An announcement was made about plastic bottles: a brutal change may come.

The European Union's new regulations, which will come into effect in the summer of 2026, introduced a strict traceability and accountability system for recycled content in PET packaging, promoting the achievement of the 2030 sustainability goals. Although modern recycling technologies that comply with food safety regulations are already available, the European industry faces significant challenges, as the combined demand from stricter legal obligations, raw material shortages, and cheap Asian imports threaten to bring about a structural crisis in the internal market, reported NAK.

On July 3, 2026, the implementing decision was published within the framework of the EU regulation (PPWR) prescribing the minimum recycled content in plastic packaging. This decision finalized the methodology for calculating and verifying the recycled proportion. The regulation introduced a material balance-based accounting, which allows the plastic's path to be tracked throughout the entire supply chain. Manufacturers must now calculate the weight of recycled plastic for each component - separately for the bottle body, cap, and label - and must substantiate the data with statements certified by an independent third party to food industry customers. An important change is that waste processed in third countries can only be counted towards the target values from November 2027, and imports from outside the Union are subject to strict conditions and proof of origin for environmental reasons. In order for recycled PET (rPET) to come into contact with food again, it must undergo an ...