GB · Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/1640
Packaging essential requirements and market boundaries
Identify the market and product category first. Each dossier separates legal duties, referenced standards, evidence and the comparison needed for an award.
Product Scope
Packaging and packaging components placed on the relevant market. Sales, grouped and transport packaging, reusable packaging and food-contact layers require distinct facts. EPR waste obligations are separate from the product’s essential design and substance requirements.
Requirements
For GB assess the applicable essential requirements concerning minimum necessary weight/volume, hazardous substances, reuse and recovery, and the combined lead/cadmium/mercury/hexavalent-chromium concentration requirement with valid derogations. NI’s applicable EU packaging framework must be checked separately following the EU PPWR’s August 2026 application; do not present the old GB instrument as the complete NI rulebook.
Required Evidence
Provide component/material specifications, substance reports and supplier evidence, minimisation/recovery rationale, technical records and any relied-on derogation. Separate the statutory essential requirements from optional environmental claims and actual waste registration.
Comparison for the Awards
Compare a relevant material maximum or other applicable technical requirement with a sound method. A recyclable symbol or lower package mass alone does not establish above-regulatory quality, especially if protection and safety functions are compromised.
Version & Transition
Use current GB legislation and separate NI/EU provisions as at the placing-on-market date. EU 2025/40 is not an automatic amendment of SI 2015/1640 for GB.
Official Sources
Applicability depends on the product classification, intended use, configuration and actual sales territory. Manufacturing, placing-on-the-market and testing dates, together with transition provisions, are checked as required by each applicable rule. The directory identifies sources; it does not replace assessment of the specific model. Standards are identified by reference, and their authoritative texts remain with the issuing bodies. Official source documents retain their original language.