Packaging Legislation Guide 2026

• BPAs: Bisphenol A: An industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It makes plastics strong and shatterproof, and lines metal food and drink cans to prevent corrosion. Now banned in food packaging across the EU (The UK is yet to announce their timeframe). 

• CBAM: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: A tariff placed on carbon-intensive imported goods, such as metal packaging. Currently in place in the EU and planned for the UK in 2027. 

• DfR: Design for Recycling: DfR packaging is designed to be easy to collect, sort, disassembled at the end of use. It is a key part of circular economy legislation such as pEPR and PPWR. 

• DoC: Declaration of Conformity: An EU requirement under PPWR, which means the packaging conforms to legal requirements. 

• DRS: Deposit Return Scheme: Consumers pay a small deposit on beverage containers, which is refunded upon return to a collection point. A DRS is scheduled to launch in the UK in October 2027. 

• EPR: Extended Producer Responsibility: A globally recognised environmental policy whereby the producer, not the consumer, pays for packaging waste.  

• pEPR: Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility: The UK’s EPR policy, designed to transfer the financial and operational cost of packaging waste management from local taxpayers to the business users and importers of the packaging. 

• OPRL: On-Pack Recycling Label: The standard UK labelling scheme that tells consumers how to recycle specific parts of a product's packaging. 

• PCR: Post-Consumer Recycled Content: Material that has completed its life cycle as a consumer item and has been recycled. PPWR and UK regulations use PCR percentages to judge packaging sustainability. 

• PFAS: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: Highly restricted "forever chemicals". Under the EU’s PPWR, strict concentration limits apply to PFAS in food-contact packaging. 

• PPT: Plastic Packaging Tax: A UK tax charged on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into, the UK containing less than 30% recycled plastic. 

• PPWR: Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation: The definitive, harmonised EU law replacing the older PPWD (Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive). It establishes strict EU-wide mandates for recyclability, reuse, and waste reduction 

• REACH:  Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals: The broad chemical safety regulation framework that packaging materials must satisfy in both the EU and UK 

• RAM: Recyclability Assessment Methodology: The framework used to calculate and modulate EPR fees. Highly recyclable materials receive lower fees, while hard-to-recycle formats are heavily penalised. 

• SUPD: Single-Use Plastics Directive: An EU directive aimed at reducing the volume of single-use plastic products on the market  

We hope you've found this guide useful. If you have any other questions, please get in touch; we're always here to help.