PPWR Timeline: Every Application Date and Deadline from 2025 to 2040

The PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, entered into force on 11 February 2025 and applies from 12 August 2026; its obligations then run in waves to 1 January 2040, and many later dates apply from a fixed day or a set period after a Commission act, whichever is later (Art. 71 PPWR). The first wave, on 12 August 2026, brought the PFAS limits for food-contact packaging, the obligations of manufacturers, importers and distributors, and the EPR rules. The last company deadline, 1 January 2040, raises the recycled content of plastic packaging to as much as 65 %.

Every deadline below comes from the PPWR, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, and from its Article 71, which sets the entry into force and the dates of application. Some dates bind companies, others bind Member States or the Commission. The 2030 rules on recyclability grades, recycled content, the empty space ratio and proof of re-use depend on Commission acts that are not adopted as of 24 October 2026.

This page puts every date into one table, explains conditional dates, tracks each Commission act, answers whether the PPWR has been delayed and walks through 2027 to 2040.

Compiled by the PackagingRegulation.org Editorial Team from the Regulation's text on EUR-Lex and the cited official sources. Every date and article reference is checked; see our methodology and fact-checking.

When Does the PPWR Apply? Entry into Force and Application Dates

The PPWR applies from 12 August 2026, eighteen months after it entered into force on 11 February 2025, the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal on 22 January 2025 (Art. 71 PPWR). Entry into force and application are two different legal events, and the Regulation uses both. The three dates that frame the Regulation are listed below.

• Published: 22 January 2025, in OJ L, 2025/40, 22.1.2025 (CELEX 32025R0040); the act itself is dated 19 December 2024, the day of signature.
• In force: 11 February 2025 (Art. 71 first paragraph). From that day the Art. 11 criteria cover reusable packaging placed on the market, the Art. 10(2)(a) cut-off for design and shape-trademark protection is fixed, and the 10-year delegation of power to the Commission starts (Art. 64(2)).
• Applies: 12 August 2026 (Art. 71 second paragraph). From that day Directive 94/62/EC is repealed, with the carry-overs of Art. 70(1), and the obligations of economic operators apply.

Does everything in the PPWR apply from the same date?

No: 12 August 2026 is the general date, but Art. 67(5) applies from 12 February 2029, many rules carry later dates in their own articles, and parts of Directive 94/62/EC survive until 2028 or 2029 (Art. 70 and 71 PPWR). Article 67(5) amends the Annex, Part B, of the Single-Use Plastics Directive: polystyrene food and beverage containers and cups, luggage shrink wrap at airports and train stations, plastic chips and multipack plastic rings. Commission Notice C/2026/3084 (OJ C, 10.6.2026) gives 1 January 2030 for this amendment in its section 16; the Notice is non-binding, and the date in Art. 71 of the Regulation prevails.

Later dates sit inside the articles themselves. The 1 January 2030 wave is fixed for Art. 10, 25, 28(5) and 29, and conditional for Art. 6(2)(a), 6(3), 7(1), 24(1) and 30(4), which apply from 1 January 2030 or a set period after a Commission act, whichever is later.

PPWR Dates at a Glance: Every Deadline from 2025 to 2040

The table lists every PPWR deadline from publication to 2040, oldest first, with the article, who it binds and whether it is law, a Commission deadline or conditional on a Commission act. The detail pages behind the rows are the PPWR legal text, PPWR recycling targets by material, PPWR since 12 August 2026, PPWR PFAS limits, EU packaging EPR under the PPWR, the PPWR EU declaration of conformity, PPWR penalties, PPWR rules for takeaway food and drinks, PPWR producer registration and reporting, PPWR compostable packaging, PPWR labelling requirements, deposit return systems under the PPWR, PPWR 2030 deadlines, PPWR banned packaging formats, PPWR reuse targets, PPWR Article 6 recyclability, PPWR recycled content targets, the PPWR empty space ratio and PPWR packaging waste reduction targets. "Law" marks a fixed date in the Regulation, "Commission deadline" a date by which the Commission must act, and "Conditional" a date that moves with a Commission act.

