PPWR: what is changing for your packaging — and why there is no reason to panic

PPWR. Four letters that will come up more and more often in conversations about packaging over the coming years.

The new European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation aims to reduce packaging waste, improve recyclability and encourage companies to use materials and packaging volume more consciously.

That sounds significant. And in some areas, it is.

But there is an important nuance.

PPWR is not a reason to turn your entire packaging process upside down today.

The regulation is being introduced step by step. Several important technical methods, criteria and implementing rules still have to be defined at European level. Some obligations already apply today, while others will only become relevant towards 2028 or 2030.

Even Europe is still working on the practical details.

Our approach at Slimbox is therefore simple:

understand what matters today, prepare for what is coming tomorrow, and avoid solving problems before the rules themselves are final.

What exactly is PPWR?

PPWR stands for Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.

It is the new European regulation on packaging and packaging waste and replaces the former Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.

Where previous rules could be implemented differently by individual Member States, PPWR aims to create a more harmonised approach across Europe.

The overall direction is clear:

• less packaging waste;

• less unnecessary material use;

• better recyclable packaging;

• less unnecessary empty space;

• more reuse where it makes sense;

• and better substantiation of packaging decisions.

PPWR has generally applied since 12 August 2026, but that does not mean that every new requirement became fully operational on that date.

A significant part of the framework will still be developed over the coming years through European implementing acts, delegated acts and harmonised standards.

That distinction matters.

There is a big difference between knowing where Europe wants to go and already knowing exactly how every technical requirement will need to be calculated or demonstrated.

For several topics, we are currently somewhere in between.

What does PPWR mean for companies that package products every day?

For most Slimbox customers, PPWR is not about one single requirement.

It is mainly about the way packaging is designed, selected, used and documented.

Four areas deserve particular attention.

Less packaging where possible

From 2030 onwards, the weight and volume of packaging must be reduced to what is functionally necessary.

That does not mean using as little cardboard as possible at the expense of product protection.

It does mean that a company should be able to explain why a package has the dimensions and material characteristics it has.

Protection, handling, logistics, product characteristics and other functional requirements remain valid considerations.

Less unnecessary empty space

For grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging, PPWR provides for a maximum empty space ratio of 50%.

Here too, nuance matters.

The final European calculation methodology still has to be established. It must explicitly take into account situations such as irregularly shaped products, fragile goods, multiple products in a single box and space that is necessary for protection or shipping.

So we know the direction.

But pretending that every possible packaging situation can already be measured against a fully defined 50% calculation would be premature.

Recyclability is becoming increasingly important

By 2030, packaging will have to comply with European Design for Recycling criteria.

Those technical criteria are still being developed.

For corrugated packaging, the starting position is generally favourable, but the full packaging still matters: material, adhesives, printing, coatings and any additional components may all become relevant.

More documentation and traceability

Another important development under PPWR is that companies will not only have to make good packaging decisions, but will increasingly need to substantiate them.

Which materials were used?

How was the packaging design created?

Which functional requirements were relevant?

Which technical information is available?

And can a package later be linked back to the appropriate documentation?

That may sound administratively heavy.

But this is exactly where a digital and reproducible packaging process can make a major difference.

Slimbox customers are not starting from zero

This may be the most important point of this article.

Companies already using Slimbox have already taken several fundamental steps that fit well with the direction of PPWR.

A Slimbox package starts from the dimensions of the product.

Length, width and height are measured, entered or imported. Slimbox combines this information with the selected box design and the chosen board grade.

That creates a fundamentally different logic from keeping a stock of standard boxes.

With standard packaging, the question is:

“Which available box will this product fit into?”

With Slimbox, the question becomes:

“Which box does this product actually need?”

It seems like a small difference, but under PPWR it becomes increasingly relevant.

Right-sized packaging naturally supports packaging minimisation

Slimbox does not try to make a product fit into an available standard size.

The packaging is generated around the product itself.

This structurally avoids oversizing and can significantly reduce unnecessary empty space.

Right-sized does not mean that every package literally contains zero percent free space.

A cylindrical, angled or irregularly shaped product inside a rectangular box will naturally create some geometric space. Fragile products may require additional protective space. There may also be other functional requirements.

PPWR recognises that these situations exist. Future methodologies therefore need to take functional necessity and unusual product shapes into account.

That fits the way we look at packaging:

not as small as possible, but as large as necessary.

