Latest changes

On 6 October 2026, draft Regulations and a draft reference document on chemical recycling and adoption of a mass balance approach for Plastic Packaging Tax were published for technical consultation. The draft Regulations set out the conditions that businesses must meet to use a mass balance approach to account for chemically recycled plastic from 1 April 2027, including certification, auditing, monitoring and record-keeping requirements.

Oregon DEQ opened public comment on a third set of proposed rule amendments for implementing the Act, with virtual hearings on 20 and 21 October 2026 and a comment deadline of 30 October 2026.

Circular Action Alliance submitted a third amendment to its program plan, including changing a key metric from diversion rate to pounds of USCL material collected per household; DEQ is taking public comment until 19 October 2026.

The Legislative Observatory lists the procedure 2026/0265(COD) at the preparatory phase in Parliament, with the decision on the responsible committee still pending.

A feedback period for the Early warning report on waste 2027 opened on 28 September 2026 and is open until 26 October 2026.

The European Commission opened a feedback period from 18 September 2026 to 16 October 2026 on a delegated regulation establishing a list of non-OECD countries authorised to import certain non-hazardous waste from the EU. The new Waste Shipment Regulation bans the export of non-hazardous waste to non-OECD countries from 21 May 2027.

A public feedback period on the delegated act establishing sustainability criteria for plastic recycling technologies ran from 14 August 2026 to 16 September 2026; feedback is closed.

The feedback period for the planned implementing act on rules for the calculation and verification of recycled content in plastic packaging ran from 14 August 2026 to 16 September 2026.

A public feedback period on the revision of EU rules on public procurement is open from 15 September 2026 to 9 December 2026.

The feedback period for the initiative 'Green-listing certain waste for the purposes of shipments to recovery between Member States' closed on 15 September 2026.

A Commission Implementing Decision on harmonised packaging and packaging waste labels under Regulation (EU) 2025/40 is planned as a Commission implementing decision (reference Ares(2026)8548456). The initiative status is active and the front-end stage is 'INIT_PLANNED'; receiving feedback is disabled, with a listed feedback start date of 14 September 2026.

Maine DEP announced it will revise its request for proposals for the stewardship organisation.

The feedback period for the implementing rules on packaging and packaging waste opened on 6 August 2026 and closed on 10 September 2026.

The Commission published its proposal for a regulation on public contracts and concessions (COM(2026) 590), which strengthens the contribution of procurement to circularity, recycled and refurbished content and waste recovery, and creates a framework for mandatory green procurement requirements for certain products.

The Commission published a notice updating its guidelines on single-use plastic products under Directive (EU) 2019/904 (C/2026/4813).

No proposals had been submitted by the deadline of Maine DEP's request for proposals RFP-202605094 for a stewardship organisation.

A feedback period on a planned implementing act ran from 14 August 2026 to 16 September 2026.

The Regulation became applicable across the EU on 12 August 2026; Article 67(5) applies from 12 February 2029.

GB/T 47982-2026, Requirements for the chain of custody managing system of recycled plastics, was issued on 30 July 2026 and takes effect on 1 November 2026.

In his fourth letter, the INC Chair reported on the informal in-person Heads of Delegation meeting held in Nairobi from 30 June to 3 July 2026 and announced a second informal meeting in Bangkok from 27 to 30 September 2026.

Regulation (EU) 2026/1738 of 8 July 2026 on circularity requirements for vehicle design and on management of end-of-life vehicles was published in the Official Journal on 24 July 2026.

HMRC published a policy paper introducing new VAT accounting rules for supplies made under a statutory deposit return scheme.

The Regulation was signed on 8 July 2026. New vehicle types type-approved from 1 September 2032 must contain at least 15% plastic recycled from post-consumer plastic waste.

An informal in-person meeting of Heads of Delegation took place in Nairobi from 30 June to 3 July 2026, the first substantive discussions in the ten months since INC-5.2.

Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1425 of 30 June 2026 on the calculation, verification and reporting of recycled plastic content in single-use plastic beverage bottles was published, repealing Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2683.

GB/T 47920-2026 on testing and characterisation of mechanically recycled PP and PE recycled plastics, a modified adoption of ISO 5677:2023, was issued on 2 July 2026 and takes effect on 1 February 2027.

Verpact published a forecast of its 2027 rates in July 2026; it states that the final 2027 rates, now set, largely follow that forecast.

Citeo's 2026 household packaging tariff guide, updated on 22 June 2026, states that collection, sorting, recycling and incorporation must take place within 1,500 km of the barycentre of metropolitan France, in an EU Member State or a country meeting the standards set by the order.

