The present article represents the prelude to a series of blog posts with the common title “What’s changing in 2026,” in which the experts of the “Produktkanzlei” team summarize the relevant topics from their respective areas of expertise. In this article, the changes in product-related environmental law that have already been decided or are still in the legislative process are presented first (see under A.). In a second part, the foreseeable developments regarding due diligence obligations in the supply chain are summarized (see under B.).
A. Product-Related Environmental Law
Product-related environmental law in all its facets represents a supporting pillar of the dynamically growing regulatory architecture for sustainability, resource efficiency, waste prevention and management, and climate protection. Unfortunately, however, the legislative architects do not always seem to have practical and implementable ideas of how the overall regulatory construct should look and function. Coupled with typical delays, constant plan changes, and accompanying legal uncertainty, this leads to the fact that the plaster on the formerly bright green shining “Green Deal” has already begun to crumble alarmingly during the construction phase.
For the companies and authorities concerned with execution, the EU Packaging Regulation and the further development of the EU Battery Regulation will be in focus in the year 2026. This is flanked at the European level by the recently announced decisions regarding various exemptions for lead within the framework of the RoHS Directive. At the national level, the short-term amendment to the ElektroG (Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act) is currently causing a stir. Looking ahead, numerous aspects of the Omnibus VIII package published shortly before the turn of the year will lead to further changes to already decided and applicable legal acts in 2026.
I. EU Packaging Regulation
The Packaging Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on January 22, 2025, and formally entered into force on February 11, 2025. The general date of application is set for August 12, 2026, although further transitional periods apply for numerous obligations, some of which also depend on the adoption of further delegated and implementing acts.
From August 12, 2026, the following requirements must be complied with:
- Substance restrictions for lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium, the sum of which in packaging must not exceed 100 mg/kg (Art. 5 para. 4 PPWR). While this substance restriction has applied for many years under the EU Packaging Directive, the PFAS restriction contained in Art. 5 para. 5 PPWR for packaging that comes into contact with food is a genuine novelty. Nevertheless, there are no further transitional periods for this, and the complex requirements must be complied with directly upon the start of application from August 12, 2026. In addition, the article-related substance restrictions and prohibitions, particularly from the REACH and POP Regulations, continue to apply to packaging.
- Performance of a conformity assessment procedure on the basis of technical documentation for each packaging and subsequent issuance of an EU declaration of conformity (Art. 38 et seq. in conjunction with Annex VII and VIII PPWR). A CE marking for packaging, however, is not required from a packaging law perspective. From August 12, 2026, the conformity assessment initially only has to cover compliance with the substance restrictions. Further topics, such as specifically recyclability, minimum recycled content in plastic packaging, labeling, minimization, and reuse, are only to be complied with significantly later and only then become the subject of the conformity assessment.
- A very central aspect is also the correct role allocation and thus in particular the delimitation between mere suppliers of packaging materials and packaging, manufacturers of packaging, and downstream distributors. This is of enormous importance because different obligations are assigned to the individual roles according to Art. 15 et seq. PPWR, and these can consequently only be fully and properly assumed and complied with if the role allocation is correct. Primarily decisive here is the distinction between a mere supplier with pure information obligations under Art. 16 PPWR and the manufacturer with the core obligations under Art. 15 PPWR. According to Art. 3 para. 1 no. 13 in conjunction with Art. 15 para. 6 PPWR, a corresponding marking is decisive for the manufacturer status, whereby in particular with regard to sales packaging, the entity whose products are packed therein will generally be its manufacturer. In practice, however, a case-by-case analysis based on all circumstances and coordination between the individual actors in the supply chain is always required to arrive at a role delimitation suitable for the respective constellation. This should then ideally be contractually established to avoid misunderstandings. If the manufacturer of packaging is established in a non-EU country, an importer with the obligations under Art. 18 PPWR is also added to the supply chain, whereby it should be noted in particular that the importer has an independent labeling obligation regarding their role.
