PPWR glossary

The manufacturer, the supplier, the importer, the distributor, the authorised representative, the final distributor and the fulfilment service provider.

Article 3(1), point (12)

Any natural or legal person that manufactures packaging or a packaged product; however: (a) subject to point (b), where a natural or legal person has packaging or a packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark, regardless of whether any other trademark is visible on the packaging or on the packaged product, ‘manufacturer’ means that natural or legal person; (b) where the natural or legal person that has the packaging or packaged product designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark falls within the definition of micro-enterprise set out in Recommendation 2003/361/EC as applicable on 11 February 2025, and the natural or legal person that supplies the packaging to the natural or legal person that has the packaging designed or manufactured under its own name or trademark is located in the same Member State, ‘manufacturer’ means the natural or legal person that supplies the packaging.

Article 3(1), point (13)

Any manufacturer, importer or distributor to whom, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by means of distance contracts, one of the following applies: (a) the manufacturer, importer or distributor is established in a Member State and makes available for the first time from within the territory of that Member State and on that same territory transport packaging, service packaging, or primary production packaging, whether as single-use packaging or as reusable packaging; or (b) the manufacturer, importer or distributor is established in a Member State and makes available for the first time from within the territory of that Member State and on that same territory products packaged in packaging other than those referred to in point (a); or (c) the manufacturer, importer or distributor is established in a Member State or in a third country and makes available for the first time on the territory of another Member State, directly to end users, transport packaging, service packaging or primary production packaging, whether as single-use packaging or as reusable packaging; or (d) the manufacturer, importer or distributor is established in a Member State or in a third country and makes available for the first time on the territory of another Member State, directly to end users, products packaged in packaging other than those referred to in point (c); or (e) the manufacturer, importer or distributor is established in a Member State and unpacks packaged products without being an end user, unless another person is the producer as defined in point (a), (b), (c) or (d).

Article 3(1), point (15)

Any natural or legal person established within the Union that places packaging from a third country on the market.

Article 3(1), point (17)

Any natural or legal person that supplies packaging or packaging material to a manufacturer.

Article 3(1), point (16)

Any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or importer, that makes packaging available on the market.

Article 3(1), point (18)

The natural or legal person in the supply chain that delivers packaged products, including through re-use, or products that can be purchased through refill to the end user.

Article 3(1), point (21)

Any natural or legal person established in the Member State where the producer makes packaging or packaged products available on the territory of the Member State for the first time, or where it unpacks packaged products without being an end user, other than the Member State or the third country where the producer is established, and that is appointed by the producer in accordance Article 8a(5), third subparagraph, of Directive 2008/98/EC to fulfil the obligations of that producer under Chapter VIII of this Regulation.

Article 3(1), point (20)

Any natural or legal person offering, in the course of commercial activity, at least two of the following services: warehousing, packaging, addressing and dispatching, without having ownership of the products involved, excluding postal services as defined in point 1 of Article 2 of Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, parcel delivery services as defined in point 2 of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2018/644 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and any other postal services or freight transport services.

Article 3(1), last subparagraph, PPWR – Article 3, point (11), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020

An item, irrespective of the materials from which it is made, that is intended to be used by an economic operator for the containment, protection, handling, delivery or presentation of products to another economic operator or to an end user, and that can be differentiated by packaging format based on its function, material and design, including: (a) an item that is necessary to contain, support or preserve a product throughout its lifetime, without being an integral part of the product, and which is intended to be used, consumed or disposed of together with the product; (b) a component of, and ancillary element to, an item referred to in point (a) that is integrated into the item; (c) an ancillary element to an item referred to in point (a) that is hung directly on, or attached to, the product and that performs a packaging function, without being an integral part of the product, and which is intended to be used, consumed or disposed of together with the product; (d) an item that is designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale in order to dispense the product, which is also referred to as ‘service packaging’; (e) a disposable item that is sold and filled or designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale and which performs a packaging function; (f) a permeable tea, coffee or other beverage bag, or soft after-use system single-serve unit that contains tea, coffee or another beverage, and which is intended to be used and disposed of together with the product; (g) a non-permeable tea, coffee or other beverage system single-serve unit intended for use in a machine and which is used and disposed of together with the product.

Article 3(1), point (1)

An item that is designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale in order to dispense the product.

Article 3(1), point (1)(d)

Packaging conceived so as to constitute a sales unit consisting of products and packaging to the end user at the point of sale.

Article 3(1), point (5)

Packaging conceived so as to constitute a grouping of a certain number of sales units at the point of sale, irrespective of whether that grouping of sales units is sold as such to the end user or whether it serves as a means to facilitate the restocking of shelves at the point of sale or to create a stock-keeping or distribution unit, and which can be removed from the product without affecting its characteristics.

Article 3(1), point (6)

Packaging conceived so as to facilitate the handling and transport of one or more sales units or a grouping of sales units, in order to prevent damage to the product from handling and transport, but which excludes road, rail, ship and air containers.

Article 3(1), point (7)

A unit of packaging made of two or more different materials which are part of the weight of the main packaging material and cannot be separated manually and therefore form a single integral unit, unless one of the materials constitutes an insignificant part of the packaging unit and in any event no more than 5 % of the total mass of the packaging unit and excluding labels, varnishes, paints, inks, adhesives and lacquers; this is without prejudice to Directive (EU) 2019/904.

