§18 Re-use targets for sales packaging used for transporting products

Legal provisions: Article 29(1): ‘From 1 January 2030, economic operators that use transport packaging, or sales packaging used for transporting products, including for products distributed via e-commerce, within the territory of the Union, in the form of pallets, foldable-plastic boxes, boxes, trays, plastic crates, intermediate bulk containers, pails, drums and canisters of any size or material, including flexible formats or pallet wrappings or straps for stabilisation and protection of products put on pallets during transport, shall ensure that at least 40 % of such packaging in total is reusable packaging within a re-use system.’ Article 3(1), point (5), defines sales packaging as meaning ‘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 (7), defines transport packaging as meaning ‘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.’ Commission’s interpretation ‘Sales packaging used for transporting products’ are packaging formats that can be considered both transport and sales packaging. However, some formats listed in Article 29(1) in which products are being transported, for example pails, drums and canisters, are filled with products, such as pesticides, paints, plasters or adhesives, which may make their re-use either impossible or possible but only at disproportionate costs and resource use, because such viscous filling materials may harden in the packaging after opening or the filling material may migrate into the packaging material and contaminate it. Therefore, whether sales packaging can be re-used depends primarily on the filling product. Only sales packaging with an evident transport function is covered by the re-use targets. The requirement ‘for transporting products’ can be indicated, for example, by a special design, shape or size of the packaging. The following are some illustrative examples: — Plastic buckets filled with paints, chemicals, or sauces altering the properties of the container: Residues or odours may render challenging the re-use of reusable packaging formats for the transport of such products. Removing such residues or odours from the interior of the used bucket is technically feasible. However, in certain cases, and depending on the type of the packed product, the removal of residues might require intense cleaning in terms of chemicals, water or energy use. This would make the re-use of the plastic buckets a feasible option only if the intense cleaning processes do not result in disproportionate costs and resources. — Breakfast cereals or other solid food in rigid packaging formats e.g. drums: The transport of such food in reusable packaging formats such as drums circulated within the same company (but different sites) or linked enterprises or within the same Member State is feasible. Residues or odours from cereals in the drums do not alter the interior of drums making re-use a feasible option. — Bulk materials, e.g. sand, rocks transported in flexible intermediate bulk carrier bags: The transport of bulk materials in reusable flexible intermediate bulk carrier bags is feasible. These products do not alter the properties of the interior of such packaging and in addition do not require intense cleaning. — Fresh fruits transported in plastic boxes or crates: A box or crate is considered sales packaging when is filled in with fresh fruits. However, considering though that this box or crate contains typically larger amounts of fresh fruits than a single portion and is transported to arrive to points of sale, it is considered sales packaging used for transport. Such packaging format can be reusable.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07