- Finally, reference must be made to the obligations for producers of packaging within the meaning of Art. 3 para. 1 no. 15 PPWR in the area of extended producer responsibility under Art. 44 et seq. PPWR. THE EPR requirements have so far been implemented by national law based on the EU Packaging Directive, so that a national patchwork of detailed regulations has developed. Since the PPWR also largely leaves the implementation of packaging-related extended producer responsibility to the Member States, it can be assumed that there will continue to be national particularities. In Germany, a ministerial draft of a law to adapt packaging law and other legal areas to Regulation (EU) 2025/40 is already available, which intends to replace the previous Packaging Act (VerpackG) with a Packaging Implementation Act (VerpackDG). In terms of content, according to the present draft, the known basic structures will largely remain, which are merely to be adapted in some places to the requirements of the PPWR. Worth highlighting here are in particular new cost-bearing and financing obligations for all producers of packaging and the future possibility of participation for packaging not subject to system participation in a so-called “other organization for producer responsibility.” The Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR) has already published initial interpretative guidance on this.
Finally, it should be pointed out that currently a lot is still in flux and both further interpretative and application notes as well as changes to the text of the PPWR itself and necessary tertiary legal acts are to be expected in the coming weeks and months. For affected companies, close monitoring of further developments is therefore essential in addition to operational preparation in order to recognize possible changes to implementation-relevant aspects at an early stage.
II. EU Battery Regulation
Also in the context of the Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 (EUBR), which has already been applicable since February 18, 2024, relevant developments are pending for the year 2026.
First of all, reference must be made to the obligation to designate a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) by January 15, 2026 within the framework of existing registrations according to § 7 in conjunction with § 64 para. 7 BattDG (German Battery Implementation Act). A list of PROs approved so far is available from the stiftung elektro-altgeräte register and is constantly updated. Without the timely designation of a PRO, still existing registrations will lapse without replacement and must be reapplied for if necessary, whereby it must be noted that placing batteries on the market in the period between the lapse of the existing and the granting of the new registration is not permitted.
In contrast, the obligation to attach a declaration on the carbon footprint for industrial batteries (Art. 7 para. 1 EUBR), which is actually applicable from February 18, 2026, as well as the labeling obligations (Art. 13 para. 1 to 3 EUBR) actually applicable from August 18, 2026, and the obligations for labeling and classification into performance classes for the carbon footprint for EV batteries (Art. 7 para. 2 EUBR) provided for from the same date, will all not apply from the mentioned dates. The reason for this is that according to the statutory regulation, all these obligations only come into effect when specifying delegated acts and implementing acts from the EU Commission have entered into force. In order to give the affected economic operators sufficient time to implement the requirements, the start of application is automatically postponed to a date 18 months after the entry into force of the tertiary legal acts if they do not enter into force in time. Since all necessary tertiary legal acts have not yet been adopted and entered into force, the mentioned obligations will come into effect in mid-2027 at the earliest.
In this context, reference must be made to the consultation procedure running until January 26, 2026, on the necessary specifications for the labeling of batteries according to Art. 13 para. 1 to 3 EUBR. Unfortunately, in terms of content, it must be stated that the drafts submitted for consultation contain no regulations on numerous practice-relevant aspects (e.g., on the labeling of installed batteries in the supply chain) and yet other regulations go significantly beyond the EUBR itself (e.g., obligations to use QR codes in different situations). In this respect, it remains to be seen how the drafts submitted for consultation will develop further to provide genuine legal certainty. Finally, it should be pointed out that the requirements for carbon footprint labeling contained in the draft do not yet lead to the relevant obligations coming into effect, as further specifications on the performance classes to be labeled are required in additional tertiary legal acts, which are not yet available.
Furthermore, the so-called Omnibus IV package (proposals COM(2025)504 and COM(2025)501) provides for some facilitations within the framework of the BattVO:
- Operating instructions and safety information only for BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems) instead of for all batteries
- Producer identification: instead of previously internet and email address, only “digital contact”
- Importer identification: instead of previously internet and email address, only “digital contact”
- Threshold for due diligence obligations at €150 million instead of €40 million
- Verification of due diligence obligations only every three years instead of annually.
Although the legislative procedure for this is currently still ongoing, a conclusion is to be expected in 2026.
