---
name: ppwr-compliance
description: Use when analysing PPWR packaging compliance for companies.
category: regulatory
---

# PPWR Compliance – EU-Verpackungsverordnung (EU) 2025/40

Analyse and create PPWR compliance documentation for companies shipping packaged goods in the EU. Covers the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), the German implementing law (VerpackDG), and practical compliance workflows.

## Key Facts

- **PPWR**: Verordnung (EU) 2025/40, in force 11.02.2025, applies from **12.08.2026**
- **VerpackDG**: German Durchführungsgesetz, replaces old VerpackG, applies same date
- **Verordnung ≠ Richtlinie**: Applies directly in all 27 EU member states — no national transposition needed
- **Critical change**: B2B/B2C distinction largely abolished — transport/industrial packaging now fully regulated
- **Leerraumquote**: Maximum 50% empty space (including filling material like bubble wrap or foam)
- **Rezyklatquote plastic**: 35% PCR from 2030, 65% from 2040 (non-food-contact)
- **100% reuse quota**: Certain transport packaging between same-country sites from 2030 (VDMA warns "technically impossible")

## Workflow: PPWR Compliance for a Company

### Phase 1: Discovery
1. Inventory ALL packaging: cartons, envelopes, pallets, filling material, tape, strapping, stretch wrap
2. Map packaging → materials (Wellpappe 1W/2W, LDPE, PE, PP, PU-Schaum, Holz, Papier)
3. Determine "Erzeuger" (manufacturer) role:
   - **Standard packaging without own branding** → supplier is Erzeuger → request their DoC
   - **Custom sizes, own logo/mark** → company IS Erzeuger → full responsibility
4. Map EU destination countries (each needs separate EPR registration from 2027)

### Phase 2: Simplification (CRITICAL STEP)
Companies often think they need one ID per content variant. They don't.

**Principle**: The ID identifies the **packaging configuration**, not the contents. If material and construction are identical across sizes, group them.

**Anti-pattern** (avoid): Creating IDs per content combination (skin vs. foil, with/without net) → explodes to hundreds of IDs.

**Correct approach**: One ID per physical packaging type (carton size). The DoC lists ALL possible inner components as "Kann-Komponenten". The packaging is structurally the same regardless of what's inside.

```
❌ WRONG: KAMAT-K-010-SFN = W212H + Schaum + Folie + Netz
✅ RIGHT:  KAMAT-K-08   = W212H (DoC lists all possible inner materials)
```

### Phase 3: Documentation
For each packaging family with identical material/construction (only size differs → one DoC):

1. **Gruppen-DoC** per material family (Art. 15, Anhang VII Modul A Nr. 4)
2. **Technical documentation** listing all materials, suppliers, and possible inner components
3. **Identification labels** with: company name + address + email + ID

**DoC structure** (Anhang VIII PPWR):
1. Unique identification of the packaging (list all IDs in the group)
2. Name and address of manufacturer (Erzeuger)
3. Object of declaration (packaging configuration description)
4. Statement of conformity (table: PPWR articles → compliance status)
5. Applied harmonised standards (EN 13427, EN 13430, etc.)
6. Conformity assessment procedure (Modul A)
7. Signature block (does NOT require CEO — department head/quality manager suffices)

### Phase 4: Implementation
- Print identification labels (HTML template → browser → print on A4)
- One label design, varying only the ID
- Place on every packaging unit leaving the warehouse
- Store DoCs for 10 years
- Register in LUCID (Germany) + other EU country registers by 2027

## Critical Dates

| Date | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 12.08.2026 | Stoffbeschränkungen, Rollen, Kennzeichnung, Dokumentation |
| 2027 | EPR registration in all EU destination countries |
| 2028 | Harmonised EU labelling |
| 01.01.2030 | Recyclingfähigkeit all packaging, Rezyklatquoten, Leerraumquote, 100% reuse (transport) |
| 01.01.2035 | Proof of industrial-scale recycling |
| 01.01.2040 | Increased Rezyklatquoten (65% plastic) |

## Design Patterns

### ID System
Use prefixes by packaging class, numeric suffixes:

| Prefix | Class | Example |
|---|---|---|
| `K-` | Cartons (Kartons) | `KAMAT-K-01` to `KAMAT-K-17` |
| `T-` | Envelopes (Taschen) | `KAMAT-T-01` to `KAMAT-T-04` |
| `F-` | Folding crates (Faltkisten) | `KAMAT-F-01` to `KAMAT-F-05` |
| `P-` | Pallets (Paletten) | `KAMAT-P-01` |

### Label Content (Art. 15 Abs. 5+6 PPWR)
```
┌──────────────────────────┐
│  COMPANY NAME & Co. KG   │
│  Street, ZIP City        │
│  info@company.de          │
│                          │
│  ID: PREFIX-XX           │
└──────────────────────────┘
```
If the company already uses logo-branded tape externally, the label only needs to add address + ID.

### DoC File Naming
`COMPANY-DoC-{CLASS}-{YEAR}-{SEQUENCE}` — e.g. `KAMAT-DoC-K-2026-001`

## Pitfalls

- **Don't over-engineer IDs**: Variants per content combination explode combinatorially. The DoC lists "Kann-Komponenten" — the packaging structure is what's identified, not the specific order contents.
- **Klebeband counts**: If the company's logo tape is on the outside, the company IS the Erzeuger — even for standard cartons.
- **Palettenumwicklungen and Umreifungsbänder**: Per PPWR guidance, NOT counted as separate packaging for reuse quotas (Art. 29).
- **Micro-enterprise exemption**: Only for <10 employees AND <€2M annual revenue. Does NOT exempt from basic conformity — only from certain reuse quotas and single-use bans.
- **LUCID alone is not sufficient**: Need EPR registration in every EU country where packaged goods are delivered.

## References

- `references/kamat-example.md` — Full worked example with Kamat GmbH & Co. KG
