New capability aims to help food and beverage businesses prepare packaging declarations before PPWR requirements take effect in August 2026.

Image of Specright's automated PPWR compliance reporting tool

Source: Specright

Specright has launched an automated reporting tool to help food and beverage companies produce packaging Declarations of Conformity before the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) applies from 12 August 2026.

From that date, manufacturers must draw up an EU Declaration of Conformity before placing packaging on the market and make the supporting documentation available to national authorities on request.

The document must demonstrate that packaging complies with Articles 5 to 12 of the regulation, covering restricted substances, recyclability, recycled content, packaging minimisation, reusability and labelling.

Specright will make the new reporting capability available to customers from 23 July 2026.

The launch comes as the food packaging sector prepares for the PPWR. The regulation introduces recyclability requirements for packaging, including design-for-recycling grades due to apply from 2030, alongside mandatory recycled-content targets for plastic packaging.

Addressing fragmented packaging data

Many businesses currently hold the information required for a declaration across supplier records, spreadsheets and separate internal systems. Regulatory, packaging and product teams must then gather specifications, evidence and supporting documents before they can demonstrate compliance.

Specright said its system will bring this information together within each finished product record. A dedicated PPWR compliance section will track readiness against individual articles, identify missing data or documents and show the compliance status of each packaging component.

PPWR compliance can’t be an afterthought once enforcement begins, it has to be built into how companies manage their packaging data from day one.”

Karthik Rajagopal, Chief Product Officer at Specright

As suppliers hold much of the required information, the system will also provide a guided process through which they can submit relevant packaging data and supporting evidence. Users can then compile the Declaration of Conformity and its accompanying technical documentation through a structured reporting workflow.

“PPWR compliance can’t be an afterthought once enforcement begins, it has to be built into how companies manage their packaging data from day one,” said Karthik Rajagopal, Chief Product Officer at Specright. “This capability gives brands a direct line from the specification data they already manage in Specright to a defensible, audit-ready Declaration of Conformity, replacing months of manual document chasing with a guided, systematic process.”

The launch follows Specright’s expansion of its European operations, including the opening of a London office and the introduction of packaging tools focused on PPWR requirements.

“This launch builds directly on the investments we’ve made in the last year in the EMEA region — from the PPWR-ready packaging intelligence we introduced at Paris Packaging Week to the expansion of our EMEA operations in London,” said Danielle Goad, Director of EMEA at Specright. “Our commitment is to help European and global brands turn regulatory complexity into a manageable, proactive capability, not a last-minute scramble.”

The PPWR entered into force on 11 February 2025 and will apply from 12 August 2026, replacing the previous directive with more harmonised packaging rules across the EU.

Manufacturers must make relevant documentation available to national authorities within 10 days of a request and retain the EU Declaration of Conformity and technical documentation for five years for single-use packaging or 10 years for reusable packaging.

For food businesses, the August application date will also prohibit food-contact packaging containing PFAS at or above specified limits, alongside wider requirements covering recyclability, recycled content and packaging minimisation.

Upcoming New Food webinar

From Ingredients to Intelligence: Building the Data Foundation for AI-Driven Food Innovation

 5 August 2026 15:00–16:00 BST

Image 1

Beyond packaging compliance, Specright will join New Food on 5 August for a webinar examining how structured product data can support wider AI adoption across food and beverage R&D.

Andy Stark, General Manager of Specright’s R&D Workbench, and Rachel Zemser, Food Science Industry Consultant and dual-certified Food Scientist and Culinary Scientist, will examine how connected data across ingredients, formulations, specifications and labels can help manufacturers use AI more effectively.

They will explore why the quality and structure of this data often determine whether AI projects deliver lasting value, before considering how manufacturers can reduce manual work across formulation and compliance and respond more quickly to reformulation demands and regulatory change.

The session will then turn to five practical AI applications, including ingredient searches and automated label generation, and provide a framework for assessing potential use cases before committing to significant investment.

SECURE YOUR SPOT HERE!