117, § 119 and § 120

What changed

Entry into force, amendments and Compliance Radar entries for PPWD, newest first.

  1. Guidance

    Guide rebuilt as a transition page from the repeal article of Regulation (EU) 2025/40

    The guide was rewritten from the consolidated directive, the repeal and transitional article of Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the seven amending acts and the Danish packaging order nr. 1146 of 29 September 2025. The earlier statement that the directive remains the live legal basis until the regulation's provisions take effect is corrected: the directive was repealed on 12 August 2026 and only four groups of provisions survive, with their exact end dates. The recovery and recycling targets are now given per point of Article 6(1) with the material percentages, the heavy-metal limit is traced from Article 11 to Article 5(4) of the regulation, the material identification marking is shown as a surviving duty with no fixed end date, the description of the marking as a system that merely allows packaging to indicate the material is corrected against the wording of Article 8(2), and the Danish rules are named and sourced rather than described as being rolled out.

    Source · Art. 70Source · Art. 6, Art. 8, Art. 9 and Art. 11Source
  2. Applies

    Directive 94/62/EC repealed; Regulation (EU) 2025/40 applies

    The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation started to apply and the directive was repealed, with four exceptions: Article 8(2) until 30 months from the entry into force of the labelling implementing act under Article 12(6) of the regulation; Article 9(1) and (2) for the first indent of point 1 of Annex II until 31 December 2029; Article 5(2) and (3), Article 6(1) points (d) and (e) and Article 6a until 31 December 2028; and Article 12(3a), (3b), (3c) and (4) until 31 December 2028, or until 31 December 2029 for the transmission of data to the Commission. References to the directive are read as references to the regulation through the correlation table in Annex XIII.

    Source · Art. 70(1), Art. 70(5) and Art. 71
  3. Applies

    Danish executive order nr. 1146/2025, the emballagebekendtgørelse, in force

    The order replaced order nr. 323 of 20 March 2025 and still transposes parts of Directive 94/62/EC as last amended by Directive (EU) 2018/852 and parts of Directive (EU) 2019/904: the essential requirements, the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit with the glass and closed-loop plastic crate derogations, the optional but regulated material marking, the DKK 4 minimum price for certain carrier bags, the composition and statistics records, and the producer register run by Dansk Producentansvar with registration 14 days ahead and annual reporting by 1 June.

    Source · title footnote, § 4, § 5, § 12, § 18, § 21, § 27 and § 121
  4. In force

    Regulation (EU) 2025/40 enters into force

    The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, adopted on 19 December 2024 and published in OJ L 2025/40 on 22 January 2025, entered into force on the twentieth day after publication as the act that amends Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904 and repeals Directive 94/62/EC.

    Source · title and Art. 71
  5. Amendment

    Directive (EU) 2018/852 amends the directive with the circular economy package

    It adds the 2025 and 2030 recycling targets and the five-year postponement option, the calculation rules of Article 6a and the early warning report of Article 6b, requires extended producer responsibility schemes for all packaging by 31 December 2024, rewrites prevention, reuse and the reporting regime of Article 12, and updates Annexes II, III and IV. In force 4 July 2018, transposition by 5 July 2020.

    Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  6. Amendment

    Directive (EU) 2015/720 adds the lightweight plastic carrier bag rules

    It defines plastic carrier bags and their weight classes, obliges Member States to achieve a sustained reduction in the consumption of lightweight bags below 50 microns through targets, economic instruments or marketing restrictions, and adds the labelling of biodegradable and compostable bags and Commission reporting. In force 26 May 2015, transposition by 27 November 2016.

    Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  7. Amendment

    Commission Directive 2013/2/EU replaces the Annex I examples

    It rewrites the illustrative examples for the three criteria of Article 3(1) to settle borderline cases, confirming among others that beverage system capsules left empty after use, sterile barrier systems and refillable steel gas cylinders are packaging while tea bags, printer cartridges, soluble detergent bags and RFID tags are not. In force 28 February 2013, transposition by 30 September 2013.

    Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  8. Amendment

    Regulation (EC) No 219/2009 aligns the Commission's powers to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny

    It converts the powers over the illustrative examples of the definition of packaging, the conditions under which the heavy-metal concentration levels do not apply, the exempted packaging types and the technical measures for difficulties in application into the regulatory procedure with scrutiny of Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC. In force 20 April 2009.

