From 12 August 2026, the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation (EU) 2025/40) becomes fully applicable in all Member States. Unlike a directive, it is a regulation: it applies directly, without the need to be transposed into national law.

For a box manufacturer, this is a change that touches several fronts at once: more documentation to manage, packaging designed with less material, and a growing need to handle increasingly specific box variants. These are significant commitments, some of which are still not fully understood in terms of their practical application.

A regulatory framework still taking shape

The PPWR is a broad and detailed piece of legislation, and not all of its practical aspects have yet been defined down to the last detail. It is no coincidence that, in recent months, the European Commission itself has published several guidance documents to clarify the interpretation of certain provisions, in response to the numerous requests received from Member States, businesses and trade associations. This is worth keeping in mind: the overall framework is set out in the regulation, but several detailed technical criteria will be clarified over the coming months through delegated and implementing acts.

In this context, trade associations are playing an active role. Bodies such as CONAI and the main industry associations provide companies with webinars, FAQs and practical tools to help them navigate deadlines, documentation obligations and technical requirements, tracking regulatory developments and translating them into practical guidance. For a box manufacturer, relying on this support is probably the first step towards approaching the PPWR with a clear understanding, even before intervening on the production process.

The dates that matter

12 August 2026 – Full application of the Regulation. The core obligations kick in: declaration of conformity, restrictions on hazardous substances, and the requirement for traceable technical documentation. This is also the date from which the general principle of minimising packaging weight and volume takes effect, although its quantitative reference criterion will only become binding in 2030 (see below).

12 August 2028 – The obligation to use harmonised EU environmental labelling takes effect, gradually replacing current national systems, unless the Commission’s implementing acts (expected by 12 August 2026) are adopted later: in that case, the obligation applies 24 months after they enter into force.

1 January 2030 – The principle of minimising weight and volume, already in effect since 2026, becomes binding in its quantitative criterion: for e-commerce and transport packaging, empty space may not exceed 50% of total volume. Design tricks aimed solely at increasing the perceived volume of the box are also discouraged, in line with the minimisation principle already in effect since 2026. The official method for calculating the empty space limit will be defined by the Commission by 12 February 2028. From the same date, recyclability classes A, B and C also come into effect, though the detailed technical criteria (Design for Recycling) are still being defined through the expected delegated acts.

What changes in production

Three aspects directly impact the day-to-day work of a box manufacturer.

Weight and volume reduction

This is probably the change with the most immediate impact on production. It pushes towards boxes that are increasingly proportioned to the product, with less empty space and lower board weight for the same mechanical performance. The regulation does not require a greater number of formats, but it is likely to drive growing demand for right-sizing solutions — boxes increasingly “tailored” to the product — with a consequent increase in the variants to manage and the number of production changeovers.

Design for recycling

The future recyclability classes will favour mono-material packaging, free of elements that hinder component separation during recycling. Corrugated board starts from a favourable position: it is among the materials with the highest recycling target set by the PPWR for 2030 (85%, compared with the 70% overall average target), thanks to its high recyclability and the extensive use of recycled fibre in the sector. However, the design of die-cuts, laminates and finishes will need to take these criteria into account from the earliest stages of packaging development.

Substances and documentation

The regulation introduces restrictions on certain substances used in packaging, with particular attention also paid to packaging intended for food contact. This directly concerns processes typical of a box manufacturer, such as inks, adhesives and surface treatments. Here too, the practical details are subject to ongoing clarification, but the underlying principle — being able to demonstrate, with solid technical documentation, the compliance of the materials used — already applies from the outset, and the documentation must be retained for the periods set out in the regulation.

The real challenge: more variants, less time to adapt

Taken together, these obligations produce a very specific practical effect: box manufacturers will need to manage more formats, more production changeovers and increasingly tight margins for error, precisely at a time when raw material costs and the cost of regulatory compliance continue to place real pressure on many SMEs in the sector.

This is where production technology stops being a separate issue and becomes part of the response to the PPWR.

How Sipack helps manage the change

It should be said clearly: no machinery, however advanced, can guarantee PPWR compliance on its own. That remains a matter of packaging design, material selection and technical documentation management, to be addressed with the support of the right expertise and trade associations.

The PPWR does, however, also have an indirect operational effect that is difficult to avoid: as formats become more specific and less oversized, the number of variants to produce and format changeovers increases. In this scenario, having a plant designed for flexibility can make a concrete contribution to containing production time, costs and waste. On Sipack’s Royal VB DD flexo folder gluer lines, three features go precisely in this direction.

