Make all packaging recyclable: designed for material recycling, and collectable, sortable and recycled at scale when it becomes waste.

Manufacturers of packaging must comply, and this is law in force.

Why it matters

This is law in force, not a proposal.

It is Art. 6(1) and (2), in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. as of 2026-08-18
The act gives its timing as: Design for recycling from 1 January 2030 or 24 months after the Art. 6(4) delegated acts, whichever is later; recycled-at-scale from 1 January 2035 (Art. 6(2)). as of 2026-08-18
It names 5 industries by name: Plastics converting, Paper and board, Glass, Aluminium and Wood. as of 2026-08-18
Compliance is checked by technical documentation (Annex VII), continuous. as of 2026-08-18

Addressee Manufacturers of packagingAct Regulation (EU) 2025/40, base actArticle Art. 6(1) and (2)Class Businesses

What changes

All packaging manufacturers. 94/62/EC Annex II required packaging to be 'recoverable' in general terms; a binary recyclability gate with design criteria behind it is new.

The rule

New — no predecessor

Trigger

packaging placed on the market

Obligation

Make all packaging recyclable: designed for material recycling, and collectable, sortable and recycled at scale when it becomes waste.

Who is affected

Addressee

Manufacturers of packaging

Class

Businesses

Sectors

Names Plastics converting, Paper and board, Glass and ceramics, Aluminium and metals, Wood and wood products · Reaches Waste and landfill, Food, drink and tobacco, Retail and distribution

Applies

Design for recycling from 1 January 2030 or 24 months after the Art. 6(4) delegated acts, whichever is later; recycled-at-scale from 1 January 2035 (Art. 6(2))

Burden drivers

D1 · D4 · D7 — 3 of 7 marks fire on this provision.

No size threshold.

Source text

Verbatim

All packaging placed on the market shall be recyclable.

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Settled later in secondary legislation. The design-for-recycling criteria are set by delegated act due 1 January 2028 (Art. 6(4)) and the recycled-at-scale methodology by implementing act due 1 January 2030 (Art. 6(5)). Until both land, the substantive content of this duty is not knowable.