Angela Smits, Sustainability Manager – Packaging Coatings, looks at the European Union’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). She explores what it means for packaging manufacturers, and how Stahl is working with customers to break down potential barriers to compliance.
In August 2026, the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation application started, aimed at reducing packaging waste, improving recyclability and accelerating the transition to a more circular economy. The PPWR has ramifications throughout the product lifecycle – from how packaging is designed and produced to how suppliers and manufacturers collaborate to support compliance.
What does PPWR mean for coatings?
PPWR sets strict limits on substances of concern in packaging, including new PFAS restrictions in food-contact packaging and existing heavy metal limits. It also requires companies to minimise excess weight and empty space in packaging. Recyclability is a key component: by 2030, all packaging must meet minimum recyclability design criteria and plastic packaging must contain a minimum share of post-consumer recycled material, with recyclability at scale required by 2035. Specific packaging composability requirements also apply to certain applications.
Critically, PPWR applies to the entire packaging unit, including the coatings used, with any layer that restricts or prevents recyclability potentially determining whether the packaging passes end-of-life criteria.
It’s a step change for manufacturers: the question is no longer whether a coating simply protects and performs, but whether it does so in a way that keeps the packaging recoverable.
How Stahl is driving packaging innovation
Stahl’s Packaging Coatings team has prepared for the PPWR by reviewing our portfolio against requirements on substances of concern and packaging recyclability, and by working with customers to ensure their coatings are not a compliance barrier. Taking it further, the team continue to develop solutions that enable more recyclable packaging formats. This includes innovations for circular design and supporting the shift away from plastic-based films and foils while keeping packaging recyclable and repulpable.
This work aligns with our development of barrier coatings, designed to deliver high performance while enabling packaging to be compatible with existing recycling systems. Our research and development (R&D) and Open Innovation (OI) teams continue next-generation development and explore more renewable raw materials and formulation approaches that maintain performance, safety and processability, while improving the environmental profile of paper-based packaging.
Going beyond compliance
Stahl’s Repura™ range of barrier coating solutions is one key example of how Stahl is supporting the shift towards more recyclable packaging formats. Our technology aligns with the strictest emerging global standards and restricted substance lists, supporting compliance with PPWR as well as other key frameworks, including the Single-Use-Plastic (SUP) Directive and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.
Critically, none of this comes at the cost of performance. Repura™ helps applications maintain reliable product protection and aesthetic shelf-appeal, and is customisable across paper & board, flexible packaging and speciality graphics.
Key benefits of Repura™:
- Superior protection from oil and grease, water and water-vapour (MVTR), and oxygen transmission (OTR)
- Excellent rub, scuff and blocking resistance
- Suitable for both direct and indirect food contact applications
- Enables reduced material use and transport emissions
- FDA-approved, ISEGA-approved, compliant with Swiss Ordinance and German Ink Ordinance
- Bio-based solutions available
Discover Stahl’s Repura™ range of barrier coating solutions here.
Key Takeaways
- The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applies packaging to the entire packaging unit, meaning any coating that restricts recyclability can determine whether packaging passes or fails compliance.
- PPWR introduces strict limits on substances of concern, including new PFAS restrictions in food-contact packaging, alongside recyclability and recycled-content requirements, phased in from 2030.
- Stahl’s Repura™ range of barrier coatings is PFAS-free and formulated with high bio-based content, keeping packaging recyclable and repulpable.
- Repura™ is designed for paper & board, flexible packaging and speciality graphics, offering barrier, rub, scruff and blocking resistance without compromising performance.
FAQ
What is the European Union’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)?
PPWR is EU legislation that came into application on 12 August 2026, aimed at reducing packaging waste, improving recyclability and accelerating the transition to a circular economy across all packaging types.
Does PPWR apply to packaging coatings?
Yes, PPWR applies to the entire packaging unit, including any coatings used. This means that a coating that would restrict recyclability can cause the whole application to fail compliance.
What substance restrictions does PPWR introduce for packaging?
PPWR sets strict limits on substances of concern, including new PFAS restrictions in food-contact packaging effective from 12 August 2026, alongside existing heavy metal limits.
What are PPWR’s recyclability requirements?
By 2030, packaging must meet minimum recyclability design criteria. The criteria and grade A to D classification have not yet been fully finalised. By 2035, packaging must be recyclable at scale, meaning it can be processed through real industrial recycling infrastructure.
How does Stahl’s Repura™ range support PPWR compliance?
Repura™ barrier coatings meet today’s PPWR requirements and, while maintaining barrier and performance properties, are designed to keep paper-based packaging recyclable and repulpable.
About the author:
Angela Smits is Sustainability Manager for Stahl’s Packaging Coatings business. In this role, she integrates ESG principles into the business and leads its sustainability strategy, driving initiatives that support sustainable and circular solutions through collaboration across the value chain.
Prior to joining Stahl, Angela worked as a Senior Product Sustainability Specialist and Market Applications Specialist at Cargill Bioindustrial/Croda. Her areas of expertise include emissions reduction, product life cycle assessment, sustainable innovation, supply chain transparency and certification.
Angela brings more than 25 years of experience in technical, innovation and biobased product development roles. She studied Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology and holds a PhD from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.