The PPWR in brief

The incoming PPWR will include a variety of new requirements directed at different operators. For example, packaging will be subject to a number of new product requirements related to recyclability, labelling, recycled plastic content, permissible materials and packaging minimisation. These requirements are generally the responsibility of the manufacturers or importers who place the packaging on the EU market for the first time.

The PPWR also imposes obligations to increase the reuse of transport, grouped and beverage packaging. The requirements regarding transport and grouped packaging apply to operators using these types of packaging, whereas the reuse obligations concerning beverage containers apply to final distributors, such as shops and restaurants, that sell beverage containers directly to consumers. From the beginning of 2030, these operators must ensure that at least 10% of specified beverages (e.g. water, soft drinks, juice, beer) available to consumers are contained in reusable packaging. The share of reuse can be calculated either by the total volume of the beverages in question or by the number of beverage containers.

There will also be changes to the producer responsibility for packaging. The definition of a packaging producer will change as of 12 August 2026. A key change to the current definition is that the manufacturer or importer of transport packaging will also be its producer, which is currently the case with service and grower packaging. The current general rule will continue to apply to other types of packaging, meaning that the producer is the company that packs a product or the one that imports a packaged product to Finland. The producer responsibility requirements also apply to distance sales.

Producers will be liable for some additional costs. Under the PPWR, producers will be required to pay for labels to be placed on packaging waste receptacles to facilitate sorting as well as certain reports on the composition of mixed waste stipulated by the implementing acts. A certain proportion of a producer’s budget must be allocated to waste reduction and prevention measures.

Producers will have to submit much more detailed reports under the new requirements: packaging placed on the market will be reported under 22 different packaging categories, 13 of which cover different types of plastic packaging. The threshold for simplified reporting for small operators will also be reduced from the current 50 tonnes to 10 tonnes of packaging placed on the market per year. In practice, producers report the volumes of packaging they place on the market to a producer organisation, which submits the data to the supervising authority.

Data on separate collection and treatment of packaging waste will also be reported in more detail in the future, broken down into 13 categories of packaging waste.

The PPWR also imposes obligations on different operators to ensure that the producers of packaging placed on the market meet their producer responsibility obligations.

The implementation of the Regulation requires amendments to the Waste Act as well as to the Decree on Packaging and Packaging Waste. The Regulation’s application date of 12 August 2026 also sets a deadline for the first amendments to the national legislation. Legislative changes and other implementing measures will continue to be made even after this as several of the requirements and objectives of the Regulation have later deadlines. The Ministry of the Environment will continue to work with relevant operators in preparation for the implementation of the Regulation.

Tarja-Riitta Blauberg
Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of the Environment