    Source · Annex, point 3.3
  9. Amendment

    Directive 2005/20/EC lets the 2004 accession states postpone the 2008 targets

    It adds Article 6(11), under which the Member States that acceded under the Accession Treaty of 16 April 2003 could postpone the targets of Article 6(1) points (b), (d) and (e) to a date of their own choosing, no later than 31 December 2012 for seven of them, 31 December 2013 for Malta, 31 December 2014 for Poland and 31 December 2015 for Latvia. In force 5 April 2005, transposition by 9 September 2006.

    Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  10. Amendment

    Directive 2004/12/EC adds the definition criteria and the 2008 targets

    It puts three criteria behind the definition of packaging, makes Annex I an illustrative list of their application, and sets the 2008 recovery and recycling targets, including 60 per cent for glass, 60 per cent for paper and board, 50 per cent for metals, 22,5 per cent for plastics counting only material recycled back into plastics and 15 per cent for wood. In force 18 February 2004, transposition by 18 August 2005.

    Source · Art. 1, Art. 2 and Art. 3
  11. Amendment

    Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 aligns the committee provisions

    The first amendment to the directive, a horizontal alignment of the committee provisions of instruments adopted under the Article 251 procedure to Council Decision 1999/468/EC; it is recorded as amendment M1 of the consolidated text. In force 20 November 2003.

    Source · list of amending acts, entry M1
  12. In force

    Directive 94/62/EC enters into force

    Adopted on 20 December 1994 and published in OJ L 365 on 31 December 1994, the directive entered into force on the day of its publication and repealed Council Directive 85/339/EEC from the transposition date. Member States had to bring their transposing laws into force before 30 June 1996, the essential requirements applied from 31 December 1997, and packaging manufactured before entry into force and conforming to existing national law could still be placed on the market for five years.

    Source · Art. 9(1), Art. 22, Art. 23 and Art. 24

Tools and training

What Conphora offers for PPWD.

Start from the problem

We do not know what the packaging rules mean for us

What the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40 asks of manufacturers, importers and distributors: duties that apply now and those to come.

Regulation guides → Compliance Radar → PPWR packaging

We sell to several countries without packaging EPR

Packaging EPR across EU countries under the PPWR: register in each country, appoint an EPR representative abroad, report yearly, show proof to platforms.

Regulation guides → Compliance resources → PPWR packaging

Our e-commerce parcels are mostly air

The PPWR empty space rule for e-commerce, transport and grouped packaging: the 50 % ratio, what counts as empty space, the dates, and the exemptions.

Regulation guides → Knowledge & insights

We do not know which recycling symbols to print

Packaging sorting labels under the PPWR: the harmonised label from 2028, material codes still in use, misleading symbols, and the EPR symbol by QR code.

Regulation guides → Knowledge & insights → PPWR packaging

Questions people ask about PPWD

Is Directive 94/62/EC still in force?

No. Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, repealed Directive 94/62/EC with effect from 12 August 2026, the day the regulation itself started to apply. Four groups of provisions continue to apply for a limited time, and references to the directive are construed as references to the regulation and read through the correlation table in its Annex XIII. The Commission's packaging waste page puts it the same way: the directive was generally repealed on 12 August 2026, with some provisions continuing after that date.

Source · Art. 70(1), Art. 70(5) and Art. 71Source
Which provisions of the Packaging Directive still apply after 12 August 2026?

Article 70(1) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 lists exactly four. Article 8(2), the marking and identification system, continues until 30 months from the entry into force of the implementing act adopted under Article 12(6) of the regulation, which the Commission had to adopt by 12 August 2026 and which was still unadopted on 17 September 2026, when the Commission's implementation page and the industry tracker of the secondary legislation both recorded it as delayed in preparation, so no end date is fixed yet. Check this date before relying on it. Article 9(1) and (2) continue with regard to the essential requirements under the first indent of point 1 of Annex II, the minimisation of packaging volume and weight, until 31 December 2029. Article 5(2) and (3), Article 6(1) points (d) and (e) and Article 6a continue until 31 December 2028. Article 12(3a), (3b), (3c) and (4) continue until 31 December 2028, except as regards the transmission of data to the Commission, which continues until 31 December 2029. Separately, Decision 97/129/EC is repealed from 12 August 2028, Decisions 2001/171/EC and 2009/292/EC stay in force until repealed by delegated acts, and Member States may keep national format restrictions until 1 January 2030.

