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PPWR fines and penalties: what you risk, from when and who imposes them

Methodology: Marek Galetka, founder of Pravano. English translation of our Czech article, which a person approved before publication; every number, date and legal reference of the translation is checked automatically against the original.

Cross-checked as of 5 October 2026 · based on primary sources

Updated 5 October 2026. Based on Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR). An informative readiness check, not a legal service or an official audit. Original: česká verze.

This article is general information about the regulatory framework, not individual legal advice. To assess the situation of a specific company, we recommend consulting an expert or the quick check.

Most discussions about the PPWR revolve around what the regulation requires. But few people say openly what happens when a company fails to meet the requirements. The answer is not simple – and that is exactly why it is dangerous. Penalties are not fixed at EU level, but that does not mean they are small or distant. On the contrary: the toughest tool is not a fine at all, but a ban on placing packaging on the market. And that can stop an entire product launch.

What applies with certainty: the PPWR penalty framework

The PPWR does not harmonise the amount of penalties – each Member State sets it itself. It does, however, partly harmonise the type of penalty: Article 68(2) expressly requires that penalties for failure to comply with Articles 24 to 29 include administrative fines.

Article 68 of the PPWR imposes three obligations on Member States:

1. To lay down penalties for infringements of the regulation by 12 February 2027.
2. To ensure that the penalties are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
3. For failure to comply with the obligations concerning excessive packaging, format bans and reuse targets (Articles 24–29), penalties must include administrative fines.

In addition to fines, market surveillance authorities may order the packaging to be brought into compliance, withdrawn from the market or recalled, or restrict or prohibit its making available on the market – under Article 58(5) and (9) for packaging presenting a risk and under Article 62(2) for formal non-compliance, which under Article 62(1)(a) and (b) includes a missing or incorrectly drawn up EU declaration of conformity. This is not optional – the regulation expressly provides for this tool.

The Czech Republic must adopt its penalty law by 12 February 2027. Yet under Article 71 the regulation applies in its entirety already from 12 August 2026 (the only deviation is Article 67(5), from 12 February 2029) – that is, before the deadline for laying down penalties expires. This does not mean that nothing applies in the meantime: the regulation is directly applicable and authorities can act on the basis of general market surveillance powers.

Why a ban on placing on the market is worse than a fine

A fine hurts your wallet. A ban on placing packaging on the market can stop your entire business.

Imagine you are an online shop selling food supplements in plastic packaging. You have prepared a new product line, ordered stock, launched a marketing campaign. Then an inspection comes and finds that the packaging does not meet the recyclability requirements or contains prohibited substances. The result:

• A ban on placing the packaging on the EU market – the stock cannot be sold until the problem is remedied (for recyclability under Article 6 – Article 62(1)(m) – the authority first requests corrective action and, if the non-compliance persists, applies penalties under Article 68 (Article 62(3)); a prohibition on making available or a withdrawal applies to packaging presenting a risk under Article 58(5)).
• Redesigning the packaging takes weeks to months (new design, new technical documentation, new EU declaration of conformity under Article 15(2) and Article 39).
• Meanwhile, storage costs keep running, you lose the season, customers go to the competition.
• Only then does a possible fine come – as the icing on the cake.

This scenario is not theoretical. Market surveillance authorities have experience from other Union harmonisation legislation. Note one difference, however: the PPWR does not provide for CE marking at all – no mark is affixed to the packaging, and the evidence is the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity.

Which obligations carry the highest penalty risk

Not all infringements are equally serious – the risk depends on how easily the infringement can be detected and how strictly the PPWR addresses it.

PFAS ban from 12 August 2026

From 12 August 2026, it is prohibited to place on the market food contact packaging if it contains PFAS in a concentration equal to or higher than the limits laid down in Article 5(5) of the PPWR. These are three specific threshold values for different types of PFAS measurement.

This is the most imminent and toughest obligation – it applies from the first day of application of the regulation, without a transitional period. Laboratory analysis of PFAS is a standard procedure, so inspection is technically easy.

Example: you sell snack boxes or paper food trays. If they are treated with fluorinated substances (common practice for water resistance), you must have an analysis confirming compliance with the limits of Article 5 – otherwise you risk a sales ban from August 2026.

Technical documentation and EU declaration of conformity

A manufacturer may place on the market only packaging that meets the requirements of Articles 5 to 12 of the PPWR; before placing it on the market, it must carry out a conformity assessment (Article 38, Annex VII) and draw up an EU declaration of conformity (Article 15(2); model in Article 39). Without this document, the packaging is formally non-compliant – regardless of whether it complies in terms of materials.

Anyone who has packaging designed or manufactured under their own name or trademark is already a manufacturer under Article 3(1), point 13(a). An importer or distributor that places packaging on the market under its own name or trademark or modifies it in a way that could affect its compliance is considered a manufacturer under Article 21. Either way, this affects an online shop that sells goods in packaging bearing its own logo – even if the packaging was physically manufactured by someone else. The only relief is for a microenterprise with a supplier established in the Union: then that supplier is considered the manufacturer (Article 15(12), Article 21, second subparagraph).

