§7 Exemptions from recycled content targets

Legal provisions: Recital (50): ‘Food-contact materials containing recycled plastic have to meet the requirements set out in Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616, which includes requirements on recycling technologies. Regarding plastic packaging, except where that packaging is made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), it is appropriate to re-assess the availability of suitable recycling technologies for such plastic packaging sufficiently ahead of the date of application of the related recycled content requirements. That assessment should also cover the state of authorisation under relevant Union rules and the installation in practice of such technology. Based on that assessment, there might be a need to provide for derogations from the recycled content requirements for specific contact-sensitive plastic packaging or to amend the list of exceptions laid down in this Regulation. To that end, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission.’ Article 7(5) states that ‘Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to: (a) plastic packaging that is intended to come into contact with food where the quantity of recycled content poses a threat to human health and results in non-compliance of packaged products with Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004; (b) any plastic part representing less than 5 % of the total weight of the whole packaging unit.’ Article 7(12): ‘By 1 January 2028, the Commission shall assess the need for derogations from the minimum percentages of recycled content laid down in paragraph 1, points (b) and (d), for specific plastic packaging, or the revision of the list of exceptions in paragraph 4 for specific plastic packaging. Based on the assessment referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph, where suitable recycling technologies to recycle plastic packaging are not authorised under the relevant Union rules or are not sufficiently available in practice, taking into account any safety related requirements, especially concerning contact-sensitive plastic packaging, including food packaging, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 64 to amend this Regulation in order to: (a) provide for derogations from the scope, timing or level of minimum percentage laid down in paragraph 1, points (b) and (d), of this Article, for specific plastic packaging; and (b) as appropriate, amend the list of the exceptions in paragraph 4 of this Article.’ Commission’s interpretation: Article 7(5) establishes specific exemptions from the recycled content obligation. The exemption established in Article 7(5)(a) refers to plastic packaging that is intended to come into contact with food where the quantity of recycled content poses a threat to human health and results in non-compliance of packaged products with Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 (20). The exemption established in Article 7(5)(b) relates to plastic parts representing less than 5 % of the total weight of the packaging unit. The notion of ‘plastic parts’ should be interpreted in line with the definition of composite packaging in Article 3(1), point 24 of the PPWR. Both exemptions apply directly and therefore do not need to be specifically granted by the Commission or by the national competent authorities. For the exemptions to apply, the manufacturer must substantiate compliance with the requirements of the exemptions in the technical documentation, by providing documented evidence (e.g. on the absence of authorised recycling technologies). To qualify for the exemption in Article 7(5)(a), the technical documentation must specify, for each plastic part that represents 5 % or more of the total weight of the packaging unit, the polymer used. It must confirm that, considering the intended use of the packaging and the target: — ‘Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 does not list a suitable recycling technology for that polymer’; and, — ‘no recycling technology is available at an industrial scale to manufacture that polymer in accordance with the processes described in Article 4(3) of that regulation’. Finally, the Commission will assess by 1 January 2028 the need for granting further exemptions from the recycled content obligations for plastic packaging or revising the existing exemptions listed in Article 7(4) of the PPWR.

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