When the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) took effect on August 12, 2026, one important decision carved out an exemption for stretch wrap and pallet strapping.
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation replaced the old Packaging Directive with uniform rules binding across all 27 member states. As a regulation rather than a directive, it applies directly and identically everywhere in the bloc, with no national interpretation. Its scope is broad, covering transport and industrial packaging such as pallets, straps, crates, and void-fill materials such as packing peanuts (expanded polystyrene), bubble wrap, and kraft paper (crumpled or shredded), placing moving companies’ standard packing materials for EU-bound household goods shipments squarely in scope. Provisions explicitly apply to packaging imported from outside the EU, meaning non-EU IAM members shipping household goods into the bloc with their own crates, wrap, or pallets pick up compliance obligations just as EU-based movers do.
Without the carve-out, movers would have faced pressure to replace disposable stretch film with reusable systems almost immediately. The exemption isn’t a permanent exit from compliance, though: exempted materials still must meet future Design for Recycling and recycled-content requirements, and broader transport-packaging reuse targets climb toward 70% for certain categories by 2040.
Key dates: core obligations began August 2026; harmonized EU-wide labeling becomes mandatory August 2028; from January 2030, packaging must be recyclable by design and transport/e-commerce packaging is capped at 50% empty space; reuse targets for transport packaging climb toward 70% by 2040.
IAM Member Impact: All members shipping into the EU (not only EU-based ones) should inventory which transport packaging materials cross EU borders and evaluate recyclable-by-design alternatives ahead of the 2030 deadline, rather than assuming this is a domestic EU compliance issue. IAM will continue to monitor and report developments.
Source: Cartonpack Group, UPM Adhesive Materials