What happens if I do not comply with the PPWR? What penalties am I facing?

Since 12 August 2026, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 is mandatorily applicable. Infringements of PPWR obligations are pursued by national market surveillance authorities — in Germany these are the Länder authorities, coordinated through the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL).

What specific sanctions are threatened?

The Regulation obliges Member States to establish effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. The German legislator is oriented towards a fine framework of up to EUR 100,000 per infringement. Repeated or serious infringements may attract higher penalties, provided national implementing legislation so provides.

In addition to fines, the following measures are possible: - Distribution bans: Packaging that does not bear the mandatory information currently required under Art. 11(2) (company name/trade mark, postal address, packaging identifier, electronic means of contact) may not be placed on the market. - Recall and market withdrawal: Authorities may order the recall of products already in circulation. - Reputational damage: Infringements are published in the EU-wide Safety Gate system.

What is not yet an infringement:

The absence of a QR code, a recycled content declaration or a material code is not currently an infringement — these requirements are not yet in force, as the necessary delegated acts of the European Commission have not been issued. Fines can only be imposed for obligations that are actually in force.

Who carries out inspections?

Market surveillance authorities carry out spot checks at manufacturers and in trade. They check the currently applicable requirements: conformity assessment (Art. 15), information obligations of suppliers (Art. 16) and distributor obligations (Art. 19).

Note: For a binding legal assessment of your specific products and packaging, please contact your local Chamber of Commerce and Industry or a lawyer specialising in packaging law.