PPWR 2026: what changes for non-EU packaging producers
Regulation (EU) 2025/40, known as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, enters into force on 11 February 2025 and applies directly on 12 August 2026. For non-EU packaging producers, the most important provision is Article 45.
Until now, the obligation for foreign sellers to designate an authorized representative in France for the packaging EPR stream rested on French national law: the AGEC law, the Environment Code, and several implementing decrees. From 12 August 2026, the obligation is reframed as a direct EU rule with uniform mechanics across all 27 member states.
What Article 45 says, in practice
Article 45 of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 requires every producer of packaging or packaged products not established in a member state to appoint, in writing, an authorized representative in each member state where it places packaging on the market for the first time.
The representative is established in the same member state as the placing on the market. The mandate is in writing. The representative carries out the EPR obligations on behalf of the producer. In France, it does more than that: since 10 July 2026, Article L. 541-10-9-1 of the Code de l’environnement subrogates it into the obligations whose mandate it accepts. Online marketplaces do not take on your EPR automatically: they are required to verify that third-party sellers are EPR-registered, which is why a missing registration gets listings blocked. Where a producer is not established or registered, some Member States can treat the platform or fulfilment service provider as the producer, but that does not relieve you of the obligation to appoint a representative.
What does not change
Producer status stays with the producer, and the PPWR itself does not introduce subrogation (a legal transfer of the obligations from producer to representative). National law can, and in France it now does: after the Conseil d’État annulled the regulatory subrogation clause of article R. 541-174 in November 2023, the legislator reinstated it at statute level with law n° 2026-602 of 8 July 2026, applicable from 10 July 2026. So for France, read the PPWR obligation together with Article L. 541-10-9-1: appointing a representative is compulsory, and that representative is subrogated into the obligations it accepts.
For EPR streams other than packaging, the legal basis remains Directive 2008/98/EC article 8a paragraph 5, transposed by each member state. France will continue to apply the Environment Code, the AGEC law and its implementing decrees for WEEE, batteries, textile, furniture, toys, sports, paper and construction.
What you should do before August 2026
If you sell packaged products to French consumers from outside the EU, the practical answer is: nothing different from today. You need a French authorized representative for the packaging stream now, under French law, and you will need one from 12 August 2026, under EU law. We continue to act in that role across the transition.
If you are considering opening up additional EU markets (Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium), 12 August 2026 is the date from which a single regulatory framework governs the representative mandate everywhere in the EU. We can advise on multi- country arrangements via our partners.
Sources
- · Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of 19 December 2024 (PPWR), Articles 1, 3, 45
- · Directive 2008/98/EC, Article 8a paragraph 5, as modified by 2018/851
- · French Environment Code, articles L. 541-10, L. 541-10-9, L. 541-10-13
- · Conseil d’État, 10 November 2023, decision number 449213 (EcoDDS)
- · Loi n° 2026-602 of 8 July 2026, article L. 541-10-9-1 of the French Environment Code, applicable 10 July 2026
Frequently asked questions
Does PPWR replace the French requirement to appoint a representative?
No, it reinforces it with a direct EU rule. France already required non-EU packaging producers to appoint a French authorized representative under national law before 12 August 2026. From that date, PPWR Article 45 makes the same obligation apply uniformly across all 27 Member States, without changing what French sellers must do.
Does PPWR itself create subrogation for the representative?
No. PPWR does not introduce subrogation, a legal transfer of obligations from producer to representative. In France, that comes from national law: law n° 2026-602 of 8 July 2026, creating Article L. 541-10-9-1 of the Code de l'environnement, applicable from 10 July 2026.
Do EU-based companies shipping to France need a representative too?
Yes, if they are not established in France. PPWR Article 45 applies to any producer not established in the destination Member State, regardless of EU membership. A German or Spanish company with no French entity is in the same position as a US or Chinese one.
Does PPWR change anything for EPR streams other than packaging?
No. Other French EPR streams, WEEE, batteries, textile, furniture, toys, sports, paper and construction among them, remain governed by Directive 2008/98/EC Article 8a and the French Environment Code, not by PPWR, which is scoped specifically to packaging.