How "whichever is later" dates work

A conditional PPWR date applies from the fixed day in the article or from a set period after the Commission act the article names, whichever is later, so a late act moves the date for everyone. Article 7(1), for example, applies from 1 January 2030 or 3 years after the entry into force of the Art. 7(8) implementing act; that act is due 31 December 2026 and is not adopted as of 24 October 2026. Four company rules with conditional dates are listed below.

• Recyclability grades: packaging below grade C (at least 70 %) is barred from 1 January 2030 or 24 months after the Art. 6(4) delegated acts, whichever is later (Art. 6(3)).
• Recycled content: 30 %, 10 %, 30 % and 35 % from 1 January 2030 or 3 years after the Art. 7(8) implementing act (Art. 7(1)).
• Empty space ratio: at most 50 % for grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging from 1 January 2030 or 3 years after the Art. 24(2) implementing acts (Art. 24(1)).
• Material label: from 12 August 2028 or 24 months after the Art. 12(6) or (7) implementing acts, whichever is the latest (Art. 12(1)).

The trigger is not always the same event. Art. 12(1) and 12(2) count from the entry into force of the label act, while Art. 13(1) counts its 30 months from the adoption of the Art. 13(2) receptacle acts. Fee modulation needs two acts: it becomes mandatory 18 months after both the Art. 6(4) delegated acts (due 1 January 2028) and the Art. 6(5) implementing acts (due 1 January 2030) have entered into force (Art. 6(8)), and the Regulation fixes no calendar date for it. How the modulation works for producers is explained in EPR fees and eco-modulation.

Which Commission Acts Does the PPWR Timeline Depend On?

As of 24 October 2026 the only adopted PPWR delegated act is Delegated Decision (EU) 2026/429 on pallet wrappings and straps, no PPWR implementing act is adopted, and the register-format and label acts are overdue. The table lists 12 Commission acts on which a PPWR date depends, with the legal deadline, the status on 24 October 2026 and the rule each act unlocks.

The register-format act under Art. 44(14) was due 12 February 2026 and is not adopted as of 24 October 2026; a draft has been published for feedback on the Commission's Have Your Say portal. Until it applies, each national register keeps its own format, and the 18-month clock of Art. 44(1) has not started. Each mandate is tracked in PPWR delegated acts and implementing acts.

Has the PPWR Been Delayed?

No: the PPWR has not been amended, so 12 August 2026 remains its date of application and every later date in the Regulation still stands as of 24 October 2026. The only consolidated version on EUR-Lex is 02025R0040-20250122, the text as published, and no amending act has been adopted.

Conditional dates follow their Commission acts, as shown in the "whichever is later" section above. Member States may also postpone the 2030 material-specific recycling targets by up to 5 years, by at most 15 percentage points from one target or split between two, if they notify the Commission 24 months before the deadline (Art. 52(2)); the overall targets of 65 % and 70 % cannot be postponed. That option covers Member State recycling targets only (Art. 52(2)).

What is proposed, and at which stage, on 24 October 2026?

Two proposals would change single PPWR articles and neither is law: COM(2025) 982 would suspend the EPR authorised representative rule of Art. 45(3), and COM(2026) 590 would delete Art. 63 on green public procurement. COM(2025) 982, the Commission proposal of 10 December 2025 (procedure 2025/0395(COD)), would suspend Art. 45(3) until 1 January 2035; it would also suspend the EPR authorised representative rule for batteries in Art. 56(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, a topic of eubatteryregulation.com. The European Parliament adopted amendments on 20 October 2026 (T10-0345/2026) and referred the file back to the ENVI committee, according to the Legislative Observatory. Nothing is suspended: Art. 45(3) applies since 12 August 2026, and the duty is set out in authorised representative for EPR under the PPWR.

COM(2026) 590, the Commission proposal of 9 September 2026 for a Public Procurement Act (procedure 2026/0265(COD)), would delete Art. 63, whose implementing acts are due 12 February 2030. Art. 63 remains law as of 24 October 2026.

Further stages of both procedures appear with their dates in PPWR news.

PPWR Deadlines in 2027, 2028 and 2029

Between 2027 and 2029 most PPWR dates bind Member States or the Commission, while companies face fixed dates for take-away containers, compostable formats and deposit return systems. The three years are set out below in date order.

