Brand owners may carry legal responsibility for polybags, cartons and mailers even when external suppliers physically manufacture the packaging.
The European Commission has clarified how companies should apply the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which generally takes effect on August 12, 2026. The guidance distinguishes the packaging “manufacturer”, responsible for regulatory conformity across the EU, from the “producer”, which registers, reports volumes and finances waste management in each member state where packaging becomes waste.
Branding can transfer liability
For sales and grouped packaging, the manufacturer will normally be the business completing the final processing steps, such as filling and sealing—often the product brand owner. For transport and service packaging, the packaging supplier is usually responsible unless the user’s name or trademark appears on the packaging, in which case the branded user may become the manufacturer.
Importers and distributors can also acquire manufacturer status when placing packaging on the market under their own name or modifying it in a way that affects compliance. The Commission says there should be only one manufacturer for each packaging type across the EU.
That company must ensure compliance with applicable sustainability and labelling requirements, complete a conformity assessment and prepare an EU declaration of conformity. Technical documentation must generally be retained for five years for single-use packaging and ten years for reusable formats.
Existing stock receives limited relief
The clarification reduces concerns about an immediate, universal relabelling exercise. Harmonised consumer sorting labels are scheduled from August 2028 or later, while packaging manufactured or imported before the relevant labelling deadline may generally continue to be marketed for three years.
Reusable transport packaging placed on the market before February 11, 2025 may remain in circulation until it becomes operationally obsolete. Units introduced after that date but before the new labelling regime may require updated labels by February 2032.
Chemical requirements are less flexible. Food-contact packaging placed on the market after August 12, 2026 must comply with the PPWR’s PFAS limits even when produced earlier, although stock already placed on the market does not require withdrawal.
Packaging data moves upstream
Apparel and footwear companies should now map every packaging format, identify the manufacturer and producer by market, and obtain evidence covering material composition, weight, chemical content and supplier conformity. The immediate compliance risk is not only unsuitable packaging—it is being unable to demonstrate who designed it, what it contains and where it first entered the EU market.
