The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is the biggest change to European packaging law in decades. It begins to apply from 12 August 2026, with targets that tighten in stages through to 2040.
Most of the attention so far has been on deadlines, but a narrow focus could push brands toward a narrow question: what is the minimum we must do to comply? A more useful question to ask is what this regulation lets us improve. Approached with a clear head, PPWR provides an opportunity to review the wider packaging strategy and identify where regulatory readiness, efficiency and competitiveness can reinforce one another. So, what are the most valuable questions that brands can ask themselves?
“What are we actually putting on the market?”
Surprisingly few brands hold a complete, comprehensive and current picture of their own packaging. Decisions get made over years, across different teams and different suppliers, and the detail scatters. One product line inherits a specification nobody has revisited in a decade, while another was designed for a market with different rules. Until a brand can see the whole portfolio in one place, every format, the materials in each, how recyclable they are, how much recycled content they carry, and what data exists behind them, any compliance plan is part guesswork.
The audit is the data side of readiness. It shows which packs are furthest from the coming requirements and which are already close, so effort and budget can be apportioned where it will have the most impact. It usually highlights quick wins too, such as formats that are over-engineered or carrying material they no longer need. A comprehensive audit also helps establish the reliable product and packaging data needed to support future PPWR compliance and technical documentation requirements. Under the regulation, the information behind a pack becomes almost as important as the pack itself, because a sustainability claim you cannot evidence is a claim you cannot make.
“Will the new pack still do its job?”
A packaging change intended to improve recyclability or increase recycled content must still protect the product effectively and perform throughout production, distribution and use. In many applications, inadequate product protection can create additional environmental impacts through product loss, making it important to consider packaging and product performance together rather than in isolation.
This means that every change made for recyclability or recycled content still has to hold five things at once: product protection, food safety, shelf life, manufacturing efficiency, and the consumer experience. A film that recycles well but loses barrier performance shortens shelf life. Similarly, a structure that looks right on paper but runs poorly at speed costs a manufacturer in downtime and waste. And a pack that is harder to open or reseal frustrates the shopper that buys it.
These trade-offs are not acceptable, but in our experience at Korozo, advances in material and process technology are increasingly enabling recyclability objectives and demanding performance requirements to be addressed together. Koroform-RCY is one example. It replaces conventional polyamide-based thermoforming films in MAP and vacuum applications, holding deep-draw capability, clarity and barrier performance even at the corners of the pack. Koroform-RCY has been independently assessed by cyclos-HTP at above 95% recyclability under its applicable assessment methodology.
“Are we designing for today's rules, or tomorrow's?”
PPWR does not stand still after August 2026. Recycled-content thresholds rise over time, recyclability grading comes into force, a ‘recycled at scale’ test follows later, and a series of delegated acts is still being written. A pack designed to clear only the first requirement may need reworking within a few years, and reworking a pack is rarely a small job. It can mean new tooling, fresh artwork, requalification with the retailer, and another round of trials. When done repeatedly, that is a slow and expensive process.
Designing once for where the regulation is clearly heading is usually cheaper and far less disruptive than revisiting the same pack again and again. At Korozo, we have already commercialised selected mono-material laundry detergent structures incorporating 30% post-consumer recycled content. This experience provides a practical foundation for working with customers as PPWR recycled-content requirements and their implementing methodologies develop.
The judgement, of course, is not to overshoot. Some PPWR requirements are still taking shape, and committing too early can lock a brand into a material or format before the detail settles. The real skill is in reading the direction of travel confidently, while leaving room to adjust. It is also in treating packaging as a strategy that is reviewed as regulatory requirements and implementing details evolve, not a project that is finished and filed away.
“Are we trying to do this alone?”
No brand holds all the relevant knowledge in-house. PPWR asks questions about material science, extrusion, print, recyclability certification and EPR data, often about the same pack, all at once. That breadth is exactly why brands making progress tend to bring their packaging partners in early, while the options are still open.
The timing changes what is possible. Involve a converter once the brief is locked, and the conversation is narrow: can you make this design we have already decided on? Involve them at the start, and materials, structures, recycled content and end-of-life routes can be weighed together, before any of them are fixed. Trade-offs that would be painful to unwind later are still cheap to explore.
The wider point to consider is that progress towards greater circularity depends on collaboration across the value chain, from the brand to the converter to the recycler to the retailer. Silos are the speedbumps that slow everyone down. Compliance is a shared and collaborative effort, and it rewards the brands that treat it that way.
“What could this win us beyond compliance?”
Meeting the rules is only the minimum PPWR asks. Great packaging can deliver more on top of that. Compliance is the starting point, but better packaging data, demonstrable progress on recycled content and clear evidence supporting recyclability claims can also strengthen conversations with customers, retailers and investors. At the same time, thoughtful packaging design continues to play an important role in product differentiation and consumer experience. Approached strategically, PPWR can therefore become an opportunity to align regulatory readiness with broader commercial and sustainability objectives. Alongside these advantages, thoughtful design remains one of the sharpest ways to stand out on a crowded retail shelf. Approached with the right mindset, PPWR is a chance to compete, not just comply.
At Korozo Group, we have spent years turning these questions into practical answers, from mono-material films incorporating recycled content to packaging structures designed for recycling that are already in commercial use across European markets. Our advice to any brand is to start asking them early, while there is time to act on the answers. The regulation is fixed, but how well you use it, is not.