III. RoHS Exemptions
On November 21, 2025, three long-awaited delegated directives with decisions on renewal applications for central exemptions from the generally existing lead restriction were published:
- Delegated Directive (EU) 2025/2364 of the Commission of September 8, 2025, amending Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead as an alloying element in steel, aluminum, and copper (Entries 6a to c Annex III RoHS)
- Delegated Directive (EU) 2025/1802 of the Commission of September 8, 2025, amending Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in high melting temperature type solders (Entry 7a Annex III RoHS)
- Delegated Directive (EU) 2025/2363 of the Commission of September 8, 2025, amending Directive 2011/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards an exemption for lead in electrical and electronic components in glass or ceramic (Entry 7c Annex III RoHS)
In terms of content, some previously broadly defined exemptions were significantly restricted and cut back to specific use situations. In terms of time, the extended or newly formulated exemptions were consistently calculated very tightly, so that those actors who continue to rely on certain exemptions just barely have or had enough time left to submit new renewal applications with further substantiation for the necessity of the exemptions in time.
An overview of the current renewal situation, including already submitted new renewal applications, is provided by the RoHS 2 exemptions – Validity and rolling plan, updated as of December 19, 2025.
IV. National Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG)
In contrast to the European developments reported so far, the Second Act to Amend the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act, published in the Federal Law Gazette on November 27, 2025, and generally applicable since January 1, 2026, represents a purely national development in Germany without an immediate background in EU law. Essentially, the following innovations and changes were introduced:
- New requirements for the take-back of single-use and reusable e-cigarettes and electronic tobacco heaters by all distributors of the same from July 1, 2026 (Sec. 17 para. 1a ElektroG). Actually affected by this are those distributors of such products who were previously not yet obliged to take back due to not reaching the size threshold for the general take-back obligation. The take-back obligation must not be made dependent on the purchase of a new product and also applies to distance selling. The new take-back obligation also leads for the first time to the intervention of the information obligations from Secs. 18 and 18a ElektroG for the newly affected distributors, which entails additional implementation effort.
- Expansion of the manufacturer and distributor information obligations in Sec. 18 para. 3 and 4 ElektroG by adding an information obligation regarding risks when handling lithium-containing batteries since January 1, 2026. If the distributor simultaneously has information obligations under Art. 74 para. 4 EUBR and the necessary information on lithium-containing batteries is already contained therein, a duplication of information does not appear necessary.
- Furthermore, the distributor information in distance selling must since January 1, 2026, not only be clearly visible but additionally also easy to find. This is concretized in the explanatory memorandum to the law (BT-Drs. 21/1506, p. 26) as follows: “In addition to good visibility of the information, it must also be ensured that the information is easily findable on the website, for example, by being able to be called up via a search function or reached directly via the website’s control menu. To ensure that the information can definitely be perceived without a separate search when ordering corresponding products, it must either be displayed on the pages with the corresponding products or displayed before or during the order. This has to be taken account for the page design on smartphones, where there is less space on the individual page, and it has to be ensured through the display of the symbol before or during the order that the notice is perceived.”
- In the newly inserted Sec. 18a para. 2 and 3 ElektroG, supplementary specifications are made for the marking of collection and take-back points in stationary retail, which apply from July 1, 2026. According to this, distributors must place the symbol according to Annex 3a in color as well as clearly visible and legible at least in DIN A4 format in the immediate field of vision of the customer flow in the entrance area of their retail store. They must also inform about how the take-back takes place in their retail store.
- Furthermore, likewise from July 1, 2026, distributors must point out clearly visibly in their retail store with the symbol according to Annex 3 (symbol of the crossed-out wheeled bin) in the immediate vicinity of the sales location of the electrical equipment that waste electrical equipment is to be disposed of separately from unsorted municipal waste. This is concretized in the explanatory memorandum to the law (BT-Drs. 21/1506, p. 26) in such a way that the symbol is to be placed, for example, on the shelf itself immediately next to the price indication. The symbol should accordingly correspond in design and font size to the price indication for the respective product.
- Sec. 18a para. 4 ElektroG furthermore concretizes the information obligations for distance sellers likewise from July 1, 2026. According to this, distance sellers must place the symbol according to Annex 3a clearly visibly and legibly in the presentation media used by them on the pages with the corresponding products or before or during the order. They must also inform about how the pick-up according to Sec. 17 para. 2 sentence 2 ElektroG and the take-back according to Sec. 17 para. 2 sentence 4 ElektroG take place.
- Finally, it should be pointed out that since January 1, 2026, it is mandatory to also enclose in writing the information according to Sec. 19a ElektroG for so-called b2b devices. This means a complete enclosure in paper form, and mere accessibility via a link or QR code is not sufficient.
