Spain: a destination instruction, the inverse of Italy’s code

The question this report answers

Spain’s distinctive rule is the second paragraph of Article 13.2 of Royal Decree 1055/2022: household packaging must indicate the fraction or container in which those packaging wastes are to be deposited. Easily separable materials are marked for each component. Inseparable or composite packaging is marked for the predominant material by weight, unless a better collection alternative that avoids recycling problems is demonstrated. The obligation is a destination instruction. It is not drafted as a negative (“do not place in the yellow container”), though a pack that does not belong in the light-packaging container must be marked for the container that does apply — blue paper, green glass, organic, or residual.

Article 13.1 makes the Decision 97/129/EC abbreviation or number voluntary “until Union law provides otherwise”. That is the inverse of Italy’s Article 219(5). Common European artwork often carries both elements because the code satisfies Italy without offending Spain; the code still does not discharge the Spanish destination duty. Disposición final quinta applied the new Article 13 marking duties from 1 January 2025. Article 13.8 requires the marks on the packaging or its label, clearly visible, legible and durable after opening.

Legal status at a glance

What Article 13.2 actually requires

The Royal Decree does not stipulate an official pictogram. Ecoembes “Recicla” graphics and similar PRO artwork are implementation aids, not statutory files. Either a named fraction (paper, light packaging, glass, organic, residual) or a named container (colour or type) satisfies Article 13.2. Collection is organised municipally and is not uniform, so the mark identifies a fraction in the national scheme of separate collection rather than guaranteeing that a given municipality operates that container. It is not a scheme-based recyclability label conditioned on measured access. A PET 1 code does not discharge the Spanish duty. Ecoembes “Recicla” graphics are not the statutory file.

Further marks sit alongside the destination instruction. Reusable packaging must indicate that it is reusable and display the symbol of the relevant deposit-return system. Compostable plastic packaging must carry the certification information and “no abandonar en el entorno”. Certain single-use plastic products must use the harmonised Union SUP marking. EPR-membership symbols are optional (“podrán”) under Articles 13.2 and 21.4 and will be digital-only under PPWR Article 12(9) from 12 February 2027.

Why this is the opposite of Italy

Italy mandates the 97/129 composition code on all packaging and adds consumer collection words. Spain mandates the destination and makes the code voluntary. A pack that carries only “PET 1” is not Spanish-compliant household packaging. A pack that carries only a yellow-container pictogram is not Italian-compliant. Dual-market SKUs need both if they are household packaging. The qualification in Article 13.1 — voluntary until Union law otherwise — is the hinge for the PPWR transition: the Union material-composition label, once applicable, is the Union rule the Spanish provision anticipates.

The duty is framed on the packaging (“los envases indicarán”). In the Royal Decree’s architecture the productor de producto — packer, intra-EU acquirer, importer, and the brand owner of distributor brands — is the EPR obligated person. Article 13.9 requires that person to obtain composition and hazardous-substance information from empty-packaging manufacturers and importers before first placing on the market, and to make it available to waste managers through the EPR system. A producer who cannot obtain composition data cannot document the destination mark. Marks must appear on the pack or the label, remain visible and legible, and survive opening. They must not prevent identification of required medicinal labelling. Supervision sits with the State and the autonomous communities. Infringements are sanctioned under Title IX of Law 7/2022; Article 54 of the Royal Decree also points to industry and consumer-protection law. Law 7/2022 Article 109 ranges for non-hazardous infringements run from fines up to €2,000 (minor) through €2,001–€100,000 (serious) to €100,001–€3,500,000 (very serious). The live consolidation of Articles 108 and 13 should be read together before a labelling breach is mapped to a single limb.

PPWR coexistence, and MITECO’s 19 May 2026 note

MITECO’s clarification of 19 May 2026 is the ministry’s statement of how Royal Decree 1055/2022 sits with the PPWR from 12 August 2026: the Regulation prevails over incompatible national law, while the Royal Decree continues to govern matters the PPWR does not cover, or with which it is compatible, until a replacement decree is adopted. Spain is preparing that replacement. The destination instruction remains the operative national rule for current artwork, subject to PPWR Article 4 (internal market) and to the later Article 12 label. Commission Notice C/2026/3084 treats national sorting instructions as measures that must be withdrawn when the Union label applies. No Article 12 implementing act was located on EUR-Lex as of 21 August 2026. “Respetuoso con el medio ambiente” and equivalent wording capable of inducing abandonment remain prohibited under Article 13.3 independently of that Union timetable.

Primary sources and verification

Spain. Royal Decree 1055/2022, Article 13 (consolidated). BOE

Spain. Royal Decree 1055/2022, ELI consolidado. ELI

Spain. Law 7/2022 on waste and contaminated soil for a circular economy. BOE

European Union. Decision 97/129/EC. EUR-Lex

European Union. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2151 (SUP marking). EUR-Lex

European Union. Regulation (EU) 2025/40. PPWR

Spanish-language official texts control. Last verified: 21 August 2026.