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Posts circulating online claim that the EU will ban the sale of traditional shrink-wrapped multipacks of bottled water from this summer.
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Among those sharing the claim is far-right MEP Virginie Joron, from the French National Rally and Patriots for Europe group, who argues that new EU rules will force consumers to carry bottles individually.
The posts refer to the EU’s new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
However, this is misleading. The legislation forms part of a broader EU effort to reduce packaging waste and improve recyclability across the bloc. While some provisions of the regulation take effect on 12 August 2026, they do not introduce a ban on bottled water multipack rings or wrappings.
A few days after her post, Joron published a press release on X in response to a fact-check by French broadcaster TF1. In it, she denounced what she described as “total regulatory uncertainty” for the mineral-water industry.
She also said that her original post had explicitly used the phrase “in the long term” to refer to the regulation’s overall objectives, rather than a blanket ban being brought in on 12 August.
Reducing packaging and waste
The first measures entering into force on 12 August primarily introduce new limits on the use of PFAS — a group of persistent chemicals often referred to as “forever chemicals” — in food-contact packaging materials. These substances have attracted increasing scrutiny because they are highly resistant to degradation and can accumulate in the environment.
The wider regulation is intended to reduce unnecessary packaging and help the EU meet its objective of ensuring that all packaging placed on the European market is recyclable or reusable by 2030.
It also seeks to curb the growth in packaging waste generated across the bloc. According to Eurostat, the EU generated 79.7 million tonnes of packaging waste in 2023. On average, this amounted to 35.3kg of plastic packaging waste per person.
Are bottled water multipacks covered?
Some of the confusion stems from provisions targeting grouped plastic packaging. The regulation does place restrictions on certain forms of plastic shrink wrap used to bundle products together, including some multipacks.
However, the rules apply only to plastic grouped packaging. Packaging made from other materials will still be permitted.
Crucially, the regulation also includes exemptions where grouped packaging is necessary for handling or transporting goods.
For bottled water, multipacks are expected to qualify for that exemption because they are used to transport relatively heavy loads safely, although the European Commission has yet to publish detailed guidance confirming how the rules will apply in practice.
By contrast, the restrictions are primarily aimed at unnecessary single-use plastic grouped packaging intended to encourage consumers to buy multiple items together, such as plastic wrapping around multipacks of drinks cans and other retail products.
The European Commission is expected to publish implementation guidance by February 2027, clarifying which grouped packaging formats are covered by the restrictions and which exemptions apply.
