Heavy metals in packaging: the 100 mg/kg limit under Article 5

The detail that changes how it is verified: it is a single sum, not four separate limits.

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The rule, verbatim

"Without prejudice to the restrictions on chemicals set out in Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 or, where applicable, the specific restrictions and measures on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food set out in Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, the sum of concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium resulting from substances present in packaging or packaging components shall not exceed 100 mg/kg."

Three elements deserve attention.

It is a sum. The four metals are added together and the total must stay below the threshold. A single low value means nothing on its own, unless it comes with the other three.

The subject of the measurement is the packaging or the component. Not the product contained, and not the packaging as a whole when the component can be isolated: inks, adhesives, dyes, closures and labels each fall within scope individually.

The limit has no date of its own. It is not deferred like labelling or recyclability: it applies from when the regulation itself applies, 12 August 2026.

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How it is demonstrated

Paragraph 6 of the same article is explicit:

"Compliance with the requirements set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 shall be demonstrated in the technical documentation drawn up in accordance with Annex VII."

The figure, therefore, does not serve to answer a customer: it serves to compile the file. In the technical documentation it belongs between the qualitative description of the assessments carried out and the test reports, and its source must be indicated.

The information lies with whoever produces the packaging or the material. Article 16 places on the supplier the obligation to make available to the manufacturer the information necessary to demonstrate the conformity of the materials supplied.

Requesting it in writing, citing the article, and retaining the reply together with the file is how that figure becomes something that can be relied upon.

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The exemptions, and why they are not to be assumed

Paragraph 8 allows the Commission to establish, by delegated acts, the conditions under which the limit does not apply to recycled materials or to closed and controlled product loops, and to identify the types or formats of packaging exempted.

The text adds a precise constraint:

"Delegated acts adopted pursuant to this paragraph shall be adopted for the sole purpose of amending the exemptions established in Decisions 2001/171/EC and 2009/292/EC."

These are the two decisions that already govern the exemptions for glass packaging and for plastic crates and pallets.

An exemption only counts if it is provided for in those acts. It cannot be inferred from the type of material, and it cannot be assumed merely because the packaging is recycled.

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The limit may be lowered

Paragraph 7 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts to reduce the limit value of the sum of the four concentrations.

Paragraph 2 also sets 31 December 2026 as the deadline for the Commission’s report, prepared with the assistance of the European Chemicals Agency, on the presence of substances of concern in packaging. That report may list substances and indicate the extent to which they present an unacceptable risk.

This is why the measured value should be retained together with the date of the test: if the threshold is lowered, the question becomes whether the value on file still holds.

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What is needed, in practice

1. List the components of each item of packaging, separately: body, closure, label, ink, adhesive.
2. Ask the supplier for the sum of the four metals, not the individual values, and the methodology used to obtain it.
3. Record the date and source of each value.
4. Bring the figure into the technical documentation, where Annex VII places it.

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References

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2024 on packaging and packaging waste, in OJ L of 22 January 2025. Applicable from 12 August 2026.

• Art. 5(4) · Sum of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium: 100 mg/kg (p. 38)
• Art. 5(6) · Conformity is demonstrated in the technical documentation
• Art. 5(7) and (8) · Reduction of the limit and exemptions by delegated acts
• Art. 5(2) · Commission and ECHA report by 31 December 2026
• Art. 16 · Information obligations of suppliers of packaging or packaging materials
• Annex VII · Technical documentation

Official text: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/40/oj