Less material can be a result, but protection comes first

A better fitting box generally means less unnecessary volume.

That can lead to several positive effects:

• less cardboard;

• less need for filling material;

• lower transport volume;

• better product fixation;

• and, in certain applications, the possibility to use a lighter board grade.

But here too, we avoid absolute claims.

The lightest box is not automatically the best box.

Packaging must first and foremost protect the product.

PPWR is ultimately about optimisation, not simply about removing as much material as possible.

That is also the Slimbox philosophy.

And then there is something less visible: the data

A Slimbox does not only produce a box.

Behind every package there is digital information.

Depending on the workflow, this includes or allows the reconstruction of:

• product dimensions;

• box design;

• the selected board grade;

• the applicable design or formula version;

• material consumption;

• and the geometry of the resulting package.

That information becomes increasingly valuable as packaging decisions need to be better substantiated.

This is particularly important for companies packaging hundreds of different products every day across thousands of SKUs.

It would not be workable to create a completely separate PPWR file for every individual SKU.

That is why we structure our documentation as much as possible at system level:

material information is managed centrally, packaging logic is documented, customer-specific parameters are recorded, and individual jobs remain reproducible through the available data.

But does that make Slimbox “PPWR compliant”?

We use that expression deliberately cautiously.

PPWR compliance is not a feature that can simply be attached to a machine as a label.

The ultimate responsibility depends on the packaging, the application, the material, the role of the different parties and the obligations that apply at that point in time.

In addition, several technical PPWR rules are still being developed.

We will therefore not claim that Slimbox has already solved every future PPWR question.

What we can say is that the way Slimbox works is strongly aligned with the direction in which the regulation is moving:

right-sized packaging, controlled material choices, reproducible packaging logic and digital data.

And when future rules change, our design logic, material information and documentation can be updated centrally.

That is what future-proof means to us.

Not predicting that nothing will ever change.

But making sure that change remains manageable.

Pragmatism over panic

PPWR is important legislation and companies need to prepare.

But preparation does not mean that every open question needs an answer today.

The European Commission itself is still working on several methodologies and implementing rules. Technical details still have to be defined for topics such as packaging minimisation, empty space and Design for Recycling.

Our approach is therefore deliberately pragmatic.

What is clear and relevant today, we address today.

What we can already prepare technically, we prepare.

And where Europe itself has not yet defined a final methodology, we will not pretend that the answer is already fixed.

The European Commission is also emphasising support and corrective action rather than immediate sanctions during the first phase of enforcement. Where non-compliance is identified, economic operators should first be given the opportunity to correct it.

That does not make PPWR optional.

It simply means that being prepared is not the same as being afraid.

That is why we are creating a PPWR Supporting Documentation Pack for Slimbox customers

A good packaging flow is one thing.

Being able to explain how that flow works and what information supports it is becoming increasingly important.

That is why Slimbox developed the Slimbox PPWR Supporting Documentation Pack.

This file brings together the relevant information about your Slimbox packaging flow in a structured way.

Depending on your situation, it includes among other things:

• information about the Slimbox board grades used;

• technical documentation from our material suppliers;

• a description of the Slimbox packaging methodology;

• an explanation of how boxes are generated from product dimensions;

• the Customer Packaging Profile with the relevant functional parameters;

• information about available production and traceability data;

• an overview of roles and responsibilities;

• and arrangements for future updates.

The aim is not to pass one hundred pages of regulation on to the customer.

Quite the opposite:

the goal is to structure the relevant information so that our customers do not have to keep figuring out where everything is themselves.

Existing Slimbox customers can expect a version from their account manager that is tailored to their installation and packaging flow.

In the end, good packaging is still good packaging

PPWR introduces new rules, new documentation and new responsibilities.

But underneath many of those rules is a surprisingly simple idea:

use the packaging you need, no more than necessary, and make sure you can explain why.

For Slimbox, that does not change very much.

That is exactly what right-sized packaging has always been about.

Our customers therefore do not need to see PPWR as a reason to start over.

They can see it as confirmation that several choices they already make today — less oversizing, control over material, digital packaging logic and flexibility — are becoming increasingly relevant.

More regulation will follow in the coming years.

We will follow those developments.

We will adapt where necessary.

And above all: we will keep packaging practical.

This article contains general information about PPWR and does not constitute legal advice. Several technical requirements and implementation methods are still under development at the time of publication. Applicability should be assessed for each company and packaging flow.