Station 02: Timeline and application dates
Every start date in one place: 2026 application, 2028 labelling, 2029 deposit return, 2030 design rules, and the 2035 and 2038 tightenings.
The station guide
Working guides in this station
Timeline and application dates 12 August 2026 Explained: What Actually Changed on Application Day The regulation's application date repealed the 1994 directive, switched on the substances rules and the conformity machinery, and started producer registration. What it did not do is start the design grades. Timeline and application dates Behind on the PPWR? The Catch-Up Order That Works For businesses that reached the application date unready: a sequenced recovery - registrations and substances first, the file second, the design programme third - in the order risk actually runs. Timeline and application dates How PPWR Dates Can Change: Conditional Dates, Reviews and Corrigenda Some PPWR dates are fixed, some are chained to future acts, and some sit under review clauses. How each kind moves, what never moves, and how to write contracts that survive the movement. Timeline and application dates Labelling and Deposit Dates: 2028 Labels, 2029 Deposits The middle wave of the calendar: compostable formats by February 2028, harmonised sorting labels from August 2028, deposit return and reusable-packaging marking in 2029. Timeline and application dates PPWR Dates by Role: The Same Calendar, Four Different Jobs Manufacturers, importers, distributors and distance sellers all face the same dates - but each date asks them for something different, on a different lead time. The calendar read four ways. Timeline and application dates Recyclability Grade Dates: 2030, 2035 and 2038 Grade C or better in 2030, recycled at scale in 2035, grade B minimum in 2038: the three-step tightening of Article 6, with the delegated-act condition that can move the first step. Timeline and application dates Recycled Content Dates: The 2030 Targets and the 2040 Step Plastic packaging content minimums in two waves: 2030 (30/10/30/35 percent by category) and 2040 (50/25/65/65). What the percentages attach to, and the 5 percent parts rule. Timeline and application dates Reuse Target Dates: The 2030 Tiers and the 2040 Step Transport packaging 40 percent reusable by 2030, 100 percent for defined internal movements, and a second step in 2040: the reuse calendar of Article 29, tier by tier. Timeline and application dates The Delegated and Implementing Acts Calendar: PPWR's Second Layer Much of the PPWR's practical content arrives later, by delegated and implementing acts: design-for-recycling criteria by 2028, content methodology, labelling formats, the substances list. The calendar of the second layer. Timeline and application dates Transitional Rules and Existing Stock Under the PPWR What happens to packaging made, filled or sitting in warehouses when a PPWR date passes: the placing-on-the-market rule, sell-through reality, and the records that protect stock positions. Timeline and application dates What Happens on 1 January 2030: The PPWR Design Wave Grades, recycled content, minimisation, the empty-space cap, format bans and reuse targets land together in 2030. The heaviest single date in the regulation, itemised.