2027: penalty rules, take-away containers and the first annual report

By 12 February 2027 every Member State must lay down and notify its penalty rules, and from the same date HORECA final distributors must fill the consumer's own container for take-away drinks and food at no higher price (Art. 68, Art. 32 PPWR). Administrative fines are mandatory for breaches of Art. 24 to 29, but the Regulation sets no fine amount (Art. 68). By 1 June 2027 producers report on calendar year 2026, with a lighter report under 10 tonnes per Member State (Art. 44(7), (8)); the report is filed under the national register rules until the Art. 44(14) format applies.

Article 12(9) of the PPWR reads, in its English wording: "By 12 February 2027, packaging included in an extended producer responsibility scheme may be identified throughout the territory of the Member States in which that scheme or system applies. Such identification shall be achieved only by means of a corresponding symbol in a QR code or other standardised, open, digital-marking technology". The provision is quoted as written and is not turned into an application date.

2028: compostable formats, design-for-recycling acts and labels at the earliest

By 12 February 2028 permeable tea, coffee and beverage bags, soft single-serve units under Art. 3(1)(1)(f) and sticky fruit and vegetable labels must be compatible with industrial composting (Art. 9(1) PPWR). Other packaging, including biodegradable plastic, must be designed for material recycling (Art. 9(3)). On the same date empty space in sales packaging must be reduced to the minimum necessary, with no numeric ratio (Art. 24(4)), and HORECA final distributors must offer a reusable option for take-away, with micro-enterprises exempt (Art. 33(1), (4)).

Earlier that year, by 1 January 2028, the Commission adopts the Art. 6(4) design-for-recycling delegated acts, and a Member State seeking the deposit exemption submits its request and implementation plan (Art. 50(5)(b)). On 12 August 2028 Decision 97/129/EC is repealed (Art. 70(2)), and the harmonised material label applies from 12 August 2028 at the earliest.

2029: deposit return systems and the reusable packaging label

By 1 January 2029 Member States must collect separately at least 90 % by weight of single-use plastic beverage bottles and metal beverage containers up to 3 litres, through deposit return systems unless the Art. 50(5) exemption applies (Art. 50(1) PPWR). The exemption requires at least 80 % separate collection in calendar year 2026. Recycled content is calculated and verified under the Art. 7(8) method from 1 January 2029 or 24 months after that act, whichever is later (Art. 7(11)). On 12 February 2029 the Single-Use Plastics Directive amendments of Art. 67(5) apply, and the reusable packaging label applies from 12 February 2029 or 30 months after the Art. 12(6) act, whichever is the latest (Art. 12(2)).

PPWR Dates after 2030: 2035, 2038 and 2040

After the 2030 wave the PPWR sets three more company deadlines, 1 January 2035, 1 January 2038 and 1 January 2040, and a run of Commission evaluations from 2030 to 2034. The Commission evaluates the PFAS limits by 12 August 2030 (Art. 5(5)), reviews six areas, including recycled content and Annex V, by 12 February 2032, evaluates Art. 5 by 12 August 2033 (Art. 5(9)), reviews the re-use targets by 1 January 2034 (Art. 29(19)) and evaluates the whole Regulation by 12 August 2034 (Art. 69).

2035: recycled at scale and the 10 % prevention target

From 1 January 2035, or 5 years after the Art. 6(5) implementing acts if later, packaging counts as recyclable only if it is also recycled at scale (Art. 6(2)(b) PPWR). The same year, packaging waste per capita must be at least 10 % below 2018 (Art. 43(1)), the Commission reviews the Art. 6(11) exceptions (Art. 6(12)), and deposit systems that existed before 11 February 2025 and missed 90 % by 1 January 2029 must meet Annex X (Art. 50(11)). The test itself is explained in recycled at scale under the PPWR.

2038: only performance grades A and B

From 1 January 2038 only packaging in recyclability performance grade A or B may be placed on the market, a fixed date no Commission act moves (Art. 6(3) PPWR). Grade A means at least 95 % and grade B at least 80 % under Annex II, Table 3, so grade C packaging (at least 70 %) may no longer be placed on the market from that date. By the same date the Commission assesses the implementation of Art. 50 and the interoperability of deposit systems (Art. 50(11)).

