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Global packaging labelling compliance calendar

How to read this calendar

A date appears here only if an adopted instrument, official implementation page or published order supplies it. A forecast, consultation target or industry expectation is not a deadline. Dates that depend on a later act are shown as formulas, not as invented calendar days.

Why dates get mixed up

Three dates are often collapsed: enactment, general application, and the later date on which a particular labelling duty applies. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation shows the problem. The PPWR entered into force in February 2025 and generally applied from 12 August 2026, but its harmonised sorting, reuse and content labels do not all apply on that date. Several operate from the later of a fixed date and a period measured from an implementing act. Until that act exists, the deadline is a formula, not a day on a production schedule.

Transition rules add a second layer. A requirement may apply to packaging manufactured or imported after a date, while older stock may still be sold. California SB 343 uses a manufacture-date trigger. PPWR Article 12 allows three further years for affected packaging manufactured or imported before the relevant labelling deadline. A calendar that records only “effective 2026” cannot tell new artwork from lawful sell-through.

Dated events and operative formulas

Date or formula	Market and instrument	Event	Status and consequence
3 July 2021	European Union, SUPD Article 7 and IR (EU) 2020/2151	Harmonised marking on the four single-use plastic product families listed in Annex Part D.	In force. A harm-and-disposal notice, not a recycling or compostability instruction. See the SUPD marking article.
1 January 2022	France, Environment Code L.541-9-1 (AGEC)	Ban on “biodégradable”, “respectueux de l’environnement” and equivalent mentions on product or packaging; industrial-only “compostable” banned on plastic.	In force. A word-ban, not a substantiation standard. Triman is a separate duty under L.541-9-3.
1 January 2023	France, Decree 2022-539	Carbon-neutrality advertising permitted only with named LCA, reduction-trajectory, offset and public-report conditions, including a link on the medium or the packaging.	In force as a conditions regime. EmpCo Annex I point 4c later blacklists offset-based product climate-neutral claims in the Union from 27 September 2026.
4 November 2024	Kenya, LN 181/2024 and LN 176/2024	Plastic-packaging labelling (contacts; recyclable/non-recyclable with resin codes; conditional recycled-content and buy-back details) and EPR regulations commence.	In force. LN 181 is the on-pack duty. LN 176 is registration, scheme membership and take-back — not a sorting pictogram. See the Kenya report.
2 March 2025	Egypt, Prime Minister’s Decree 662/2025	Plastic shopping bags become a priority EPR product: registration, volume reporting and EGP 37.5/kg fee.	In force as a financing duty. Not an on-pack resin code or destination label. See the Egypt report.
6 April 2025	United Kingdom, DMCC Act 2024	CMA direct-enforcement powers and unfair-trading provisions commence for commercial practices on or after this date.	In force. Penalty cap £300,000 or 10% of worldwide turnover. Substantive green-claims guidance remains the 2021 Green Claims Code.
5 May 2025	Kenya, LN 176/2024 regulation 23	Existing producers’ six-month window to apply for EPR registration, counted from 4 November 2024 commencement.	The commonly cited start of mandatory EPR for existing operators. The regulations themselves commenced earlier. Off-pack.
31 January 2026	Ethiopia, Proclamation 1383/2025	Single-use plastic bag prohibition applied after a six-month grace period.	In force as a product ban. No general on-pack sorting label located. See the Ethiopia report.
12 August 2026	European Union, PPWR	General application of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 and application of packaging-claim conditions in Article 14.	In force. This is not the universal application date for all harmonised on-pack formats.
27 September 2026	European Union, Directive (EU) 2024/825	National measures transposing the Empowering Consumers Directive are to apply.	Adopted. The directive restricts generic environmental claims, offsetting-based neutrality claims and non-certification-based sustainability labels within its scope.
4 October 2026	California, SB 343	Restrictions apply to products and packaging manufactured after the 18-month period following CalRecycle's 4 April 2025 final findings.	Enacted date. Enforcement by the Attorney General was preliminarily enjoined on 14 July 2026; the statute and date were not repealed.
2026 reporting year	United Kingdom, packaging EPR	Producers assess and report packaging recyclability using the published materials-and-outputs guidance for 2026.	In force as a reporting and fee-classification process; it is not, by itself, a general on-pack label mandate.
1 October 2026	Singapore, RSA Part 4B / S 123/2026	Prescribed date under s. 23P(1): regulated plastic and metal beverage containers must carry the Schedule deposit mark and a barcode.	In force. Transition ran 1 April–30 September 2026. Not a general recycling label. See the Singapore report.
1 January 2027	Ghana, EPA announcement of 25 May 2026	Prohibition on production, importation, distribution, sale and use of expanded-polystyrene foam products, including takeaway food packaging.	Adopted; applying 1 January 2027. A product ban, not a labelling duty. See the Ghana report.
1 January 2027	Switzerland, VerpV of 24 June 2026 (AS 2026 358)	Packaging Ordinance applies; VGV 2000 repealed. Art. 17 Mehrweg marking and deposit-amount duty begins. Later articles stage to 2028/2030/2031/2032.	Adopted; applying 1 January 2027. Not PPWR. No general sorting pictogram.
1 January 2027	United Kingdom, packaging EPR	RAM 2027 applies to household packaging supplied in the 2027 reporting year.	Published methodology. Its red, amber and green outcomes affect fee modulation, not a universal consumer-facing traffic-light label.
12 August 2028 or 24 months after the relevant implementing act, whichever is later	European Union, PPWR Article 12(1)	Harmonised material-composition / sorting label on packaging.	Adopted duty with a dependent date. Not the same event as Article 13 receptacle labeling. No implementing act located as of the France report’s 21 August 2026 verification.
12 August 2028 or 30 months after the relevant implementing act, whichever is later	European Union, receptacle labeling under PPWR Article 13	Member States must place harmonised labels on packaging-waste receptacles.	Adopted duty with a dependent date. The package and receptacle formats are intended to correspond.
12 February 2029 or 30 months after the Article 12(6) implementing act, whichever is later	European Union, reusable packaging	Reusable packaging must carry the harmonised reuse label; further information is provided through a data carrier.	Adopted duty; the operative date remains dependent on the implementing act.
1 January 2030	European Union, PPWR Article 12(7)	Commission deadline for the methodology to identify substances of concern through standardised open digital marking.	Future implementing measure. The deadline is for Commission action, not an immediate general package-marking duty.
2030	European Union, PPWR Article 6	Design-for-recycling performance grades begin to govern recyclability assessment and market access under the staged Article 6 architecture.	Adopted framework requiring delegated methodology and criteria. Grade and scale requirements must be read with those later acts.
2035	European Union, PPWR Article 6	Recyclability-at-scale becomes part of the staged market-access test.	Adopted future requirement, dependent on methodology and data defined under the regulation.
2038	European Union, PPWR Article 6	Packaging in the lowest permitted recyclability grade is excluded under the regulation's final tightening stage.	Adopted future threshold, subject to the detailed grade methodology.

