Directive (EU) 2019/904 entered into force on 2 July 2019 (Article 18) and Article 17 required member states to apply the Article 5 bans from 3 July 2021. It bans single-use plastic cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, cotton-bud sticks, balloon sticks, expanded polystyrene food and drink containers and all oxo-degradable plastics (plastics with additives that make them break into tiny fragments as they oxidise). Caps must stay tethered to bottles from 3 July 2024. PET bottles must contain at least 25 percent recycled content from 2025 and all beverage bottles 30 percent from 2030.
Member states must separately collect 77 percent of plastic bottles by 2025 and 90 percent by 2029, and must make producers pay for managing the waste from tobacco filters, wet wipes, balloons and fishing gear (extended producer responsibility). Plastic-containing wet wipes, sanitary items and cups must carry a marking about plastic content and disposal.
Status as at September 2026: in force and written into national law in all member states; the Commission published its first implementation report on 16 April 2026 and the Article 15 evaluation is due by 3 July 2027; the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) now layers additional packaging rules on top. Dates verified against Directive (EU) 2019/904 Articles 5, 17 and 18 (EUR-Lex) on 23 September 2026.