Six EU rules decide whether your packaging claim survives contact with a buyer.
Each of them asks for a document, not an assurance. Below is what each rule requires, the file that answers it, and the gap we most often find when a supplier's paperwork is opened.
Environmental claims and sustainability labels must be substantiated by independent third-party verification. Self-declared “eco-friendly”, “green” or “climate neutral” statements are exposed.
| File that answers it | Third-party certificate covering the specific claim, with a searchable licence number. |
| Common gap | Most suppliers hold a certificate for one product and apply the claim to the whole catalogue. |
Sets recyclability requirements and the 95/5 treatment: fibre-based packaging with at most 5% non-paper content is treated as recyclable in the paper stream.
| File that answers it | Composition statement with measured non-paper content, plus the test method used. |
| Common gap | Coating weight is often quoted from a specification sheet rather than measured on the finished article. |
Restricts specified single-use plastic items and requires marking on others. Applies to products placed on the EU market regardless of where they are made.
| File that answers it | Material declaration identifying any plastic component, including coatings and lids. |
| Common gap | Lids, liners and windows are routinely left out of the answer. |
Four tests in sequence: biodegradation, disintegration, ecotoxicity, and heavy metals. A product may only be called compostable once all four pass.
| File that answers it | Compostability certificate from a recognised certification body, naming the product and the thickness. |
| Common gap | A Chinese degradation test report is not an EN 13432 certificate. They are different systems. |
Restrictions on PFAS in food-contact paper and board are tightening across the EU. Grease resistance is the usual reason PFAS enters a paper product.
| File that answers it | Declaration that no intentionally added PFAS is present, with the grease-barrier technology stated. |
| Common gap | “PFAS-free” is often written without naming the barrier that replaced it. |
Paper and wood products placed on the EU market require a due diligence statement tracing the material back to the plot of harvest.
| File that answers it | Fibre origin statement with mill, country of harvest and geolocation where required. |
| Common gap | Pulp certificates cover chain of custody, not plot-level origin. |
What this means in practice
A single order can touch four of these rules at once. The file is assembled once and reused, not rebuilt per shipment.
Tell us which rule is blocking you
Name the market, the claim and the deadline. We will tell you which documents exist today and which have to be obtained — including the cases where the honest answer is “this cannot be certified yet”.