Excessive packaging and empty space from 2030

For grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging, the empty space ratio must not exceed 50% – the obligation applies from 1 January 2030 or three years from the entry into force of the implementing acts, whichever is later (Article 24). The Commission will lay down the calculation methodology by implementing acts by 12 February 2028.

For infringements of Article 24, national penalties must expressly include administrative fines (Article 68(2)). This is therefore an area where the legislator explicitly requires penalties to include a financial penalty; for non-compliance under Article 62(1), which covers Article 24, the authority first requests corrective action.

Recyclability and recycled content from 2030

From 1 January 2030 (or 24 months after the entry into force of the delegated acts, whichever is later), only packaging of at least recyclability performance grade C may be placed on the market (grade C = recyclability by weight of at least 70% according to Annex II of the PPWR). From 1 January 2038, only grade A (at least 95%) or B (at least 80%).

From 1 January 2030 (or three years from the date of entry into force of the implementing act on the methodology, whichever is later), the plastic parts of packaging must contain a minimum share of recycled content: 30% for contact-sensitive packaging made of PET, 10% for contact-sensitive packaging made of plastics other than PET, 30% for single-use plastic beverage bottles and 35% for other plastic packaging (Article 7, Annex II, Table 1). The obligation does not apply to a plastic part representing less than 5% of the total weight of the packaging unit (Article 7(5)(b)) nor, among others, to compostable plastic packaging, packaging for the transport of dangerous goods and certain packaging of medicinal products, medical devices and food for infants and young children (Article 7(4)).

Ban on selected packaging formats from 2030

From 1 January 2030, economic operators may not place on the market packaging in the formats and for the uses listed in Annex V of the PPWR (Article 25). A Member State may exempt microenterprises only from the ban on the formats under point 3 of Annex V, subject to demonstrated technical impossibility (Article 25(4)) – this is not a blanket exemption. If your packaging falls into the prohibited categories and the Member State has not granted you the exemption under paragraph 4, you must switch to another format – otherwise you face a sales ban.

Packaging labelling from 2028

From 12 August 2028 – or 24 months from the date of entry into force of the implementing acts adopted under Article 12(6) or (7), whichever is later – packaging must bear a harmonised label on its material composition for sorting by consumers (Article 12(1)). The Commission's deadline for adopting those acts was 12 August 2026; as at 1 October 2026 it had not adopted them, so the obligation will not start on 12 August 2028, but only 24 months from their entry into force. Watch the scope: exempt from the obligation are transport packaging (with the exception of e-commerce packaging) and packaging in deposit and return systems; packaging manufactured or imported before the deadline may, under paragraph 12, be made available on the market for another three years. A missing or incorrect label is otherwise an easily detectable infringement – visible to the naked eye during a market inspection.

What implementing acts will still specify (outlook)

Some penalties cannot be quantified precisely today because they depend on acts not yet adopted.

• Amount of fines in the Czech Republic: the deadline for Member States is 12 February 2027 (Article 68(1)), and for failure to comply with Articles 24 to 29 penalties must also include administrative fines (paragraph 2). As at 1 October 2026, the Czech Republic had not laid them down: Act No. 477/2001 Coll. does not refer to the PPWR, the government adaptation bill had not been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, and the private members' bills amending the Packaging Act (parliamentary prints 73 and 193) do not lay down penalties or competent authorities for the PPWR; supervision of Articles 5 to 12 of the PPWR is not expressly assigned either. The Packaging Act's own fines, however, continue to apply – for example up to CZK 10,000,000 for failing to ensure the take-back or recovery of packaging waste, up to CZK 1,000,000 for breaching the records obligation and up to CZK 500,000 for failing to apply for entry in the List of Persons (Section 44(2), Section 45(1)).
• Methodology for calculating empty space (Article 24): implementing act by 12 February 2028. Without the methodology, neither can compliance be precisely verified nor an infringement proven – but the obligation itself applies from 2030.
• Recyclability criteria (Article 6): delegated acts by 1 January 2028. Without them, packaging cannot be precisely classified into grade A, B or C – but the obligation applies from 2030 or 24 months after the acts.
• Register of producers (Article 44): the implementing act under paragraph 14, which lays down the format for registration and reporting of information, was to be adopted by the Commission by 12 February 2026; Member States will set up the national register within eighteen months of the date of entry into force of the first such act (paragraph 1). The scope of information for registration is already in Annex IX, Part A. The registration obligation is real – under paragraph 4, without it, packaging may not be made available; check the current status of the act and of the register in the Official Journal of the EU and with the competent authority.

