Regulation 2025/40 - Packaging and packaging waste - Main contents
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Contents
official title
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC| Legal instrument | Regulation |
|---|---|
| Number legal act | Regulation 2025/40 |
| Original proposal | COM(2022)677  |
| CELEX number i | 32025R0040 |
| Document | 19-12-2024; Date of signature |
|---|---|
| Signature | 19-12-2024 |
| Effect | 11-02-2025; Entry into force Date pub. +20 See Art 71 12-08-2026; Application See Art 71 12-02-2029; Application Partial application See Art 71 |
| Deadline | 12-02-2027; See Art 68 01-01-2030; See Art 70.4 12-08-2034; See Art 69 |
| End of validity | 31-12-9999 |
EN
L series
Official Journal of the European Union
2025/40 22.1.2025
of 19 December 2024
on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee I1),
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (2),
Whereas:
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(1)Products need appropriate packaging in order to be protected and easy to transport from where they are produced to where they are used or consumed. Prevention of barriers on the internal market for packaging is key for the functioning of the internal market for products. Fragmented rules and vague requirements cause uncertainty and additional cost to economic operators.
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The Commission’s (Eurostat’s) packaging waste statistics for the period 2010-2021 indicate that packaging uses large quantities of primary raw material (virgin materials). 40 % of plastics and 50 % of paper used in the Union is used for packaging, and packaging represents 36 % of municipal solid waste. High and constantly increasing quantities of packaging generated, as well as low levels of re-use and collection and poor recycling, present significant barriers to achieving a low-carbon circular economy. This Regulation should therefore establish rules covering the entire life-cycle of packaging, contributing to the efficient functioning of the internal market by harmonising national measures, while preventing and reducing the adverse impacts of packaging and packaging waste on the environment and human health. By laying down measures in line with the waste hierarchy set out in Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) (‘waste hierarchy’), this Regulation should contribute to the transition to a circular economy.
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European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC (4) lays down requirements for packaging, which relate to the composition of packaging and its reusable and recoverable nature (‘essential requirements for packaging’), and sets recovery and recycling targets for Member States.
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(4)In 2014, in its Fitness check relating to Directive 94/62/EC, the Commission recommended adaptations to the essential requirements for packaging, which were seen as a key tool to achieve better environmental performance of packaging, to make those requirements more concrete and more easily enforceable and to strengthen them.
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(5)In line with the European Green Deal, set out in the communication of the Commission of 11 December 2019, the new Circular Economy Action Plan for a cleaner and more competitive Europe (CEAP), set out in the communication of the Commission of 11 March 2020, commits to reinforcing the essential requirements for packaging with a view to making all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030, and to considering other measures to reduce (over)
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Position of the European Parliament of 24 April 2024 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the Council of 16 December 2024.
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Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives (OJ L 312, 22.11.2008, p. 3).
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European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (OJ L 365, 31.12.1994, p. 10).
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