Pro Food, together with Unionplast and its member companies, has joined a coalition of more than 500 European businesses and trade associations calling on the European Commission to postpone the application of the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) by at least 24 months.
The industry-backed “Stop the Clock” campaign argues that, with the Regulation scheduled to apply from 12 August 2026, key elements of the implementing framework remain unfinished. According to the signatories, businesses are being required to prepare compliance documentation, plan investments and certify products despite the absence of essential delegated acts, technical standards, testing methodologies and operational guidance needed for consistent implementation across the EU.
Pro Food stressed that the request is not intended to weaken the Regulation’s environmental objectives but to ensure companies have sufficient legal certainty before new obligations take effect.
“Businesses are not asking for the transition to be halted, but to be able to carry it out on the basis of complete, verifiable rules,” said Mauro Salini, President of Pro Food. “It is not reasonable to ask companies to declare conformity, change their processes and plan investments while essential elements of the implementing framework have yet to be defined. Stop the Clock is a call for responsibility and legal certainty, not a step back on sustainability.”
Among the issues that the association says still require clarification are harmonised testing methods, criteria for assessing packaging recyclability and the allocation of responsibilities throughout the packaging value chain.
Pro Food also argues that a postponement would allow further assessment of the restrictions contained in Article 25 and Annex V of the PPWR, which from 1 January 2030 are due to prohibit several single-use packaging formats, including plastic packaging for fresh, unprocessed fruit and vegetables sold in quantities below 1.5kg, as well as certain packaging used in the foodservice sector.
The association maintains that these restrictions should be supported by comparative life-cycle assessments evaluating recyclability, recycled content, transport impacts, product protection, shelf life and food waste prevention before specific packaging formats are banned.
According to Pro Food, some of the plastic packaging formats that could be prohibited already incorporate post-consumer recycled content exceeding the levels required by the PPWR for 2040, raising concerns that material-specific bans could penalise packaging already aligned with circular economy objectives.
The organisation also points to experience under the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive, stating that imports of substitute products from China, Turkey and India increased substantially between 2018 and 2025. While acknowledging that these figures do not constitute a complete assessment of the Directive’s impact, Pro Food argues they highlight the risk of shifting production and associated environmental impacts outside Europe without necessarily achieving better sustainability outcomes.
“Before banning a solution, careful consideration needs to be given to what will replace it and under what conditions,” Salini said. “Otherwise, we risk shifting production, jobs and a good part of the environmental impact outside the European Union, without achieving the stated objectives.”
Pro Food is calling on the European Commission to use the proposed delay to complete the outstanding delegated acts, technical standards and testing methodologies, clarify the responsibilities of economic operators and ensure harmonised enforcement across Member States. It also advocates performance-based impact assessments before introducing restrictions on specific packaging formats and calls for equivalent requirements to apply to imported products.
The appeal concludes that the objective is not to reduce regulation but to ensure that the PPWR is implemented through a complete, consistent and enforceable framework capable of delivering measurable environmental benefits while preserving the competitiveness of European industry.
