What The Packaging Legislation Means for your Frontline Teams

Packaging compliance, it is not a sleepy policy document. It is very much live at the till, in the back room, on the warehouse floor, and in the seconds when a customer asks, “Can I return this?”, “Is this recyclable?”, “Why is there a deposit?”, “Can you refill this?”

Between now and 2028, the EU and the UK are tightening packaging rules on different timelines, with different mechanics. If you operate across both, or export into the EU and or the UK, you are managing two moving systems at once. Even if your central teams have the legislation covered, execution will fail if colleagues on shift cannot get clear guidance fast.

The What, When and Where?

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) entered into force on 11 February 2025 and starts applying from 12 August 2026 across all EU member states.
August 2026 is not the finish line. It is the start of a new regime, with major operational requirements phasing in later and some details dependent on implementing acts.

Key PPWR requirements to plan around

1. PFAS limits in food contact packaging, from 12 August 2026
   From 12 August 2026, food contact packaging cannot be placed on the EU market if PFAS are above the regulation’s limit values. If packaging touches product, this is procurement, materials, and supplier assurance, not a marketing tweak.

2. Digital data carriers and harmonised labelling, from 2027 onwards
   PPWR introduces requirements that move packaging towards clearer, more consistent identification and labelling across the EU. A commonly cited early milestone is EPR related identification via QR code or similar data carrier from February 2027, with harmonised consumer sorting labels expected from 12 August 2028, or later depending on the timing of implementing acts.

3. Reuse and refill measures, building towards 2030
   This is where the operating model shifts. The regulation sets reuse targets in specific categories and includes obligations that push refill and reuse into mainstream retail over time, including expectations on larger retailers around refill stations from 2030.

4. Empty space limits for e-commerce and transport packaging, from 2030
   A maximum empty space ratio of 50% is set for grouped, transport, and e-commerce packaging, with timing tied to 1 January 2030 or later depending on methodology implementing acts. This will change fulfilment, packaging specs, and supplier performance management.

5. Restrictions on certain single use formats, especially in foodservice and hospitality, heading to 2030
   PPWR restricts or bans specific packaging formats, with particular impact in foodservice and hospitality contexts. The details vary by category, but the operational reality is consistent, more customer questions, more exceptions, less time to handle them cleanly.

Who is in scope in the EU? If you place packaged products on the EU market, including exporting into the EU, PPWR applies. That includes retailers, beauty and cosmetics brands, food producers, manufacturers, marketplaces, and importers.

UK: pEPR now, then DRS next. The UK is already deep into packaging reform, but the structure is different.

1. Packaging EPR fees are now priced
   The UK has published base fees for year one (2025 to 2026). Plastic is £423 per tonne and glass is £192 per tonne, with other material rates set out by government. From year two (2026 to 2027), fees are expected to adjust based on recyclability assessments, which is where cost pressure starts to reshape packaging choices.

2. The UK distinguishes between small and large organisations based on turnover and packaging tonnage. In plain terms, if you are over £1m turnover and handling 25 tonnes plus, you may have obligations, and if you are £2m plus and over 50 tonnes, you are classed as large. This is not optional admin, it is reporting, fees, and governance, and weak packaging data will hurt first.

3. Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM), deadlines you cannot ignore
   Large producers must include recyclability assessment information in their methodology documentation from 1 October 2025, and reporting runs in halves, with key deadlines including 1 October 2025 and 1 April 2026 for subsequent periods.

4. Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), planned for 1 October 2027
   The UK DRS is due to be introduced from 1 October 2027 across England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, covering single use drinks containers from 150ml to 3 litres in PET plastic, steel and aluminium. The deposit level has not been set yet.

Important note: Mandatory on pack recycling labelling was removed from the packaging EPR statutory instrument, and is being treated as a future change rather than a fixed near term deadline.

Why is Packaging a Frontline Problem?

For retail, beauty, food, and any producer selling through retailers, the pressure hits three places at once.

Compliance and packaging teams must interpret and redesign, materials, suppliers, PFAS exposure, formats, shipping constraints, labelling, reuse and refill measures, all complex and slow. Finance must absorb new fees and shifting costs, particularly in the UK where fees are explicit and escalating towards recyclability modulation. Operations carries the sharp edge, because thousands of packaging decisions get made every day by people on shift, under time pressure, with customers watching.

You can brief a store manager once. You cannot rely on memory across hundreds of sites, turnover, shift changes, and constant exceptions. In the moment someone asks, Is this returnable?, How does the deposit work?, Can I refill this?, the colleague needs three things immediately, what the rule is, what to do next, and how to explain it simply. That is not a training problem. It is an execution infrastructure problem.

How Edify Collective helps your teams without heavy tech infrastructure?

When packaging rules change, the cost is not only compliance risk. It is time, confidence, and customer experience. If teams hesitate or escalate, queues grow, managers get pulled in, and customers lose trust.

Edify Collective is a mobile-first, AI-powered web app for frontline and non-desk teams. It turns your approved policies, SOPs, playbooks and operational updates into governed, role-specific guidance people can access in seconds, plus short practice moments and role plays for the customer conversations that matter. The outcome is practical, faster onboarding, fewer escalations, and more consistent execution across sites and shifts.

What that changes in a PPWR, pEPR, DRS rollout

1. One source of truth by market and role, so EU and UK guidance stays clear

2. Answers in seconds at the point of work, so teams do not guess or go hunting

3. A governed review loop for new questions and exceptions, so updates land everywhere without chaos

4. Practice for returnables, refill and deposits, so teams can rehearse before it gets tense

5. Analytics that show where confusion is building, so you fix guidance early

The winners will not be the ones with the most training content, they will be the ones who can turn complex rules into simple, consistent actions on shift, across every site, every role, every new starter in the flow of work. If you build that capability now, you do more than stay compliant, you create calmer operations, faster onboarding, and customer interactions that feel confident and clear. In the next two years, that kind of reliability becomes a competitive advantage you can choose to build.

A practical timeline, with clear EU vs UK actions

Now to mid 2026
- UK: tighten packaging data and reporting, understand fee exposure, and prepare for recyclability based cost shifts.
- EU: audit EU facing packaging, prioritise food contact PFAS exposure, and map what applies from August 2026 versus what phases in later.
- Both: build the execution layer, role based guidance, fast access, governed updates, and practice.

12 August 2026
- EU: PPWR starts applying across the EU, treat this as the start of enforcement reality, not the end of the project.

2026 to 2027
- UK: fee modulation moves closer to the core of packaging decisions, and RAM reporting requirements continue to drive data discipline.
- EU: plan for the digital and labelling transition milestones from 2027 onwards.

1 October 2027
- UK: DRS goes live, reverse logistics, store processes, customer conversations and exception handling become day to day operations.

2028 to 2030
- EU: harmonised labelling and broader packaging minimisation measures mature, and the operational constraints tighten towards 2030.