Who is at greatest risk: decision guide

If you have packaging manufactured under your own name or trademark, you are a manufacturer under Article 3(1), point 13(a) – regardless of who physically manufactured the packaging.

• If you sell food in packaging treated with fluorinated substances → immediate priority: PFAS analysis; the ban under Article 5(5) applies from 12 August 2026 without a transitional period.
• If you pack goods in your own boxes with a logo and import them from third countries → you are a manufacturer under Article 3(1), point 13(a) (and, as an importer, also under Article 21); you need technical documentation and an EU declaration of conformity.
• If you send parcels in oversized boxes → prepare for the obligation to reduce empty space to no more than 50% by 2030; start measuring now.
• If you are a microenterprise → you have no automatic relief. Article 25(4) is only an option that a Member State may use, it concerns only point 3 of Annex V and is conditional on demonstrated technical impossibility. Targeted exemptions are in Article 15(12), Article 21, second subparagraph, and Article 29(13); check the definition of a microenterprise and your other obligations.
• If you sell only as a distributor under someone else's brand and do not modify the packaging in any way → the manufacturer's obligations do not pass to you, but you should cover the supplier's responsibility for compliance by contract.

30/60/90-day action plan

Start with what is due earliest – PFAS and documentation are priority number one.

First 30 days

1. Map all packaging that you have manufactured or place on the market under your own name or trademark (Article 3(1), point 13(a); for an importer and distributor, Article 21).
2. Identify packaging intended for contact with food – order a PFAS analysis or request one from the supplier.
3. Verify whether you have or can obtain an EU declaration of conformity (Article 39) for each such packaging.

Days 31–60

1. Check the technical documentation (Article 15, Annex VII) – if it is missing, start preparing it.
2. Measure the empty space ratio in your e-commerce packaging; document the results as a baseline for 2030.
3. Check whether your packaging falls into the prohibited formats of Annex V (applicable from 2030).

Days 61–90

1. Set up an internal process for monitoring legislative developments: the implementing act on the recycled content methodology (by 31 December 2026), the delegated acts on recyclability (by 1 January 2028), the Czech penalty law (by 12 February 2027).
2. Cover the responsibility of packaging suppliers for compliance with the PPWR by contract.
3. Use the quick check for a comprehensive assessment of your situation.

Common misconceptions

Misconception 1: “Penalties only apply from 2027, so until then there is no risk.”
Not true. The obligations (in particular the PFAS ban) apply from 12 August 2026. The penalty law must be adopted by 12 February 2027, but market surveillance authorities can act on the basis of general powers even earlier. And a ban on placing packaging on the market is not a fine – it is a direct exercise of supervision that does not need a special penalty law.

Misconception 2: “I am just an online shop, not a packaging manufacturer – the PPWR does not concern me.”
The obligations of a manufacturer do not concern you if you sell goods in packaging of someone else's brand and do not modify the packaging in any way. The PPWR does concern you, however: as a distributor, before making packaging available on the market you must verify whether the packaging is labelled and whether the manufacturer and the importer have met their identification obligations and, once the registers exist, also the producer's registration in the register (Article 19(2)); you must not make available packaging that you know or have reason to believe is non-compliant (Article 19(3)). As the one who fills transport packaging and e-commerce packaging, you are responsible from 2030 (or later under Article 24(1)) for the 50% empty space limit and, depending on where you supply goods from and to whom, you may also be a producer with a registration obligation and extended producer responsibility (Article 3(1), point 15, Articles 44 and 45). As soon as you have boxes made under your own logo, you are a manufacturer under Article 3(1), point 13(a); for an importer or distributor, Article 21 leads to the same result. In both cases you take on the manufacturer's obligations – including technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity.

Misconception 3: “The fine will be small, we will pay it somehow.”
The fine is only one part of the risk. A ban on placing packaging on the EU market – that is, a de facto ban on selling the product – can cause business losses that exceed the fine many times over. And redesigning the packaging (new design, new documentation, new declaration of conformity) takes months.

Summary

The PPWR does not harmonise penalties – their specific amount is set by each Member State by 12 February 2027 (Article 68(1)); check the status of the Czech rules in the Collection of Laws. That does not mean there is no cause for concern: the regulation applies from 12 August 2026 (the only deviation is Article 67(5); a number of obligations have later deadlines in the individual articles), and the toughest tool is not a fine, but a ban on placing packaging on the EU market. This can block an entire product launch and cause losses significantly exceeding any fine. The most imminent and most concrete risk is the PFAS ban in food packaging (Article 5) and the absence of technical documentation and an EU declaration of conformity (Articles 15, 39). Every online shop or importer that places packaging on the market under its own name is a manufacturer – and bears full responsibility, unless it is a microenterprise and its packaging supplier is established in the Union.

This article is a general explanation, not individual legal advice. A specific overview for your company (Pravano Kompas) comes with the free check – in writing, within 2 working days.