VI. Other Topics
Beyond the topics highlighted in detail above, other topics will also continue to be of relevance in the year 2026:
- Implementation of the new obligations to introduce a national regime of extended producer responsibility based on Directive (EU) 2025/1892 amending the Waste Framework Directive. The scope of the new requirements will cover certain CN codes of Chapters 61 and 62 for textiles, accessories, and shoes (CN codes 6401 to 6405). The main obligated party will be the so-called producer, i.e., the one who is established in a certain Member State and hands over covered products for the first time in this Member State or the one who, as a distance seller, sells products directly to end consumers in another Member State. The obligations will include a national registration and take-back obligations and are to be transposed into national law by June 17, 2027, so that a legislative procedure regarding this is to be expected in the course of the year 2026.
- With the Omnibus VIII package published on December 10, 2025, the EU Commission has proposed a great abundance of simplifications in the area of environmental regulation. Many of the requirements have no direct product reference. However, at this point, reference should be made in particular to the plans to fundamentally reform and restrict the system of authorized representatives within the framework of the extended producer responsibility regimes and, furthermore, to further harmonize and simplify the regimes themselves. In addition, packaging law aspects are also to be taken up again in this course.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the year 2026 is also likely to be characterized by further enforcement measures and related court decisions, particularly within the framework of the Single-Use Plastics Fund Act and other legal acts introduced in recent years, so that in addition to legislative developments, case law could certainly set interesting accents.
B. Due Diligence Obligations in the Supply Chain
The regulations on due diligence obligations in the supply chain underwent significant changes at the end of 2025, which economic operators must now prepare for in 2026. At the forefront is the agreement of December 9, 2025, between the Council of the EU, the EU Parliament, and the EU Commission on the Omnibus I package. The resulting legislative amendments, originally initiated by the EU Commission on February 26, 2025 (see also our blog post “OMNIBUS Initiative and possible adjustments to the LkSG – What is planned or already implemented?” of April 23, 2025), lead to substantial innovations for the Directive (EU) 2024/1760 on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD) and the Directive (EU) 2022/2464 on Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRD). These are presented below, as well as the impact of the CSDDD on the LkSG (German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act) as the national implementation act. In addition to the Omnibus I package, the Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on deforestation-free supply chains (EUDR) was postponed by one year and adjusted content wise at the last possible moment in 2025. Here, too, the most important innovations are presented and the consequences for companies in 2026 are explained.
Regardless of the presentation and evaluation of the content-related changes, it is worth mentioning from the authors’ point of view that a majority in the EU Parliament for the mentioned changes only came about due to the vote of the conservative EPP group together with the right-wing and far-right groups “Patriots for Europe,” “Europe of Sovereign Nations,” and “European Conservatives and Reformists.” The agreement was preceded by an often emotional and barely scientifically grounded political discourse about necessary adjustments to the legal acts. In this respect, it is questionable whether the adopted changes actually lead to facilitations for companies as claimed and, in particular, provide a long-term answer to the multiple challenges in supply chains.
I. Omnibus I Package
The EU Parliament passed the legislative package on December 16, 2025. The formal confirmation in the Council of the EU and the subsequent publication in the Official Journal are still pending. Only then can the changes enter into force.
The CSRD undergoes a drastic restriction of the personal scope of application. Only companies that had an annual turnover of 450 million euros and an average of 1,000 employees in the relevant financial year will be covered. Thus, only 10% of the previously obligated companies will be covered by the CSRD in the future. However, the obligation of the Commission to investigate an expansion of the scope and to report on it annually from 2029 remains.
In addition to a change in the scope of application, changes with regard to the report-relevant data points can be expected in 2026. The basis for this is the drafts of the revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) published by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) at the end of 2025. On their basis, the EU Commission will now adapt Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772, which sets the standards for sustainability reporting. The drafts reduce the relevant data points by 61% and should thus simplify the preparation of the reports. Furthermore, it is also no longer planned to develop sector-specific data requirements, which were previously still being awaited.
