Packaging regulation in jeopardy?
Companies across numerous EU member states are voicing strong concerns over the new packaging regulation (Regulation (EU) 2025/40), which they will have to comply with as early as next year. What are the most contentious points? Can changes still be made or the regulation even be repealed?
The new packaging regulation (we wrote about it here) primarily aims at reducing single-use plastics, enhancing recycling rates, minimising packaging size, and introducing mandatory deposit systems. The regulation was adopted by the EU in December 2024 and will come into force in August 2026.
However, companies in the packaging sector across the EU have brought actions before the EU’s General Court, criticising particularly the following points of the regulation:
- Obligation to reuse transport packaging. The regulation stipulates that by 2030, at least 40 percent of transport packaging (e.g. pallets, crates) must be reusable, increasing to 70 percent by 2040. However, the applicants argue that this obligation does not effectively contribute to the intended objective of the regulation and is not a suitable tool for achieving it.
- Ban on selected single-use plastics. The ban on certain single-use plastic packaging is also controversial. According to the applicants it is discriminatory, because other materials are not subject to such restrictions.
- Mandatory deposit systems. Some applicants consider the introduction of mandatory deposit systems to be a disproportionate intervention in entrepreneurial freedom that will restrict the EU internal market and freedom of trade.
Tension between environmental objectives and industrial sector
The packaging regulation is an important pillar of the Green Deal and the EU's efforts to promote sustainable resource management and reduce (not only) plastic waste. However, the ongoing legal disputes underscore the tension between ambitious environmental objectives and the practical implementation of the measures in the industrial sector. While environmental organisations welcome the regulation as a necessary step, packaging companies caution that it may disrupt production chains, increase costs, and hinder innovation.
What will happen next?
The matter now rests with the EU Court of Justice’s General Court that will assess whether or not the individual actions are inadmissible or unfounded. If the General Court finds the actions to be well founded, it will then rule whether the regulation – or specific provisions within it – conflicts with EU law and therefore cannot be applied.
In the meantime, however, companies must be prepared to comply with the regulation from August 2026.