11/08/2026
๐ข๐ป ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ด๐๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐.
Much of the market is still unclear on what that actually means.
It does not mean recyclability requirements. Those arrive in 2030.
It does not mean recycled content targets. Also 2030.
What applies from 12 August is narrower, and easier to miss:
โ Heavy metals in all packaging. The sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium must not exceed 100 mg/kg.
โ PFAS limits in food-contact packaging.
โ Minimisation of substances of concern.
โ A unique identifier and the manufacturer's name and address.
The legal duty sits with whoever places the packed product on the EU market. That is the food manufacturer, not the packaging supplier.
But under Article 16, suppliers must hand over the documentation that proves it. They cannot decline.
So the question our customers are asking is the right one: can you provide evidence?
Where Aran stands today:
โ PFAS: independent screening completed July 2026 by Innoform GmbH (Germany), to DIN EN 15408. Total fluorine below the limit of quantification โ under 10 ppm โ across films and liners, spouts, caps and dispensing fitments. The PPWR threshold is 50 ppm.
โ Heavy metals: not a new obligation, and standard procedure at Aran since 2022. Recent quantification testing found each of the four restricted metals below the limit of quantification, with the combined figure under 10 mg/kg. The PPWR limit is 100 mg/kg. Migration testing under the food-contact materials framework runs alongside this, as a separate requirement, separately documented.
โ EU Declarations of Conformity: prepared per Annex VIII.
We are ready for August 2026.
Recyclability and recycled content are the harder work, and that timeline runs to 2030 and beyond. Our mono-material PE development, MonoFlex, is where we are putting that effort โ high barrier, standard Bag-in-Box filling lines, no new capital equipment.
August is a documentation test. 2030 is a design test.
They are not the same problem. Passing the first does not prepare you for the second.
