Brussels unwinds a sticky rule on pallet wrapping

A pragmatic retreat from the 100% reuse target for straps and films

Europe’s Pallet Problem and Packaging Waste

Pallets are the flat, wooden workhorses of global trade. Billions of them circulate annually, bearing everything from Spanish tomatoes to Swedish flat-pack furniture. But while the pallets themselves are a model of reuse—repairable, standardized and durable—the plastic film and straps that stop their cargo toppling over are a different matter. Until recently, the European Union’s crusade against packaging waste threatened to entangle Europe’s logistics sector in a very expensive knot. Now, it seems, the mandarins in Brussels are loosening their grip.

The EU Rule That Triggered Industry Alarm

The source of the consternation is the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), a sweeping law adopted in early 2025. Its aim is noble: to slash the mountain of trash generated by single-use wrappings. Among its strictures was a particularly binding clause for “closed-loop” logistics. It mandated that by 2030, companies moving goods between their own sites, or within the same member state, must use 100% reusable transport packaging. For pallets and crates, this is standard practice. For the “stabilisation” gear—the thin films and plastic straps that bind goods together—it presented a logistical nightmare.

Why 100% Reuse Failed the Logistics Reality Test

A draft delegated decision from the European Commission, seen by this newspaper, proposes a climbdown. The executive arm of the EU intends to exempt pallet wrappings and straps from the 100% reuse requirement. The decision is a victory for pragmatism over purity.

The Cost of Forcing Reuse on Pallet Wrapping

The economic logic for the retreat is stark. While reusable pallet “jackets” and durable straps exist, they are ill-suited to the high-speed, automated reality of modern warehousing. Switching to 100% reuse would have required 600,000 businesses across the bloc to rip out existing packaging lines and install unproven automated machinery. The Commission estimates the cost of this retooling at €610m ($640m). For many firms, the requirement would have meant maintaining dual production lines—one for internal transport (reusable) and one for export (single-use)—an efficiency killer that would make a Toyota production manager weep.

Green Deal Ambitions Meet Supply Chain Complexity

The decision illustrates the friction between the Green Deal’s environmental idealism and the granular reality of supply chains. The 40% reuse target for general transport packaging remains in place, pushing firms to innovate where possible. However, the 100% target for internal movements assumed that because a truck travels between two depots owned by the same firm, the logistics are simple. In reality, retrieving, cleaning, and inspecting millions of reusable plastic straps is a task of Sisyphusian proportions.

How Brussels Used a Delegated Act to Step Back

By utilising a “delegated act”—a mechanism allowing the Commission to tweak technical details without reopening the entire legislative sausage-making process—Brussels has averted a supply-chain snag before the 2030 deadline kicks in.

Relief for Logistics, Unease for Environmentalists

Environmentalists may grumble that this perpetuates the reign of single-use shrink wrap. But for Europe’s logistics managers, the exemption is a welcome relief. Saving the planet is essential, but it is hard to do if your inventory has just fallen off the back of a lorry.