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From August 12, 2026, every packaging type placed on the EU market requires a Declaration of Conformity confirming it meets the sustainability requirements of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). For transport packaging, determining who is responsible for the Declaration of Conformity depends on a distinction the regulation draws between rigid and flexible formats. Many supply chain teams have not yet identified which side of it they sit on.
Understanding this now matters. It determines who builds the technical documentation, who issues the Declaration of Conformity, and who carries the legal obligation if something is wrong.
PPWR Transport Packaging: The Rigid vs Flexible Rule
Under the PPWR, the obligation to issue a Declaration of Conformity falls on the manufacturer, defined as the party that manufactures packaging under their name or trademark, or that effectively controls the manufacturing of such packaging.
For transport packaging, whether your business carries that manufacturer status comes down to one question: does the packaging exist as a finished item before it reaches you, or does it only become packaging when you apply it?
Rigid packaging (pallets, crates, rigid containers) holds its shape. It is already a discrete, finished item when it leaves the supplier. The supplier, the pallet manufacturer for example, is typically the manufacturer under PPWR and is responsible for issuing the Declaration of Conformity. Exceptions are made if a rigid packaging is branded (or in other ways made “non-standard”), which would make the brand owner the manufacturer.
Flexible packaging (stretch film, strapping, shrink wrap) has no fixed shape until someone applies it to an item, or a load. It is a packaging material until the moment you bring it into its final shape, e.g. by wrapping a pallet. The film manufacturer is only a supplier under the regulation, and your company, as the party that creates the finished transport packaging by applying it, becomes the manufacturer and carries the compliance obligation.
A useful way to think about this: discrete items (a pallet, a crate) exist as finished packaging before they reach you. Continuous materials (a roll of stretch film, a reel of strapping) only become packaging when you apply them, and whoever does that application is the manufacturer.
This changes where the Declaration of Conformity obligation sits, who builds the technical documentation, and who is responsible if something is wrong.
Where This Distinction Comes From
The distinction emerges from how the PPWR defines its key roles.
Article 3(1)(13) defines the manufacturer as the party that manufactures (or has someone manufacture) packaging under their name or trademark. The Commission Guidance Document C(2026) 2151 final, published on March 30, 2026, reinforces a principle already familiar from sales packaging: packaging only truly exists once it has been filled or applied. An unused roll of stretch film is not packaging yet. It becomes packaging when it is wrapped around another item to fulfill a packaging function (such as: protection).
That logic, combined with Article 3(1)(16)‘s definition of a supplier as a party that provides packaging materials to a manufacturer, places film and strapping producers firmly in the supplier column, and operators using those materials in the manufacturer column.
The Contested Point: FAQ XV-12
There is a catch. FAQ point XV-12 of the Commission’s official PPWR Frequently Asked Questions appears to suggest that a separate Declaration of Conformity is also required for films and strapping bands as standalone products. Legal and compliance professionals have noted that this reading contradicts the regulation’s own logic, since it would treat an unused roll of film as finished packaging. The Commission FAQ and the regulatory text are currently pulling in slightly different directions on this point.
The practical takeaway: do not assume your film supplier will carry this obligation. If you are the one wrapping the pallet, you likely hold it. Confirm that position in writing with your suppliers before August 2026.
What the Technical Documentation Must Cover
Once your role as manufacturer is established for flexible transport packaging, you need to build the technical documentation that supports your Declaration of Conformity.
At the August 12, 2026 application date, component-level data is sufficient for material composition. This means confirming the material makeup of each packaging component. Your documentation must also confirm conformity with the heavy metals limit: the combined concentration of lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium in packaging and its components must not exceed 100 mg/kg.
The Declaration of Conformity and the supporting technical documentation must be kept available for national market surveillance authorities for five years for single-use packaging.
Collecting this data from your film and strapping suppliers in a structured format from the outset, rather than requesting it under deadline pressure, makes building these files significantly more manageable.
What This Means for Your Operations
If your warehouse or outbound logistics team uses flexible packaging, here is what to act on now.
- Identify which transport packaging you create versus source as finished items. Use the discrete/continuous distinction as your guide. Discrete items sourced from a supplier (a pallet, a crate): their Declaration of Conformity. Continuous materials you apply yourself (stretch film, strapping): your Declaration of Conformity.
- Treat your flexible packaging material suppliers as material suppliers, not compliance providers. They need to supply material composition data and substance information to support your technical documentation. The declaration is yours to issue.
- Align with your suppliers on who holds which obligation. Make clear what data you need from them and why. Put that understanding in writing before August 2026.
- Do not rely on FAQ point XV-12 as a safe harbour. The Commission guidance and the regulation text do not fully align on this point. Build your compliance approach on the regulation itself.
The rigid vs flexible distinction is one of those details overlooked in high-level PPWR summaries but with real operational consequences. If your business ships goods on stretch-wrapped pallets, you are likely a packaging manufacturer under PPWR, whether or not you have thought of yourself that way.
Getting your role defined now is the first step to getting the rest right.
How PAQR Can Help
If you are the manufacturer for your flexible transport packaging, the Declaration of Conformity and its supporting technical files are your responsibility to produce and retain. PAQR’s PPWR compliance workspace gives you a central place to organise your packaging data by format, collect the material documentation you need from your film and strapping suppliers through the supplier request portal, and generate your Declaration of Conformity when your technical files are complete.
Click “Try now for free” on paqr.com to start a free trial.