2040: recycled content, re-use endeavours and the 15 % prevention target

From 1 January 2040 plastic packaging must contain at least 50 % recycled content in contact-sensitive PET, 25 % in other contact-sensitive plastic and 65 % in single-use plastic beverage bottles and in other plastic packaging (Art. 7(2) PPWR). The four 2040 rates, each with its 2030 value under Art. 7(1), are listed below.

• Contact-sensitive PET packaging: 50 %, up from 30 %.
• Contact-sensitive packaging of other plastics: 25 %, up from 10 %.
• Single-use plastic beverage bottles: 65 %, up from 30 %.
• Other plastic packaging: 65 %, up from 35 %.

The re-use values for 2040, 70 % for transport packaging, 25 % for grouped packaging and 40 % for beverages, are endeavours, not obligations (Art. 29). By 2040 packaging waste per capita must be at least 15 % below 2018 (Art. 43(1)).

Which Rules of Directive 94/62/EC Still Apply, and Until When?

Directive 94/62/EC is repealed with effect from 12 August 2026, but Art. 70(1) keeps four parts of it for a transition: material identification, the minimisation requirement, several Member State rules and data transmission. The three carry-over groups of the Directive (OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10) are listed below.

• Material identification: Article 8(2) of the Directive applies until 30 months after the entry into force of the Art. 12(6) implementing act (Art. 70(1)(a)), while Decision 97/129/EC on material codes is repealed from 12 August 2028 (Art. 70(2)).
• Member State rules and data: Articles 5(2), 5(3), 6(1)(d) and (e), 6a and 12(3a) to (4) of the Directive apply until 31 December 2028 (Art. 70(1)(c)), and data transmission until 31 December 2029 (Art. 70(1)(d)).
• Minimisation: the Directive's minimisation requirement and the EN 13428:2004 presumption apply until 31 December 2029 (Art. 70(1)(b)); the PPWR minimisation rule of Art. 10(1) takes over from 1 January 2030.

Two further transition rules apply. National restrictions on the formats of Annex V points 2 and 3 may stay until 1 January 2030 (Art. 70(4)), and Decisions 2001/171/EC and 2009/292/EC remain in force until delegated acts under Art. 5(8) repeal them (Art. 70(3)). What changed with the repeal is compared in PPWR vs the Packaging Directive 94/62/EC.

How Does the Timeline Connect to the Rest of the PPWR?

Every date on this page belongs to a section of the PPWR, and each section page explains the obligation behind the date. The table connects the timeline to PPWR requirements for packaging, EU packaging waste, PPWR compliance and PPWR in the 27 member states.

National dates in Germany and France

National deadlines run beside the EU dates: in Germany the VerpackDG applies since 12 August 2026, with LUCID deadlines of 12 September and 12 November 2026 (VerpackDG § 68(2)). The table shows these dates for PPWR in Germany, the LUCID packaging register and PPWR in France.

PPWR timeline questions answered

Has the PPWR text been corrected since publication?

Yes, seven times: corrigenda R(01) of 22 May 2025 to R(07) of 18 September 2026 correct other language versions, and none corrects the English text.

Can packaging placed on the market before 12 August 2026 still be sold?

Yes: packaging placed on the market before 12 August 2026 may remain on the market, but the Commission reads the PFAS limits as having no sell-off period (Notice C/2026/3084, section 5, non-binding). The Commission's reading is compared with the Regulation in PPWR guidance and FAQ.

How long may packaging labelled before a harmonised label date stay on the market?

Three years: packaging manufactured in the Union or imported before a labelling requirement applies may be placed on the market for 3 years from the date that requirement applies (Art. 12(12)). The period runs from the date the label rule actually applies, which for the material label is 12 August 2028 at the earliest.

Until when can the Commission adopt PPWR delegated acts?

The power runs for 10 years from 11 February 2025 and is tacitly extended (Art. 64(2)). Parliament and Council have 2 months to object to each delegated act, extendable by 2 months (Art. 64(6)).