Meet the 2040 recycled-content step: 50% for contact-sensitive PET, 25% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 65% for single-use plastic beverage bottles, 65% for all other plastic packaging.
Manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging must comply, and this is law in force.
Why it matters
This is law in force, not a proposal.
- It is Art. 7(2), in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. as of 2026-08-18
- The act gives its timing as: From 1 January 2040 (Art. 7(2)). as of 2026-08-18
- It names 2 industries by name: Plastics converting and Food and drink. as of 2026-08-18
- Compliance is checked by technical documentation (Annex VII), annual, averaged per manufacturing plant. as of 2026-08-18
What changes
The same population as RCY-01 at roughly double the level. Kept as its own row rather than folded into the 2030 duty because the two bind at different dates and an operator planning capital spend needs them separable.
The rule
a plastic part of packaging placed on the market
Meet the 2040 recycled-content step: 50% for contact-sensitive PET, 25% for other contact-sensitive plastics, 65% for single-use plastic beverage bottles, 65% for all other plastic packaging.
Who is affected
Burden drivers
No size threshold.
Source text
By 1 January 2040, any plastic part of packaging placed on the market shall contain the following minimum percentage of recycled content recovered from post-consumer plastic waste, per packaging type and format as referred to in Table 1 of Annex II, calculated as an average per manufacturing plant and year: (a) 50 % for contact-sensitive packaging made from PET as the major component, except single-use plastic beverage bottles; (b) 25 % for contact-sensitive packaging made from plastic materials other than PET, except single-use plastic beverage bottles; (c) 65 % for single-use plastic beverage bottles; (d) 65 % for plastic packaging other than those referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of this paragraph.
View source →Settled later in secondary legislation. Art. 7(14) has the Commission report by 12 February 2032 on the 2030 percentages and on the feasibility of these, possibly with a legislative proposal amending them.