While Australia's packaging reform has been delayed again, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve escaped packaging compliance altogether. If your brand sells internationally, 2026 has brought a wave of packaging compliance requirements.
In this Q&A, Better Packaging Co.’s head of brand and impact, Kate Bezar, unpacks what's changed, what's coming, and what brands need to do about it now.
Why should an Australian brand even worry about EU, UK or US packaging law?
Because these rules apply based on where packaging ends up, not where your business is based. For example, many of our Australian-based customers sell to the US and need to make sure their packaging complies with US regulations, the most drastic changes being the new rules coming into force in California.
What are the key changes brands need to be aware of?
A few things are coming to a head at once. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes are rolling out state by state in the US and country by country across the EU. Companies selling into these markets should already have registered for EPR schemes and be reporting to them. The UK has had an EPR scheme for a while and plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content will also need to pay the UK's Plastic Packaging Tax. On top of that, California and the EU are introducing new rules around what messaging can and can't be printed on packaging.
Let's start with the EU's new rules. What does it mean in practice?
The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, PPWR, sets new standards for recyclability grading and requires PFAS-free confirmation and formal Declarations of Conformity before packaging goes on the EU market. All obligations took effect from 12 August this year. What surprises most brands is that PPWR doesn't create one EU-wide system, enforcement is done by each member state, so you need to register for EPR schemes in each EU country you sell into, and hold a Declaration of Conformity for every packaging type you send there. So, if your poly bags come from 20 different suppliers, that could mean twenty separate Declarations!
Is this similar to what's happening in the US?
Yes. Oregon, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Maryland and Washington all required their first Extended Producer Responsibility reports by 31 May this year, and more states are joining. EPR isn't just about reporting how much packaging you're sending into these markets, it's about paying fees too, and the fee structures reward sustainable packaging decisions. Most schemes discount fees for companies that can prove their
poly mailers are high in Post Consumer Recycled content and aren't mixed materials. I recently received a padded mailer, paper outside, plastic bubbles inside, exactly the kind of packaging that will get hit with the highest fees, because it's almost impossible to recycle.
What about on pack messaging changes? The most pressing changes are being driven by a new ‘truth in recycling’ bill in California, SB 343. It means that soft plastic packaging made after 4 October 2026 cannot have any recycling instructions or the ‘chasing arrows’ symbol on it. Recycled content claims are still completely valid and unaffected, it’s just the "please recycle" messaging that has to go. Also, another bill, AB 1201, means that no compostable or biodegradable messaging (including certifications) will be permitted on packaging like mailing satchels or garment bags in California after 30 June 2027. This will effectively make compostable bags obsolete there.
With registration this fragmented, what should brands actually be doing internally?
Start tracking your own packaging usage properly, by material, by weight, and by end destination, because that's the data every one of these schemes will eventually ask for. If you can already say how many kilograms of LDPE versus cardboard you've shipped into California versus Germany this year, you're ahead of most of the market. You'll also need proof your packaging is free from PFAS and certain heavy metals, your packaging suppliers should have that.
Any final thoughts?
Just that we understand this is complex and are here to help! We've built some amazing tools to help our customers navigate the changing packaging landscape, but I'm also happy to personally talk packaging regulation with anyone, and work out how their packaging fits, or doesn't, and what their next steps should be.
This is a partnered content piece from Better Packaging Co.