Pallet wraps and strapping bands are exempt from the new 100 per cent reusability requirement of the EU Packaging Regulation (PPWR).

This was decided by the European Commission in a communication on 25 February 2026 in the first delegated act implementing the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
 
According to Article 29(2) and (3) PPWR, economic operators are obliged to make certain transport packaging 100 per cent reusable from 1 January 2030 for deliveries within the same Member State and for transport between different sites of the same or affiliated or partner companies. The delegated act now adopted excludes pallet wraps and strapping bands for these types of use from the scope of paragraphs 2 and 3, and the 100 per cent reusability requirement no longer applies in this respect. In its communication, the EU Commission points out that Article 29(1) PPWR remains unchanged. Accordingly, economic operators in the EU must ensure that at least 40 per cent of transport and sales packaging, including pallets and pallet packaging and strapping, is reusable from 1 January 2030.
 
The IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK Association of Plastic Packaging Manufacturers) welcomes the decision in a statement, but sees further need for change in the 40 per cent reusable target. From the perspective of IK Managing Director Martin Engelmann, the enacted legislation is ‘an important first step towards correcting technically and ecologically nonsensical requirements in Article 29’. However, the association is also calling for further exemptions for pallet wraps and strapping bands.
 
Sources:

• Press release from the EU Commission (25.2.2026)
• LinkedIn Post IK (26.2.2026)
• Photo: © Manh Le / Unsplash (symbolic image)