Compliance & Regulations

FDA Food Contact Compliance: A 2026 Checklist for Restaurants and Food Brands Importing Packaging Every food container, cup, bag, and wrapper that touches food in the United States must comply with FDA food contact regulations. This isn’t optional — it’s federal law. Yet many restaurants and food brands import packaging from overseas without verifying compliance, […]

Recycled Content Mandates Are Going Global: What Food Packaging Buyers Need to Know in 2026 April 2026: India’s 40% rPET mandate took effect April 1. The EU requires 30% by 2030. The UK taxes packaging below 30%. Here’s the full global picture. The era of voluntary recycled content is ending. Governments worldwide are now mandating

California’s SB 343 Deadline Is October 4, 2026: Can You Still Put the Recycling Symbol on Your Packaging? Updated April 2026 — 159 days until compliance required for products manufactured after October 4, 2026. If you sell food in California with the chasing arrows recycling symbol on your packaging, you need to pay attention. California’s

Deposit Return Schemes Are Going Global in 2026: What Restaurant and Beverage Brands Need to Know April 2026: Portugal launched the Volta DRS for beverage containers. Singapore’s DRS went live April 1. The UK DRS launches October 2027. Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) — programs where consumers pay a small deposit on beverage containers and get

US Packaging EPR in 2026: Oregon Enjoined, California Delayed, and What Food Brands Should Do Now Updated April 2026. Seven states now have packaging EPR laws, but implementation is messy. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging — the principle that companies who create packaging should pay for its end-of-life disposal — is reshaping the US

UAE’s 2026 Single-Use Plastic Ban: What Restaurant Owners and Food Suppliers Need to Know Updated April 2026. The final phase of Dubai’s single-use plastic ban is now in effect. On January 1, 2026, the UAE activated the final phase of its single-use plastic ban — the most comprehensive plastic restriction in the Middle East. Dubai

UK Packaging EPR 2026: What’s Changing for Food Service Packaging Exporters The United Kingdom’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging entered its second year in 2026, and the landscape is evolving rapidly. With Year 2 disposal fees now published by PackUK, fee modulation based on the Recycling Assessment Methodology (RAM) taking effect, and the

EU PPWR Takes Effect August 2026: What Food Packaging Exporters Must Prepare For The European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) — officially Regulation (EU) 2025/40 — will apply across all 27 EU member states starting August 12, 2026. This directly applicable regulation replaces the former Packaging Directive (94/62/EC) and introduces the most sweeping

UK Packaging EPR Fees Just Got Modulated: What Food Brands Exporting to Britain Need to Know Updated April 2026. Year-2 pEPR fees confirmed, with recyclability-based modulation now active. The UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) has entered its second year with a major change: fees are no longer flat rates. Starting in the 2026/27

EU PPWR Takes Effect August 12, 2026: A Compliance Guide for Food Packaging Exporters Last updated: April 22, 2026 — 112 days until the regulation applies. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), officially Regulation (EU) 2025/40, becomes fully applicable on August 12, 2026. This is the most significant change to European packaging law