Slotter robot: fast format changeovers and tailored creasing

The slotter robot, with four pairs of shafts, automatically repositions the cutting heads directly from the HMI panel: the operator enters the data for the new box format and the machine adjusts itself automatically, with no manual tooling intervention required. As the number of variants grows, so does the number of format changeovers, and a faster, less error-prone process becomes all the more valuable as production variety increases.

The same principle of fast, precise repositioning also applies to creasing adjustment: being able to easily adjust both the cutting and creasing tools allows the box manufacturer to tailor the box ever more closely to the actual dimensions of the product. This is a direction consistent with that set out in the PPWR, which promotes packaging that is increasingly proportioned to the product, reducing empty space — where the packaging design calls for it — and avoiding tricks designed solely to increase the perceived volume of the box.

Direct-drive motors on every axis

Direct-drive motors on every axis, managed by Siemens automation systems with Motion System Control, ensure consistent precision throughout the process. With more frequent format changeovers, precise adjustment also helps reduce waste during line start-up — an aspect that matters increasingly as the number of formats to manage grows.

Lead Edge feeder: precision that supports weight reduction

The Lead Edge feeder manages sheet infeed at the start of the line with robust, independently adjustable gauges, ensuring the production process starts correctly even with sheets of suboptimal quality or that are warped. This aspect becomes even more relevant in light of the weight minimisation required by the PPWR: lower-weight board is generally less rigid and more prone to warping.

In summary

To date, the PPWR remains a regulation still being understood and developed: many detailed technical criteria still depend on delegated and implementing acts that the European Commission has yet to issue, and industry associations are themselves working to translate them into clear operational guidance for businesses. In this evolving scenario, being able to count on a reliable technology partner makes the difference: with Sipack, box manufacturers have access to plants designed to ensure flexibility, precision and operational speed — concrete support for facing, with greater confidence, the changes the PPWR will bring to day-to-day production.

If you’d like to explore how a Royal VB DD flexo folder gluer line could help your plant respond more flexibly to the changes required by the PPWR, get in touch at sales@sipack.it — we’re happy to discuss your production needs.

The Company

Founded in 1961 by the Barni brothers, Gadar S.p.A. is a Tuscan box manufacturer that has built its reputation on artisanal quality and a passion for corrugated cardboard. Today, with the third generation already active, Gadar serves diverse sectors such as agri-food, household cleaning, and pharmaceuticals, while maintaining strong family values and attention to detail in every box produced.

The Challenge

With expanding markets and growing demand for quality packaging, Gadar faced new challenges: increasing productivity without compromising the precision and high quality that have always defined the brand, optimising material usage to reduce waste, ensuring consistent printing and die-cutting standards, and meeting the requirements of the agri-food sector, where colour and attention to detail are decisive factors in product sales.

At the same time, Gadar was looking for a reliable and flexible technological solution that could be easily managed by operators and grow alongside the company, ensuring ongoing production continuity and long-term competitiveness.

The Solution

The solution came with the installation of the Royal VB DD rotary die-cutter by Sipack, a Made in Italy machine that combines cutting-edge technology with ease of use.

Thanks to direct drive motors and high-quality components, the Royal VB DD enabled Gadar to achieve precise die-cutting and sharp printing, while reducing material and ink waste.

Fast setup times and an automatic washing system simplified the operators’ work and minimised machine downtime, while the machine’s flexibility and capacity for future upgrades ensured the investment would keep pace with industry innovations.

The Result

Three years after installation:

• Higher print and die-cutting quality, with more vibrant colours and sharper details.
• Reduced material and ink waste.
• Increased productivity, with faster setup times and minimised machine downtime.
• Lower energy consumption and more efficient material management.

Statement

Sipack’s rotary die-cutter has delivered excellent print quality and cutting precision, improving production efficiency and allowing us to enter a strategic market segment.

It has also demonstrated outstanding performance on coated board, ensuring high graphic definition, uniform coverage, and excellent ink adhesion, even on the most complex jobs.

Barni Family, Gadar S.p.A.

In recent years, corrugated cardboard converting has been facing an increasingly evident production evolution: the growth of e-commerce, the increase in product variants and the fragmentation of orders are leading to more variable production runs, with frequent job changes and progressively shorter print runs.

According to FEFCO, corrugated cardboard packaging now represents a central element of European e-commerce logistics, in a market where speed, customisation and operational continuity are redefining supply chain requirements.

Production dynamics among converters are also changing rapidly. The growth of SKUs and the need to manage increasingly differentiated production runs are putting growing pressure on setup times, process repeatability and the ability of lines to maintain consistent quality even with continuous format changes.

In this scenario, the challenge is no longer simply about increasing production speed, but ensuring stability and efficiency even under operating conditions that are far more variable than in the past.

We spoke with Gianluca Giometti, Technical Director of SIPACK, to explore how these developments are influencing the design of converting machinery.

