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 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.