Packaging regulation has moved beyond the fee-based EPR schemes discussed in our packaging waste EPR guide toward more direct material restrictions in several markets — bans or phase-outs on specific single-use plastics, minimum recycled-content requirements for certain packaging types, and restrictions on packaging that cannot be easily recycled in the destination market's existing waste infrastructure (certain multi-material laminates, for instance).
The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which replaced the older directive with a directly applicable regulation, sets escalating recyclability and recycled-content targets over the coming years, affecting not just the fee an importer pays but, in some cases, whether a given packaging format can legally be used at all for goods placed on the EU market.
For a China-sourced product, this means packaging specifications agreed with the factory need periodic review against the destination market's current rules, not a one-time decision made when the product line launched — a packaging format compliant three years ago may face new restrictions now, with existing inventory sometimes subject to sell-through deadlines rather than an immediate ban.
We ship the cargo in whatever packaging the purchase order specifies; confirming that packaging specification against current destination-market rules before finalizing a new product line's packaging artwork is worth building into the sourcing process given how actively this area is moving.