The European Union is currently working on a delegated act that will create exemptions from certain reuse obligations for plastic films and strapping bands under the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

This regulation, which came into force on February 11, 2025, sets ambitious targets for a more sustainable packaging industry in the EU. Among other things, it stipulates that economic operators must achieve a minimum proportion of reusable packaging from January 1, 2030. This also includes transport and sales packaging such as pallets, crates, containers, plastic films, and strapping bands, which are used to secure and stabilize goods during transport.

Since the original reuse requirements – in particular a 100% obligation for reusable films and strapping within a company or between companies in the same Member State – would be technically and economically difficult to implement from the point of view of many economic operators, the European Commission has proposed a delegated act. This is intended to allow certain companies to be exempted from these strict reuse obligations. The background to this is analyses and feedback from interest groups, according to which a complete switch to exclusively reusable films and tapes could lead to disproportionately high adjustment costs.

The proposed legislation was submitted for public consultation as part of the EU’s better regulation process (ongoing initiative 14550), and interested parties and associations were able to submit comments until the beginning of January 2026.

Specifically, the legislation would exempt the use of film and strapping in securing pallets and similar transport packaging from the strict 100% reuse requirement, without changing the overall objectives of the regulation on reusable packaging. This is to ensure that companies can continue to meet their overall targets for reusable packaging without having to make disproportionate changes to their logistics processes.

In summary, this initiative helps to reconcile environmental objectives with practical feasibility: it creates pragmatic exemptions for certain frequently used plastic packaging components, while continuing to pursue the basic aim of the EU Packaging Regulation to reduce waste and increase reuse and recycling.

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