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Port Pallets

Guide

PPWR — the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation

PPWR replaced the previous EU packaging directive with a directly applicable regulation, and has applied generally since 12 August 2026. Here is what that means for pallets — and what it does not mean.

Published 2026-09-10 · Last reviewed 2026-09-10 · Next review due 2026-12-10

This guide is general information written for people working around UK ports. It is not legal or customs advice, and it does not certify that any consignment complies with anything. Requirements change and depend on the specific goods, materials, route and dates involved. Always check the official sources linked below, and take professional advice where the consequences of getting it wrong are significant.

What PPWR is

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2025/40 — is the EU's framework covering packaging design, recyclability, reuse, labelling, certain substance restrictions and waste management. It replaces the earlier Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The shift from a directive to a regulation matters: a directive had to be transposed into each member state's own law, whereas a regulation applies directly across the EU, reducing the variation between member states.

Dates

PPWR entered into force on 11 February 2025 and has applied generally since 12 August 2026, which the European Commission confirmed publicly at the time. The regulation did not, however, switch on as a single event. Obligations that are already applicable must be met; others carry later dates, transitional provisions and exemptions. So 12 August 2026 is not a single cut-off after which all non-compliant packaging left the market, and it is not a ban on wooden pallets.

Individual obligations have their own dates and exemptions

PPWR contains numerous obligations that apply from later dates, phase in over time, or carry specific exemptions and transitional arrangements running to 2030 and beyond. Recyclability criteria, reuse targets, labelling requirements and various reporting duties did not all commence together on 12 August 2026. Treating that date as the point by which everything applies will give you the wrong answer for many specific requirements. Check the obligation you actually care about, not the headline date.

What PPWR does not do

There is a persistent piece of misinformation circulating in logistics circles that PPWR bans wooden pallets, or bans single-use wooden packaging outright. It does not. There is no blanket prohibition on wooden pallets in the regulation. Anyone telling you that you must switch away from timber because of PPWR is either misinformed or selling something.

What is true is that PPWR sets out requirements across a broad range of packaging matters, that transport packaging is within the regulation's overall scope, and that specific provisions may affect specific packaging in specific circumstances. That is a very different statement from a ban, and the difference matters if you are planning capital expenditure.

Does it apply to a UK business?

PPWR is EU law. A UK business is affected where it places packaging or packaged goods on the EU market, or where its EU customers pass requirements down the supply chain contractually — which happens a great deal in practice. Northern Ireland's position is governed by its own arrangements and should be checked separately rather than assumed to follow either GB or EU treatment automatically.

Separate signpost: UK packaging EPR is not PPWR

UK extended producer responsibility for packaging (EPR) — a distinct UK regime

UK packaging EPR is separate from the EU's PPWR and is not affected by it. Whether it applies to an organisation depends on its role in the packaging chain and on turnover and packaging-tonnage thresholds set out in the official guidance, so it applies to some businesses and not others. We make no statement about whether any particular business, including our own, is or is not obligated. Check your own position directly: GOV.UK — Check if you must comply with extended producer responsibility for packaging, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-must-comply-with-epr-for-packaging--2

Sensible next steps

  • Establish whether you place packaging on the EU market, directly or through customers.
  • Identify which specific obligations could touch your packaging, rather than reacting to the general application date.
  • Check the commencement date and any exemption attaching to each of those specific obligations.
  • Read the Commission's own guidance and the official text rather than relying on trade press summaries.
  • Do not make procurement decisions based on a claimed ban until you have seen the provision that supposedly imposes it.

Sources

Each link was checked on the date shown. Where a site blocked our automated check we say so rather than implying a clean result.