The guidance confirms that food-contact packaging placed on the EU market from 12 August 2026 must fully meet the PFAS limits, with no transitional period. Stock already placed on the market before the deadline may be sold until exhausted, but packaging merely produced beforehand and not yet made available does not benefit. The Commission also sets out a stepwise total-fluorine testing protocol for enforcement.

It also clarifies the operational route to the 2030 recyclability, reuse, labelling and packaging-minimisation requirements, giving industry its first official read on how compliance will be assessed. The guidance confirms the direction toward all packaging being recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030, while leaving detailed design-for-recycling criteria to forthcoming delegated acts.

The expansion would raise the 15.8-hectare site's capacity for local residual waste from 60,000 to 105,000 tonnes a year, with more recoverable material removed before non-recyclable waste is converted into electricity and heat. Eco says the facility would generate enough energy to heat and power more than 14,000 homes a year, with green waste and wood waste recycling capacity each rising by 5,000 tonnes. The scheme includes around 30 jobs and a new visitor and education building.

Mike Eborne, Eco's technical development director, said the scheme would help the company recycle more local material and recover valuable resources. A public consultation was held at the site on 1 May, and if the application is approved, construction could begin in 2029.