Europe is rewriting the rules for the boxes, bottles and wrappers that carry almost everything people buy. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, known as PPWR, was proposed by the European Commission in 2022 to replace the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive that dates to 1994. It entered into force in 2025, and its requirements phase in over the next 15 years.

The goals are straightforward: prevent and reduce packaging waste, make packaging easier to recycle and keep materials circulating. Because the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation is a regulation rather than a directive, it applies directly and uniformly in every EU member state. The push grew out of rising concern in the 2010s about single-use plastics, packaging waste and missed recycling targets.

A Letter Grade for Every Package

The centerpiece is a Design for Recycling (DfR) grading system. Recyclability will be assessed per unit, by weight, and the detailed DfR rules are due to be set through delegated acts by 2028.…