Source · Art. 70(1) to Art. 70(4), and Art. 12(6)Source
Do I still have to put the PET 1 or HDPE 2 material code on my packaging?

At EU level the rule survives: Article 8(2) of the directive says packaging shall indicate, for identification and classification by the industry concerned, the nature of the packaging materials used on the basis of Commission Decision 97/129/EC, and Article 8(3) requires the marking to sit on the packaging or the label, be clearly visible and easily legible and be appropriately durable and lasting, including when the packaging is opened. It continues until 30 months after the labelling implementing act under Article 12(6) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 enters into force. How it bites in practice depends on national transposition: in Denmark § 18 of the packaging order says packaging marketed in the country may carry a marking of the nature of the packaging materials, and that if it does, the marking must use the abbreviations and number codes of annex 4 and meet the visibility and durability conditions. The harmonised material composition label under the regulation will replace this from 12 August 2028 at the earliest, or 24 months after the implementing acts if that is later.

Source · Art. 8(2) and (3)Source · Art. 12(1), Art. 12(6) and Art. 70(1), point (a)Source · § 18
What happened to the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit for packaging?

It moved. Article 11(1) of the directive capped the sum of the concentration levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in packaging or packaging components at 600 ppm by weight two years after the transposition date, 250 ppm after three years and 100 ppm after five years, that is from 30 June 2001, and Article 11(2) exempted packaging made entirely of lead crystal glass. Article 11 was repealed on 12 August 2026. Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 now sets the same sum at 100 mg/kg directly, without prejudice to the REACH Annex XVII restrictions and the food-contact rules, and adds the PFAS limits for food-contact packaging from 12 August 2026. The two derogation decisions, 2001/171/EC for glass packaging and 2009/292/EC for plastic crates and pallets in a closed and controlled chain, remain in force until repealed by delegated acts under Article 5(8) of the regulation.

Source · Art. 11(1) and (2)Source · Art. 5(4), Art. 5(5), Art. 5(8), Art. 70(1) and Art. 70(3)
What were the PPWD recycling targets, and who has to meet them now?

Article 6(1) of the directive set nine sets of targets for Member States. By 30 June 2001, 50 to 65 per cent of packaging waste recovered or incinerated with energy recovery and 25 to 45 per cent recycled with at least 15 per cent per material; by 31 December 2008, at least 60 per cent recovered, 55 to 80 per cent recycled and, per material, 60 per cent glass, 60 per cent paper and board, 50 per cent metals, 22,5 per cent plastics counting only material recycled back into plastics and 15 per cent wood; by 31 December 2025, 65 per cent of all packaging waste with 50 per cent plastic, 25 per cent wood, 70 per cent ferrous metals, 50 per cent aluminium, 70 per cent glass and 75 per cent paper and cardboard; and by 31 December 2030, 70 per cent overall with 55, 30, 80, 60, 75 and 85 per cent for the same six materials. The 2025 and 2030 sets moved to Article 52 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on 12 August 2026, with the calculation rules in Article 53; only points (d) and (e), the 2008 targets, and Article 6a survive in the directive until 31 December 2028. The targets bind Member States, not individual companies, but they drive the national collection systems and the extended producer responsibility fees that companies fund.

Source · Art. 6(1) and Art. 6aSource · Art. 52, Art. 53 and Art. 70(1), point (c)
Which Danish rules apply to packaging today?

Bekendtgørelse nr. 1146 of 29 September 2025 on certain requirements for packaging, extended producer responsibility for packaging and other waste collected with packaging waste, the emballagebekendtgørelse, has been in force since 1 October 2025 and replaced order nr. 323 of 20 March 2025. Its footnote states that it implements parts of Directive 94/62/EC as last amended by Directive (EU) 2018/852 and parts of Directive (EU) 2019/904. It still requires packaging marketed in Denmark to meet the essential requirements of its annex 2 and the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit, keeps the glass and closed-loop plastic crate derogations, makes the material marking optional but regulated, sets a minimum price of DKK 4 for certain carrier bags, and builds the producer register run by Dansk Producentansvar with registration 14 days before you start and reporting by 1 June each year. Miljøstyrelsen supervises and can fine, with imprisonment of up to 2 years in aggravating circumstances.

Source · title footnote, § 4, § 5, § 12, § 18, § 21, § 27, § 115, § 120 and § 121Source
Does packaging placed on the market before 12 August 2026 have to be withdrawn?