How are the requirements of converting lines changing?

Today, lines must handle a much higher level of variability than in the past. This creates growing pressure on setup speed, process stability and production continuity, as machines must maintain consistent performance even when switching rapidly from one job to another.

For this reason, what matters today is not just the maximum speed of the line, but above all its ability to maintain quality, precision and repeatability even with highly variable production runs.

How is SIPACK responding to these new production requirements?

At SIPACK, we are working on several fronts, directly addressing all the factors that affect production continuity and the reduction of format changeover times.

The goal is to make setup faster, more repeatable and less dependent on manual adjustments — through quick-change format systems, optimisation of box positioning and solutions that speed up and stabilise the production start-up phase.

At the same time, we have enhanced the performance of our different machine series — Minidrive, Onedrive and Royal VB DD — to meet increasingly dynamic production demands, where converters today require not only high speeds but also consistent quality between one job and the next.

With this in mind, in developing our Royal rotary die-cutter we have focused heavily on process stability even with short runs and frequent format changes, while maintaining very high quality standards.

A particularly critical aspect concerns printing on coated board, where even minor variations in pressure or uniformity can affect the final result. For this reason, the machine is designed to ensure high precision, print uniformity and operational stability, delivering an exceptionally sharp output even on variable production runs.

The ultimate goal is not just to reduce setup times, but to make the process more stable, repeatable and less dependent on the individual operator’s experience.

Another increasingly relevant issue for the sector is the growing difficulty in finding skilled operators — how much does this affect line management?

The shortage of experienced operators is becoming an increasingly structural factor and is directly influencing the way machines are designed.

Today it is essential to make lines more intuitive, guided and straightforward to manage, reducing dependence on individual skills and increasing operational standardisation.

This becomes even more important in production environments with high staff turnover or multiple shifts.

What is SIPACK’s approach on this front?

To address these needs, SIPACK has developed a touch Totem positioned directly along the line, designed to guide the operator through the critical phases of the process and make machine management more immediate and intuitive.

The system provides real-time production parameters, operational information and machine status updates, reducing dependence on the individual operator’s experience.

In this way, even less experienced personnel can achieve consistent results and manage the line with greater operational confidence, as many control and adjustment tasks are supported directly by the system.

Integration with company ERP/MES systems also ensures greater coherence between planned and actual production, improving traceability, operational control and production continuity across different shifts.

The goal is not simply to digitalise the machine, but to concretely simplify the operator’s work, making the process more stable, repeatable and controllable.

As we have seen, the landscape is increasingly complex and fragmented. SIPACK’s objective is to interpret manufacturers’ needs and translate them into concrete technical solutions, capable of delivering the expected results in terms of market competitiveness, productivity and final product quality.

The critical role of the folder-gluer process

In the production of corrugated cardboard boxes, precision in the folder-gluer process is critical to ensure the quality of the finished product. The blank – the die-cut and printed sheet of cardboard ready to be folded and glued – enters the folder-gluer machine, where adhesive is applied to the initial flap. From this point, the forming box must be guided in a stable and controlled manner until it is completely closed.

The “fish tailing” issue in conveyor belts

The conveyor belts play a crucial role in this process. If not properly designed, they can deviate laterally during operation, causing the phenomenon known as fish tailing, where the belt oscillates like a fish tail. This movement can result in the blank slipping, misaligned folds, irregular gluing, and box deformation, leading to increased waste and machine stoppages.

The solution: “no fish tailing” belts

The use of “no fish tailing” belts, made of high-strength composite materials with dimensional stability, ensures that the blank remains perfectly aligned throughout the production line. In many industrial applications, this solution can reduce waste by 20–25% compared to lines using standard belts, improving both production continuity and the quality of the final product.

High-pressure gluing systems: precision and speed

Equally important is the gluing system. SIPACK machines utilize high-pressure gluing systems, capable of applying adhesive precisely and uniformly along the score lines. This ensures a fast and durable bond, minimizes the risk of insufficient glue or smearing, and allows operation at high speeds without compromising joint quality.

Coordination between transport and closing

During the closing phase, the no fish tailing belts guide the blank accurately to the counter ejector, the section of the machine responsible for collecting and stacking the closed boxes in bundles, ready for transport or subsequent packaging operations. This coordination between high-pressure gluing and controlled transport ensures uniform, perfectly closed boxes, optimizes process repeatability, and minimizes manual intervention and machine stoppages.

Conclusion: efficiency, quality, and production continuity

In summary, the integration of no fish tailing belts and high-pressure gluing systems is a key factor in ensuring reliability, productivity, and consistent quality in modern folder-gluer lines, meeting the precision, speed, and standardization requirements of today’s packaging industry.