Events that cannot yet be assigned a fixed date

The most important undated events are the PPWR Article 12 implementing acts for harmonised package labels. The regulation uses those acts to define the design and to start several 24- or 30-month clocks. Recording the earliest fixed date without the “whichever is later” clause would make a late implementing act look as if it accelerated compliance. The legal formula does the opposite.

The Green Claims Directive is not in this calendar. It remains a blocked proposal, not an adopted verification regime. Monitor it as policy. It supplies no present deadline. The same exclusion applies to announced or consulted national label reforms that have not completed their legal process.

Manufacture, import and sell-through

Pair each date with the event it regulates. “Placed on the market”, “made available”, “manufactured”, “imported” and “supplied” are not synonyms. A transition attached to one does not automatically protect another. PPWR Article 12(12) protects defined pre-deadline packaging for a further period of availability. SB 343 turns on manufacture after 4 October 2026. Voluntary scheme revisions ordinarily turn on licence or artwork approval dates. Store both the date and the triggering verb.

Maintenance protocol

Recheck an entry when a dependent act is published, when a court grants or dissolves interim relief, when an official page revises its calculation, and at least quarterly in the twelve months before a known trigger. Do not silently overwrite historical entries. Keep the prior date, source and reason for change, so a correction can be distinguished from a legal amendment.

Primary sources

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste, especially Articles 6, 12–14 and 70–71. Available at: Open source (Accessed: 20 August 2026).

Directive (EU) 2024/825 empowering consumers for the green transition. Available at: Open source (Accessed: 20 August 2026).

CalRecycle, Accurate Recycling Labels. Available at: Open source (Accessed: 20 August 2026).

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and PackUK, Extended producer responsibility for packaging. Available at: Open source (Accessed: 20 August 2026).

Note on sources and verification

The table is selective and limited to dates with direct relevance to packaging sustainability labels, labeling-related claims, or the assessment systems that determine their use. It is not a complete packaging-law calendar. The PPWR date formulas are paraphrased from the operative regulation; readers should consult the article and paragraph cited before treating any date as applicable to a particular package. The effect of the SB 343 injunction is described as an enforcement condition, not as a change to the statutory date.

Last verified: 23 August 2026.