Diego Martín-Abril, Ana Orondo and Eduardo Orteu talk about the new European packaging framework | Expansión

The new Regulation 2025/40 introduces sustainability requirements affecting packaging design, compliance that is a precondition for placing new packaging or packaged products on the EU market.

The new Regulation 2025/40 of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste replaces Directive 94/62/EC and will come into effect on 22 August 2026.

Article 7 of the Regulation establishes a minimum content of recycled plastic in packaging, which has a direct impact on the excise tax on non-reusable plastic packaging in force in Spain. This regulation allows the amount of accredited recycled plastic to be excluded from the tax. Recycled plastic must meet the criteria set out in Law 7/2022, which refers to the UNE-EN standard for certification. However, the new EU Regulation 2025/40 introduces changes to the definition, production and verification of recycled plastic, which will be mandatory from January 2029. This includes the adoption of delegated acts by the European Commission to standardise accreditation procedures.

From a fiscal point of view, although the Spanish tax is not harmonised at European level, future European legislation will indirectly affect its application. Therefore, it is considered appropriate to amend Spanish legislation to align it with the new European requirements and to ensure legal and technical consistency.

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