The Bundestag adopted the law adapting packaging law and other areas of law to Regulation (EU) 2025/40 at its 83rd sitting on 11 June 2026, following the environment committee's report (Drucksache 21/6398).

Commission Regulation (EU) 2026/1168 of 1 June 2026 amending Annex XVII to REACH as regards synthetic polymer microparticles was published on 2 June 2026.

The Regulation became generally applicable on 21 May 2026, with staggered dates for specific provisions.

The Office of Administrative Law approved the SB 54 permanent regulations on 1 May 2026, and they became effective the same day.

Committee referral of the proposal was announced in Parliament at first reading on 30 April 2026.

The Plastic Packaging Tax rate rose to £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026.

The ministry's FAQ on the bonus (April 2026) sets out three bonus levels per tonne of recycled plastic incorporated: EUR 450, EUR 550, and EUR 550 in 2026–2027 rising to EUR 1,000 from 2028.

The Commission proposed a regulation establishing a framework of measures for the acceleration of industrial capacity and decarbonisation in strategic sectors (COM(2026) 100); the sectors listed include the manufacture of rubber and plastic products.

Program rule Chapter 428 was amended to add Appendix A, the Packaging Material Types List, and to align with changes made to the law in June 2025.

The Commission adopted a delegated act exempting economic operators using pallet wrappings and straps from the 100% reuse targets for transport packaging.

The feedback period on the Commission initiative for an implementing regulation establishing EU-wide end-of-waste criteria for plastic waste ran from 23 December 2025 to 26 January 2026 and is closed.

The Commission proposed a directive (COM(2025) 986) amending Directives 2008/98/EC, 2010/75/EU, (EU) 2015/2193 and (EU) 2024/1785 to simplify some requirements and reduce administrative burden.

The Commission proposed a directive (COM(2025) 983) suspending the application of the rules on the appointment of authorised representatives for extended producer responsibility for waste, WEEE and single-use plastic waste.

Regulation (EU) 2025/2365 of 12 November 2025 on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution was published in the Official Journal on 26 November 2025.

Commission Regulation (EU) 2025/2269 of 12 November 2025 was published, correcting Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 as regards labelling of recycled plastic, the development of recycling technologies and the transfer of authorisations.

The Commission's public consultation and call for feedback on the Circular Economy Act, open from 1 August 2025, closed on 6 November 2025.

The Commission work programme 2026 lists the Circular Economy Act as a legislative initiative under Article 114 TFEU planned for the third quarter of 2026.

Directive (EU) 2025/1892 amending Directive 2008/98/EC was published on 26 September 2025; Member States must transpose it by 17 June 2027.

An order (arrêté) of 5 September 2025 set the modulations applied to producers' financial contributions when they incorporate recycled plastic.

The Governor approved E2SSB 5284 on 17 May 2025 after it passed the House (14 April 2025) and Senate (23 April 2025).

The Governor approved SB 901 on 13 May 2025 as Chapter 431.

The Regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025.

Defra guidance published on 27 January 2025 states that from 1 October 2027 customers will pay a refundable deposit for certain single-use drink containers in England and Northern Ireland.

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste was published in the Official Journal on 22 January 2025.

The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1332) were made on 11 December 2024.

GB/T 45090-2024, Plastics — Identification and marking of recycled plastic, was issued on 28 November 2024 and took effect on 1 June 2025.

GSA's final rule adding a provision and clause to identify single-use plastic free packaging for products under the Federal Supply Schedules took effect on 8 July 2024.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 of 11 April 2024 on shipments of waste was published in the Official Journal on 30 April 2024.

Directive (EU) 2024/884 amending the WEEE Directive was published on 19 March 2024; Member States had to transpose it by 9 October 2025.

From 1 January 2024 municipalities took operational responsibility for collecting household packaging waste and informing households about prevention and sorting.

Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 of 25 September 2023 restricting synthetic polymer microparticles under REACH was published in the Official Journal.

Royal Decree 1055/2022 of 27 December on packaging and packaging waste was published in the BOE on 28 December 2022 and entered into force on 29 December 2022.

Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 of 15 September 2022 on recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods was published, repealing Regulation (EC) No 282/2008.

Law 7/2022 of 8 April set the tax rate on non-reusable plastic packaging at EUR 0.45 per kilogram.

Plastic Packaging Tax came into force on 1 April 2022 at £200 per tonne for plastic packaging components containing less than 30% recycled plastic.

The NDRC and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued, on 8 September 2021, the notice publishing the 14th Five-Year Plan action plan on plastic pollution control (Fagai Huanzi [2021] No. 1298).

The new Basel Convention entries on plastic waste, including entry Y48 in Annex II, became effective on 1 January 2021.