The amendments to the CSRD must be transposed into national law by the Member States 12 months after entering into force. Germany has already missed the previous implementation deadline of July 6, 2024. It is now to be expected that the CSRD, including the latest amendments, will be implemented in 2026. Even if many companies are no longer directly affected by the CSRD in the future, it is to be expected that, among others, banks and insurance companies will continue to request similar reports form their customers to those to be created under the CSRD. It remains to be seen whether a simplification actually occurs or whether additional work arises for companies due to different reporting requirements on the market.
The CSDDD was also severely restricted overall with regard to the scope of application. Only companies that had a turnover of 1.5 billion euros worldwide and an average of over 5,000 employees in the last financial year will be obligated. Member States are free to expand the scope. Furthermore, the regulations are to apply mandatorily for the first time in July 2029 and thus yet another year later than after the last amendment of April 2025. With regard to the due diligence obligations to be fulfilled, it should be easier for companies in future to focus on identifying and assessing particularly likely negative impacts in the supply chain. Accordingly, the prioritisation of activities to prevent, mitigate and end such impacts should also be facilitated. What sounds like a sensible approach at first causes considerable legal uncertainty, as the law works here with a number of undefined legal terms that stand in the way of a clear guideline for companies. Legal violations leading to damage for those affected can, however, not be prosecuted under civil law uniformly across Europe as before, but only according to the applicable national regulations. Furthermore, the obligation to create and implement a climate transition plan was repealed.
The amendments to the CSDDD will likely mean no significant changes for the LkSG (German Supply Chain Act). However, since the Federal Government has announced it will implement the CSDDD 1:1, the scope of application of the LkSG could at least be restricted. The currently available draft of the LkSG amendment (BT_Drs. 21/2474) from October 2025 does not yet provide for this. Instead, it contains a strong reduction of sanctionable violations against the LkSG and an abolition of the reporting obligation under § 10 para. 2-4 LkSG. A consultation in the Bundestag is still pending, and it is likely to be expected that in this course the amendment of the CSDDD will find its way into the amendment of the LkSG. Companies should therefore observe this process attentively in 2026.
II. EUDR
Shortly before the former start of application of the EUDR on December 30, 2025, it was postponed by 1 year to December 30, 2026 by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650. For small and micro-enterprises, it now applies only from July 30, 2027. Furthermore, the “First-Touch Principle” was implemented. According to this, only companies that, as operators, place a relevant product on the market in the EU for the first time must verify without cause whether the goods are deforestation-free, were produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production, and then submit a corresponding due diligence statement. A facilitation within the group of operators is also made if the operators are so-called micro or small primary producers. These are small companies that produce relevant products in a country with low deforestation risk according to the EU Commission’s benchmarking and place them on the market in the EU. In practice, this mainly concerns European agricultural businesses. Instead of a due diligence statement, they must submit a one-time, simplified declaration and are then assigned an identification number.
Unlike before, so-called downstream operators, i.e., those who transform a relevant product already placed on the market in the EU into another relevant product, and traders, provided they are not SMEs, only have to register in the EU portal “Traces”. In addition, they have to collect basic data on their suppliers and customers (including name and email address) and record the reference number of the due diligence statement or the identification number from their suppliers, insofar as these are operators. However, these data only have to be stored internally for five years. They only have an obligation to check the fulfillment of due diligence obligations themselves if they obtain information about a violation. In addition to the changes mentioned above, however, it will be particularly relevant for many companies that have previously been marginally affected that products with HS code 49 (‘Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry, manuscripts, typescripts and plans, of paper’) are now excluded from the scope of the Regulation.
Even though significant simplifications have thus already been made for a multitude of actors, the EUDR obliges the EU Commission to check by April 2026 whether further adjustments are necessary to reduce bureaucratic hurdles. On this basis, a new legislative initiative could be started. It should be noted that this check still cannot draw on experiences from the field and furthermore creates renewed significant legal uncertainty for the affected companies. It is to be hoped that a national legal act will be enacted in 2026 in which the open questions regarding responsibilities and sanctions are regulated.
Outlook
The year 2026 will continue to remain very dynamic in both product-related environmental law and due diligence regulation and will bring one or two surprises. Therefore, it can only be urgently recommended for companies to closely follow the regulatory developments and court decisions in the relevant areas in order to be able to react to them in a timely and tailored manner.
Do you have any questions about this news, or would you like to discuss it with the author? Please contact: Michael Öttinger und Paul Jäde