The repeal does not itself require withdrawal. Packaging placed on the market before 12 August 2026 had to satisfy the national law transposing the directive as it then stood, including the Annex II essential requirements and the 100 ppm heavy-metal limit, and the assessment is made on the date the packaging was placed on the market. From 12 August 2026, packaging may be placed on the market only if it complies with Regulation (EU) 2025/40. The regulation gives one express run-off: packaging manufactured in the Union or imported before the labelling deadlines of its Article 12(1), (2) and (4) that does not comply with those labelling criteria may be made available for up to three years from the entry into force of those labelling requirements.

Source · Art. 9(1) and Art. 11(1)Source · Art. 4(1), Art. 12(12) and Art. 71
Why does the packaging minimisation requirement survive until the end of 2029?

Because the regulation's own minimisation duty starts later. Article 70(1), point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 keeps Article 9(1) and (2) of the directive alive until 31 December 2029, but only with regard to the essential requirement in the first indent of point 1 of Annex II: packaging shall be so manufactured that the packaging volume and weight be limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer. Article 10(1) of the regulation requires manufacturers and importers, by 1 January 2030, to ensure that packaging placed on the market is designed so that its weight and volume are reduced to the minimum necessary to ensure its functionality, with the performance criteria of Annex IV and the technical documentation of Annex VII. Article 9(2) of the directive also keeps the presumption of conformity from harmonised standards alive for that requirement in the meantime.

Source · Art. 9(1) and (2) and Annex II, point 1, first indentSource · Art. 70(1), point (b), Art. 10(1) and Art. 10(4)

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Sources

  1. Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste, consolidated text of 4 July 2018 (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:01994L0062-20180704
  2. Directive 94/62/EC as published in OJ L 365, 31 December 1994 (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31994L0062
  3. Document information, dates, corrigenda, amending acts and repeal for CELEX 31994L0062 (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:31994L0062
  4. Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste, the act that repeals the directive (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32025R0040
  5. Directive (EU) 2018/852 amending Directive 94/62/EC, the circular economy package (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32018L0852
  6. Directive (EU) 2015/720 amending Directive 94/62/EC as regards lightweight plastic carrier bags (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32015L0720
  7. Commission Directive 2013/2/EU amending Annex I to Directive 94/62/EC (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32013L0002
  8. Regulation (EC) No 219/2009 adapting instruments to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009R0219
  9. Directive 2005/20/EC amending Directive 94/62/EC for the Member States that acceded in 2004 (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32005L0020
  10. Directive 2004/12/EC amending Directive 94/62/EC, the definition criteria and the 2008 targets (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004L0012
  11. Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 on the committee provisions of instruments adopted under the Article 251 procedure (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32003R1882
  12. Commission Decision 97/129/EC establishing the identification system for packaging materials, OJ L 50, 20 February 1997 (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31997D0129
  13. Commission Decision 2001/171/EC on the derogation for glass packaging from the heavy-metal limit (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32001D0171
  14. Commission Decision 2009/292/EC on the derogation for plastic crates and pallets in a closed and controlled chain (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32009D0292
  15. Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products (EUR-Lex) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019R1020
  16. Packaging waste (European Commission, DG Environment) https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/packaging-waste_en
  17. Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, implementation timeline and national competent authorities (European Commission, Green Forum) https://green-forum.ec.europa.eu/packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation-implementation_en
  18. Bekendtgørelse nr. 1146 af 29. september 2025 om visse krav til emballager, udvidet producentansvar for emballage samt øvrigt affald der indsamles med emballageaffald (Retsinformation) https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2025/1146
  19. Miljøkrav til emballage (Miljøstyrelsen) https://mst.dk/erhverv/groen-produktion-og-affald/producentansvar/emballage/miljoekrav-til-emballage
  20. Producentansvar for emballage, typiske spørgsmål og svar (Miljøstyrelsen) https://mst.dk/erhverv/groen-produktion-og-affald/producentansvar/emballage/producentansvar-for-emballage/typiske-spoergsmaal-og-svar

About this guide

Reviewed by
Conphora compliance team, Compliance editors, Conphora
Reviewed
24 September 2026
Next review
13 March 2027

Written from the official text on EUR-Lex and the Commission’s guidance, with a source for every fact. It is not legal advice.

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Conphora (2026). PPWD: Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (Directive 94/62/EC), explained. Retrieved 13 October 2026 from https://www.conphora.com/regulations/ppwd/
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