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Potential Ban of Industrial Aseptic Bags in EU from 2030 onwards

27/02/2026

Press release
Aseptic Bag Manufacturers Association (ABMA)
European Union
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Industrial aseptic bags offer a high barrier that protects product quality and enables shelf life of up to 24 months, supporting seasonal harvest management. They are widely used for processed tomato and fruit products in global import/export supply chains.

From 1 January 2030, the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will require all packaging placed on the EU market, including industrial/B2B packaging, to meet recyclability criteria. Industrial aseptic bags are currently at high risk of being classified as “not recyclable” under the Design for Recycling (DfR) criteria proposed by CEN, because common bag structures include components (e.g., PET or aluminium layers) that are considered as non-compatible. If this is not resolved, these bags would lose EU market access from 2030, creating a major disruption risk for the tomato and fruit value chain (processors, traders, food manufacturers, importers/exporters, brand owners).

Switching to a new bag structure is not a realistic fix: alternative structures are still under development and today cannot deliver sufficient shelf life. Even if new designs become technically acceptable, scaling up for the 2029 filling season (for products placed on the market from 2030) is not realistic.

There is also a sourcing risk as tomato and fruit raw materials are traded globally in standardised formats (typically 220L or 1000L standard aseptic bags). Requiring a dedicated “EU-only” bag structure would add complexity for non-EU suppliers, increase operational complexity, and discourage supply to EU customers, while also reducing flexibility to secure additional volumes when needed.

ABMA (Aseptic Bag Manufacturers Association) a market group of Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE), representing around 90% of the global aseptic bag market is launching a dedicated “Recycling Initiative for Industrial Aseptic Bags” is an industry effort to ensure these bags are recognised as recyclable in the PPWR and can remain on the EU market after 2030. The initiative aims to establish a dedicated Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) to handle the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for industrial aseptic bags in EU. It is expected by 2028 that the initiative will qualify the best recycling technologies, create the EPR scheme and national PROs, develop a DfR guidance for industrial aseptic bags and explore the potential of food grade recyclates. 

ABMA will host a webinar on 6th March at 10:00 CET to explain more about the initiative. Please reach out to recycling@aseptic-packaging.org if you would like to join the webinar or get more information about the initiative, registrations and others. 

For a more detailed information, please see the call-to-action document.Â