Innovative materials can support companies as they adapt to new European packaging rules, helping reduce non-compliance risks while creating new opportunities for brand differentiation.
From 12 August 2026, the new European Packaging Regulation will begin to apply throughout the European Union. For companies, this will not simply be a regulatory transition: it will be an opportunity to rethink packaging, materials and the value each product leaves behind.
Issue 74 of COM.PACK, the magazine dedicated to eco-packaging, captures this moment of transition particularly well.
The magazine devotes considerable attention to the PPWR, the new European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, as well as to the innovations presented at Packaging Première: natural materials, distinctive surfaces, regenerative solutions and projects capable of turning sustainability into an experience.
Among these, on page 53, MATER by Piantami® is presented as “the label that grows”.
The connection between regulation and innovation is not accidental.
The new rules indicate what packaging will progressively need to reduce, document and improve. New materials show what packaging can become.
The European Regulation 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste, known as the PPWR, entered into force on 11 February 2025 and will generally apply from 12 August 2026.
It is a regulation covering all packaging placed on the European market, regardless of the material used.
The path introduced by the PPWR will progressively involve several areas:
Not all obligations will take effect at the same time. Several technical criteria will be defined through delegated acts, implementing acts and subsequent deadlines.
However, the message for businesses is already clear: packaging will need to be understood, designed and documented with greater precision.
The European Commission provides a dedicated section on the PPWR, which is useful for following updates and the next stages of implementation.
For many companies, the PPWR may appear to introduce a further level of complexity: new controls, documentation, technical testing, material reviews and possible compliance costs.
This concern is understandable.
However, the transition should not be approached solely as an obligation to endure. It can become an opportunity to analyse what is currently being used, remove unnecessary elements and focus investment on what genuinely creates value.
It is not necessary to redesign every package immediately.
Companies can begin with one product line, one label, one neck tag, one box or one pilot project. They can work together with suppliers, printers, designers and converters, gradually assessing performance, production processes and end-of-life scenarios.
The transition requires time, but above all it requires method.
When a requirement becomes mandatory, meeting it allows a company to remain on the market. On its own, however, compliance does not create distinction.
In the coming years, many companies will reduce weights, volumes and components. They will review adhesives, coatings, varnishes, labels and materials. They will prepare more complete technical documentation and make their supply chains more transparent.
When everyone has started along the same path, the decisive question will be different:
how can packaging remain recognisable, desirable and consistent with the value of the brand?
This is where research into new materials becomes strategic.
Not to add an environmental claim to a package, but to turn material, form, function and end of life into parts of the same project.
For many years, luxury packaging was associated with abundance: more layers, more components, more effects, more finishes and more material.
The new regulatory and cultural landscape invites us to change perspective.
Reducing does not necessarily mean impoverishing.
It can mean removing what adds no value and making every remaining choice more meaningful.
Premium packaging does not need to be precious because it contains a large quantity of material. It can be precious because the chosen material has an origin, an authentic texture, a story and a function capable of continuing beyond its first use.
Abundance is consumed. Legacy remains.
In wine, cosmetics, perfumery, fashion and hospitality, this legacy may be the story of a territory, a supply chain or an action that the consumer is invited to perform.
It is a new interpretation of luxury: more measured, more conscious and richer in meaning.
COM.PACK’s feature on new materials highlights an important development: natural textures are no longer hidden, but enhanced.
Fibres, colour variations, tactile surfaces and natural irregularities can become distinctive signs.
The material is no longer merely the surface on which a message is printed. It becomes the message itself.
For premium brands, this transformation opens new possibilities.
A recognisable surface can communicate authenticity and uniqueness without relying on an excess of decorative elements. The material can convey the value of the project even before the consumer reads the words printed on the package.
It is within this context that COM.PACK presents MATER by Piantami®, a project selected for the Avant-Garde 2026 area at Packaging Première and already awarded at Vinitaly.
MATER transforms the bottle label into an active part of the story.
It is made from Piantami® Paper, the bioactive material containing seeds integrated into its fibres. Once removed from the bottle, it can be placed in contact with soil, watered and supported through the germination process.
The project is also printed using natural pigments obtained from Aglianico wine, beetroot and cardamom.
The consumer does not simply receive a message about sustainability.
The consumer receives an action to perform.
The label communicates the character of the wine during its first use and can later begin a new function. It does not merely describe nature: it seeks to rebuild a tangible connection with it.
The value of the project lies precisely in this continuity.
The territory generates the product, the product generates the story and the packaging can leave behind a new form of life.
Choosing an innovative material does not automatically make the finished packaging compliant.
Every project must be assessed by considering its entire composition:
Compliance concerns the packaging as a whole, not one raw material considered in isolation.
For this reason, Piantami® does not offer a universal solution to be applied indiscriminately to every product. It offers a material to be studied together with brands, agencies, printers, packaging converters and label manufacturers.
Print, folding, die-cutting, adhesive application and converting tests are an essential part of the process.
Innovation becomes truly useful when it can be verified, industrialised and communicated accurately.
Companies can begin the transition through a number of practical steps.
Map existing packaging
Understanding materials, components, weights, coatings and functions makes it possible to identify what can be simplified.
Choose a pilot project
A label, neck tag, limited edition or box can become the first field of experimentation.
Involve the supply chain from the beginning
Brands, designers, printers, converters and material suppliers must share the same technical and narrative objectives.
Test before communicating
The performance of both the material and the finished packaging must be verified before environmental claims are made.
Give consumers clear instructions
A new function can only be understood and used when it is explained simply, accurately and credibly.
The PPWR will bring new responsibilities, investment requirements and the need for continuous updates. It can, however, also become an accelerator of innovation.
It can help companies reduce what is unnecessary and give greater value to what remains.
The role of new materials is not to make packaging more complicated, but to make it more consistent with the product, the territory and the future the brand wishes to represent.
For premium companies, this transition can mark the passage from abundance to legacy.
Not adding material in order to appear precious.
Choosing a material that has something to leave behind.
Piantami® supports companies, agencies, printers and converters in the development of bioactive paper projects: from selecting the appropriate grammage to print testing and final packaging production.
Request a consultation for your sustainable packaging project.
This article is provided for informational purposes and does not replace a technical or legal assessment of the compliance of a specific packaging solution.
