PPWR: Why Packaging is Becoming a Supply Chain Conversation

The box your goods travel in is becoming just as important as what’s inside it.

Every day, businesses pack products into boxes, stack them onto pallets, secure them with film and send them on their way.

It is such a routine part of moving goods that it is easy to overlook the packaging itself.

But that’s changing.

Last month, the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) changed, introducing new requirements designed to reduce packaging waste and support a more circular approach to packaging across Europe.

For businesses moving goods into or across the EU, packaging is no longer just about protecting a product on its journey. It is becoming part of the wider supply chain conversation.

Think about the journey of a single box:

Consider what happens to the packaging surrounding just one of your products.

It may begin with a supplier. The product is boxed, perhaps surrounded by protective materials, placed onto a pallet and wrapped ready for transport.

From there, it could travel through warehouses, vehicles, ports and distribution centres before eventually reaching your customer.

Then it is unpacked.

Suddenly, all the material that played an important role in protecting that shipment becomes something else entirely: waste that somebody must manage.

Now multiply that by hundreds, thousands or even millions of shipments.

It becomes much easier to understand why packaging is receiving so much attention.

What does PPWR mean for businesses?

The PPWR covers packaging and packaging waste across different materials, with requirements addressing areas including packaging design and composition, recyclability, reuse and waste prevention.

The direction of travel is clear: reduce unnecessary packaging and packaging waste while moving towards packaging that can remain within a more circular economy.

That might sound like an issue for packaging manufacturers or sustainability teams.

Its impact can reach much further into the supply chain.

Start by looking at what you already move:

Preparing for PPWR does not necessarily have to begin with a huge compliance exercise.

Why not start by looking at your existing supply chain and ask some practical questions:

• How much packaging surrounds your products?
• Could any of it be reduced?
• Are boxes routinely much larger than the products inside them?
• Could reusable packaging work for regular movements between the same locations?
• What materials are your suppliers using?
• Does everyone involved in your supply chain understand what the requirements could mean for their part of the journey?

These conversations can uncover potential issues, and opportunities, long before goods are sitting in a warehouse ready to move.

Why changing a box can change more than you think:

Packaging decisions do not happen in isolation.

Changing the dimensions of a box might affect how many products fit onto a pallet.

Change the pallet configuration and you could affect how efficiently a trailer or container is loaded.

Change the packaging material and you may change how the shipment needs to be handled, recovered or recycled.

A seemingly small packaging decision can therefore have consequences across storage, handling, transport and distribution.

That’s why it is worth looking at PPWR as more than another regulatory requirement.

It is also an opportunity to ask whether packaging is working as efficiently as it could across your wider supply chain.

Could you use less material while still protecting the product?

Could better-sized packaging improve pallet utilisation?

Could reusable solutions make sense on repeat routes?

And could conversations with suppliers now prevent more complicated problems further down the line?

Packaging is now part of the bigger supply chain picture:

The way businesses think about packaging is changing.

It still needs to protect products and withstand the realities of international transport. But businesses increasingly need to consider what happens to that packaging before, during and after the journey.

At Simarco, we help customers navigate the practical realities of international supply chains and understand how changing requirements can affect the movement of their goods.

If you’re reviewing what PPWR could mean for your supply chain, speak to our team.

Further information:

For official information on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, visit the European Commission:

https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/packaging-waste_en