01 What Happened

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2025/40, generally applies from August 12, 2026. For food-contact packaging, products cannot be placed on the EU market when PFAS concentrations reach or exceed specified limits: 25 ppb for any targeted PFAS excluding polymeric PFAS from quantification, 250 ppb for the sum of targeted PFAS, and 50 ppm for PFAS including polymeric PFAS. The broader regulation also addresses recyclability, packaging minimisation and waste prevention.

02 Key Takeaways

  • 01 The PFAS limits apply from August 12, 2026.
  • 02 The core thresholds are 25 ppb, 250 ppb and 50 ppm under the regulation’s analytical provisions.
  • 03 For water treatment, this is a source-control measure that may reduce future PFAS loading but does not remove legacy contamination.

03 Why It Matters

For the water sector, the important point is upstream mass reduction.

Municipal wastewater plants and drinking-water utilities do not manufacture PFAS, yet they inherit the treatment and residuals burden once these compounds enter sewers, surface waters, groundwater and biosolids. Restricting PFAS in a high-volume product category such as food-contact packaging can therefore reduce future loading before utilities are forced to capture it with GAC, strong-base anion exchange or high-pressure membranes.

04 ATLAS Engineering View

The regulation does not eliminate the need for downstream treatment. Legacy contamination, industrial uses outside the packaging scope and PFAS already present in catchments will remain. Source control changes the TCO equation, but utilities should track influent PFAS fingerprints over time rather than assume immediate OPEX reductions.

05 Sources