The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR), has applied since 12 August 2026. Most of its obligations phase in over the following years. One of the most concrete for brand owners and retailers lands on 1 January 2030: a set of single-use plastic packaging formats can no longer be placed on the EU market for specific uses.
What Article 25 says
Article 25(1) of the PPWR reads:
“From 1 January 2030, economic operators shall not place on the market packaging in the formats and for the uses listed in Annex V.”
Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 25 (“Restrictions on use of certain packaging formats”) and Annex V. The regulation is dated 19 December 2024, was published in the Official Journal on 22 January 2025, entered into force on 11 February 2025 and generally applies from 12 August 2026.
The restriction is not a ban on a material. It applies to a combination of a format and a use. The same plastic tray can be allowed in one setting and restricted in another.
Two entries most food and retail businesses will meet
Fresh fruit and vegetables. Annex V restricts “Single-use plastic packaging for less than 1,5 kg pre-packed fresh fruit and vegetables.” Examples given are nets, bags, trays and containers. Member States may set exemptions where there is a demonstrated need, for example to avoid water loss.
Food and drink consumed on the premises (HORECA). Annex V restricts “Single-use plastic packaging for foods and beverages filled and consumed within the premises in the HORECA sector.” HORECA means hotels, restaurants and catering. Examples given are trays, disposable plates and cups, bags and boxes. Annex V states: “Establishments in the HORECA sector that do not have access to drinking water are exempted.”
Annex V has six entries in total; these are two of them. Each will get its own entry in the SPI Regulation Tracker once the SPI team has checked it against the regulation text. Until then, read Annex V in full for your own categories.
How this fits with the rules already in force
The PPWR restrictions build on the Single-Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904. Since 3 July 2021 that Directive has required Member States to ban single-use plastic cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, expanded polystyrene food and drink containers and cups, and oxo-degradable plastic products (EUR-Lex, Directive (EU) 2019/904).
The difference is legal form. The Directive had to be transposed into each national law, so details varied by country. The PPWR is a regulation, so Article 25 applies directly in every Member State, subject only to the exemptions Annex V itself allows.
Other PPWR dates on the same horizon
From the SPI Regulation Tracker:
| Date | Obligation | Tracker rule |
|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2026 | PPWR applies; the 1994 Packaging Directive is generally repealed | PR-EU-001 |
| 1 January 2029 | Member States must separately collect at least 90% of single-use plastic and metal beverage containers up to 3 litres, in principle through deposit return systems | PR-EU-007 |
| 1 January 2030 | Annex V format restrictions apply | PR-EU-008 |
| 2030 | Minimum recycled content in plastic packaging, including 30% for single-use plastic beverage bottles | PR-EU-004 |
| 2030 | Binding reuse targets: 40% for transport and sales packaging, 10% for grouped packaging | PR-EU-006 |
| 2030 | Maximum 50% empty space in grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging | PR-EU-009 |
| 2030 | All packaging recyclable in an economically viable way | PR-EU-010 |
One proposal to watch: the Commission’s Environmental Omnibus, COM(2025) 982, would suspend the PPWR obligation for producers to appoint an authorised representative when selling directly to consumers in other Member States. As of October 2026 it is not adopted, so the obligation applies (tracker rule PR-EU-012).
What to do before 2030
- List your pack formats by use, not only by material. The restriction depends on what the packaging is for and where the product is consumed.
- Flag fresh produce packs under 1.5 kg and any single-use plastic used for food and drink served and consumed on the premises.
- Check national exemptions. Member States may exempt some fresh produce packaging. Watch national notifications in your markets.
- Plan the replacement with the other 2030 rules in mind. A replacement format also has to meet the recyclability, recycled-content and empty-space rules that apply from 2030.
Each rule above links to its official source, quoted line, status and change history in the SPI Regulation Tracker. If you need the restrictions mapped to your own pack formats and markets, the SPI team can scope that with you. Pricing is on request.
Figures and dates as of 13 October 2026. This note is decision support, not legal advice.