The EU packaging regulation after the April 2024 vote: what strapping buyers should prepare

The EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is often discussed in terms of bottles, cups and takeaway containers. Transport packaging, including the strap and closures that hold pallets and bundles together, sits inside its scope too. Buyers of strapping components do not need to become regulatory specialists, but they do need to know where the law stood and what information they will be asked for.

Where the regulation stood in June 2024

Council and Parliament negotiators reached a provisional political agreement on 4 March 2024. Member States’ representatives in Coreper endorsed it on 15 March and Parliament’s environment committee on 19 March, as the European Parliamentary Research Service summarised in April 2024. On 24 April 2024, Parliament’s plenary approved the text with 476 votes in favour, 129 against and 24 abstentions, Euronews reported.

That vote did not finish the process. In June 2024 the regulation still needed formal adoption by the Council and publication in the Official Journal before its application dates could be fixed. Plan on the basis of the agreed content, but take dates and final article wording from the published text.

Why strap and closures are in scope

The Commission’s original proposal defined transport packaging as packaging conceived to facilitate handling and transport of a number of sales units or grouped packages, including e-commerce packaging but excluding road, rail, ship and air containers, so as to prevent physical handling and transport damage. That describes strapped pallets and bundles precisely.

The proposal went further. Its reuse article singled out pallet wrappings and straps used to stabilise and protect products on pallets during transport, and proposed that 10% of such packaging be reusable within a system for re-use from 1 January 2030, rising to 30% from 1 January 2040, according to the proposal text on EUR-Lex.

The agreed text restructured the reuse targets. EPRS describes reuse targets for transport packaging, grouped packaging and certain beverages, with Member States able to exempt companies for five years under certain conditions. How strap is treated in the final reuse article is one of the details to read carefully once the text is published, because it determines whether single-use strap remains a straightforward choice in each flow.

Four requirements to watch

Requirement	What the agreed text sets, per EPRS	Relevance to strapping
Recyclability	From 1 January 2030, all packaging placed on the EU market must be recyclable, with exceptions for lightweight wood, cork, textiles, rubber, ceramics, porcelain and wax	Strap material and the way closures are combined with it become recyclability questions
Recycled content	Minimum recycled-content targets for the plastic part of packaging for 2030 and 2040	PET and other plastic strap buyers will need documented recycled content
Empty space	A maximum empty space ratio of 50% for grouped, transport and e-commerce packaging by 1 January 2030	Pack design changes can change pallet patterns and strapping positions
Reuse	Reuse targets for transport packaging, with possible five-year exemptions	Returnable systems and their securing method need evaluating

On recycled content, the Commission’s 2022 proposal set 35% from 2030 and 65% from 2040 for plastic packaging outside the contact-sensitive and single-use bottle categories, measured as post-consumer recycled content per unit of packaging. The adopted figures should be checked in the final text, but the direction is clear: plastic strap will need evidence of what it contains.

What buyers can prepare in mid-2024

None of the main obligations applied in June 2024, which makes it a sensible time to collect data rather than make rushed changes.

• Inventory your transport packaging. For each packed product, record strap type, width, length per load and closure. If your carton specifications are documented but your strapping is not, close that gap first.
• Ask for recycled-content evidence. For PET strap, ask what recycled content is claimed, whether it is post-consumer, and what documentation supports it.
• Consider separability. A steel buckle on polyester strap, or a metal clip on PET strap, combines materials. Ask your waste contractor how used strap with closures attached is handled in your region.
• Review reuse candidates. Some closed-loop flows between your own sites may suit returnable packaging. Note how those loads would be secured.
• Keep the load secure. Any change to strap or closure, for regulatory reasons or not, must still hold the load. Trial changes before switching.

Our joint selection guide is a useful starting point when a material change is being considered.

A note for exporters outside the EU

The PPWR applies to packaging placed on the EU market. A manufacturer in Turkey, the UK or the Gulf shipping strapped goods to EU customers can expect the effect to arrive through customer questionnaires about strap material, recycled content and weights. Having the data organised per product makes those questions quicker to answer. The international procurement guide covers how to keep such information with the order.

Recording your strap system now

Review the PET strap and woven strap options alongside the sheet metal clips and galvanized wire buckles that close them. When asking for a quotation through the enquiry page, state which material and content information you need so it can be addressed for that enquiry.