Article 3(1), point (24)

A unit, including any integrated or separate components, which as a whole serves a packaging function, such as the containment, protection, handling, delivery, storage, transport or presentation of products, and includes independent units of grouped or transport packaging where they are discarded prior to the point of sale.

Article 3(1), point (45)

Packaging that is intended to be used for products falling within the scope of Regulations (EC) No 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council, (EC) No 1935/2004, (EC) No 767/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, (EC) No 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, (EU) 2017/745, (EU) 2017/746, (EU) 2019/4 of the European Parliament and of the Council or (EU) 2019/6, or of Directives 2001/83/EC, 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council or 2008/68/EC, or for products as defined in Articles 1 and 2 of Commission Decision (EU) 2023/1809.

Article 3(1), point (49)

Packaging placed on the market from 11 February 2025 shall be considered to be reusable where it fulfils all of the following requirements: (a) it has been conceived, designed and placed on the market with the objective to be re-used multiple times; (b) it has been conceived and designed to accomplish as many rotations as possible under normally predictable conditions of use; (c) it fulfils applicable requirements regarding consumer health, safety and hygiene; (d) it can be emptied or unloaded without being damaged in a way that would prevent its further function and re-use; (e) it is capable of being emptied, unloaded, refilled or reloaded while maintaining the quality and safety of the packaged product and ensuring compliance with the applicable safety and hygiene requirements, including those on food safety; (f) it is capable of being reconditioned in accordance with Part B of Annex VI, while maintaining its ability to perform its intended function; (g) it allows for affixing of labels and the provision of information on the properties of that product and on the packaging itself, including any relevant instructions and information for ensuring safety, adequate use, traceability and shelf-life of the product; (h) it can be emptied, unloaded, refilled or reloaded without risk to the health and safety of those responsible for doing so; and (i) it fulfils the requirements specific to recyclable packaging set out in Article 6, so that it can be recycled when it becomes waste.

Article 11(1) (not defined in Article 3)

Packaging which is not reusable packaging.

Article 3(1), point (28)

Any supply of packaging, whether empty or with a product, for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge.

Article 3(1), point (9)

The first making available of packaging, whether empty or with a product, on the Union market.

Article 3(1), point (10)

Any natural or legal person that resides or is established in the Union to whom a product has been made available either as a consumer or as a professional end user in the course of its industrial or professional activities, and that does not make that product further available on the market in the form supplied to it.

Article 3(1), point (23)

A set of measures taken by Member States to ensure that producers of products bear financial responsibility or financial and organisational responsibility for the management of the waste stage of a product’s life cycle.

Article 3(1), second-to-last subparagraph, PPWR – Article 3, point (21), of Directive 2008/98/EC; producer obligations Article 45 PPWR

An enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million.

Article 2(3) of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC (referred to in Article 3(1), point (13)(b), PPWR)

The country under whose law the company was incorporated and where it has its own legal personality and registered office. A branch, a warehouse or a VAT registration does not constitute establishment.

Not defined in the PPWR

Any operation by which reusable packaging is used again multiple times for the same purpose for which it was conceived.

Article 3(1), point (27)

An operation by which a container that fulfils the packaging function, and that is either owned by the end user or purchased by the end user at the point of sale of the final distributor is filled by the end user or by the final distributor with one or several products purchased by the end user from the final distributor.

Article 3(1), point (33)

The compatibility of packaging with the management and processing of waste by design, based on separate collection, sorting in separate streams, recycling at scale and the use of recycled materials to replace primary raw materials.

Article 3(1), point (38)

Packaging waste which is collected separately, sorted and recycled in installed infrastructure, using established processes proven in an operational environment which ensure, at Union level, an annual quantity of recycled material under each packaging category listed in Table 2 of Annex II equal to or greater than 30 % for wood and 55 % for all other materials; it includes packaging waste that is exported from the Union for the purpose of waste management and which can be considered to meet the requirements of Article 53(11).

Article 3(1), point (39)

Materials that have undergone all necessary checking and sorting and been obtained through recycling processes and can substitute primary raw materials.

Article 3(1), point (47)

Waste that is plastic and that has been generated from plastic products that have been placed on the market or supplied for distribution, consumption or use in a third country in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge.

Article 3(1), point (48)

A substance that: (a) meets the criteria laid down in Article 57 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and is identified in accordance with Article 59(1) of that Regulation; (b) is classified in Part 3 of Annex VI to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 in one of the following hazard classes or hazard categories: (i) carcinogenicity categories 1 and 2; (ii) germ cell mutagenicity categories 1 and 2; (iii) reproductive toxicity categories 1 and 2; (iv) endocrine disruption for human health categories 1 and 2; (v) endocrine disruption for the environment categories 1 and 2; (vi) persistent, mobile and toxic or very persistent, very mobile properties; (vii) persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic or very persistent, very bioaccumulative properties; (viii) respiratory sensitisation category 1; (ix) skin sensitisation category 1; (x) hazardous to the aquatic environment — categories chronic 1 to 4; (xi) hazardous to the ozone layer; (xii) specific target organ toxicity — repeated exposure categories 1 and 2; (xiii) specific target organ toxicity — single exposure categories 1 and 2; (c) is regulated under Regulation (EU) 2019/1021; or (d) negatively affects the reuse and recycling of materials in the product in which it is present.

Article 3(1), last subparagraph, PPWR – Article 2, point (27), of Regulation (EU) 2024/1781