QR Codes & PPWR: A Practical Solution for Small Packaging Compliance

The PPWR has been in force across the EU since August 12, 2026. One requirement is causing real problems for small packaging. Every pack now needs a batch or serial number, plus the manufacturer's name and postal address (Regulation (EU) 2025/40, Article 15).

That is a lot of information for a small pack. And horticulture is not the only sector running into this. It is just the first to publicly agree on an answer, and that answer is a QR code built on GS1 Digital Link.

Horticulture is the clearest example so far

PPWR puts the labeling duty on whoever finally fills or packs a product. In horticulture, that is usually the producer or the packing operation itself. If a business packs on behalf of an organization such as Landgard, the responsibility shifts to that organization instead.

With that duty landing on thousands of individual growers, and a lot of uncertainty about how to actually meet it, four organizations worked out a joint recommendation: the Zentralverband Gartenbau (ZVG), the Landesverband Gartenbau NRW, the flower wholesale association BGI, and Landgard (Landgard, 2026).

The recommendation, in short:

• Flowers and plants: combine the pot's serial number with a QR code placed on one component of the sales packaging, the pot, the bag, or the label. The code should lead to the required producer information, either directly or via a link.
• Fruit and vegetables: the same information can be handled through the label alone, no QR code needed.
• Transport packaging, such as trays and cartons, is not covered by this recommendation. That marking duty stays with the manufacturer of the transport packaging, not the grower.

The associations describe this as "die pragmatischste Lösung," the most pragmatic solution for producer businesses (Packaging Journal, 2026). Landgard's own communication to its producer network adds a few details worth keeping in mind:

• The transition period runs until February 12, 2027, based on section 68, paragraph 17 of the Verpackungsrecht-Durchführungsgesetz. During this window, no fines will be issued for PPWR non-conformity. This does not remove the underlying duty to actually meet the requirements from August 12, 2026 onward, it only pauses enforcement.
• Pots already in stock before August 12, 2026 do not need to be relabeled and can, in theory, be covered by an accompanying delivery note instead. In practice, individual retail customers may still ask for marking directly on the sales packaging.
• Not every open legal question around PPWR has been settled yet. Landgard and the associations say they will keep pushing jointly for clarifications and more workable adjustments to the regulation, independent of this interim recommendation (Landgard, 2026).

The story was picked up widely in the German trade press in the days that followed, including Lebensmittelzeitung (2026), Packreport (2026), and Börse Express (2026).

Some nurseries are already putting the recommendation into practice. Gartenbau Janssen-Velling, a grower based in Geldern, states directly on its website that "jede Verpackung mit einem QR-Code versehen" is used for transparent, traceable documentation of packaging conformity, with the code linking back to a page carrying the legally required details (Gartenbau Janssen-Velling, 2026). It is a concrete look at what the associations' recommendation looks like once it is actually on a product.

Why this points beyond flowers

Small, fast-moving, low-margin packaging is not a horticulture problem alone. Cosmetics brands face a similar squeeze. PPWR requires a harmonized label for material composition by 2028, on top of new fragrance allergen disclosures that took effect July 31, 2026, all competing for the same limited surface. The regulation allows digital information carriers for small packaging where physical labeling is not feasible, but it does not let a QR code fully replace the physical label. Food, small accessories, and other high-volume, low-margin categories sit in a similar position.

The European Commission's own guidance points the same way. Shortly before the PPWR deadline, it published a guidance document, C(2026)3702, together with an updated FAQ. Both confirmed that not every packaging component needs its own marking, and that accompanying documents can stand in for now where physical marking is not possible (European Commission, 2026a).

The ZVG welcomed that clarification in a statement from July 16, 2026 (Zentralverband Gartenbau, 2026a). At the same time, it called the accompanying-documents rule a temporary fix, not a lasting one. A delivery note does not travel with a single product once it is sitting on a shelf. A QR code does. In an article from August 12, 2026, ZVG general secretary Bertram Fleischer described a wave of new obligations landing on small companies, with a heavy administrative burden attached, and pointed out that key questions were only answered in FAQs published just days before the deadline (Zentralverband Gartenbau, 2026b).

GS1 Digital Link is what makes one code do the job of both a barcode and a label

The technical backbone here is GS1 Digital Link, a standard from GS1, the organization behind the barcode. It lets one QR code serve two functions at once. A retailer scans it like a normal product code at checkout. A consumer scans the same code with a phone camera and lands on a page with more information.

Because the code only points to a webpage, the content behind it can be updated at any time. A producer's address, a batch note, or a future requirement can all change without reprinting a single label. That is the core advantage over fitting everything onto the packaging itself. The print stays simple and stable. Everything that can legally change lives behind the code instead.

This is also why GS1 Digital Link is turning up in EU regulation well beyond PPWR. Retailers are already migrating their barcodes to GS1 Digital Link ahead of the industry-wide "Sunrise 2027" transition, which will make QR codes the standard at point of sale across Europe.

Other use cases already lining up

PPWR is not the only rule pushing products toward a QR code that opens onto structured, updatable data. A few examples already on a fixed timeline:

• Batteries. Electric vehicle, e-bike, e-scooter, home storage, and industrial batteries will need a Digital Product Passport linked through a QR code, covering identification, technical characteristics, manufacturer details, performance and durability data, and repair, reuse, and recycling information. The passport registry became operational on July 20, 2026, and the passport itself becomes mandatory on February 18, 2027 (European Commission, 2026b).
• Textiles and electronics. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) extends the Digital Product Passport concept, and the GS1 Digital Link format, to a growing list of product categories on a rolling timeline through the rest of the decade.
• Cosmetics and food. Likely to follow a path close to horticulture's, once the Commission finalizes the harmonized labeling formats due by 2028: a printed minimum on the pack, with a QR code carrying everything else.

The pattern across all of these is the same one the horticulture associations landed on first: keep a minimum on the physical pack, and put everything that can change behind a scannable, standards-based code.

What this means in practice

Horticulture is a useful test case, precisely because its packaging is about as small and fast-moving as it gets. If associations there see a QR code as the practical way to meet PPWR, and regulators in other sectors are writing the same logic directly into law, that is a strong signal for where compliance is heading across the board.

This is exactly the use case info.link/labels is built for. It turns any package into a compliant digital touchpoint with a GS1 Digital Link QR code, so PPWR details, battery and product passport data, and anything else that needs to sit behind a scan, can be managed and updated without touching the print run.

Sources

Börse Express. (2026, August 20). EU-Verpackungsverordnung: Gartenbau setzt auf QR-Codes ab August. https://www.boerse-express.com/news/articles/eu-verpackungsverordnung-gartenbau-setzt-auf-qr-codes-ab-august-940256

European Commission. (2026a). Guidance document C(2026)3702 for Regulation (EU) 2025/40. EUR-Lex. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=intcom%3AC%282026%293702

European Commission. (2026b). Digital product passport: Batteries. https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/digital-product-passport/batteries_en

European Commission. (2026c, August 11). New EU rules on packaging enter into application. https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/new-eu-rules-packaging-enter-application-2026-08-11_en

European Commission. (2026d). FAQ on the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/faq-packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation-ppwr_en

Gartenbau Janssen-Velling. (2026). PPWR-Verordnung. https://gartenbau-janssen-velling.com/ueber-uns/ppwr-verordnung.html

Landgard. (2026, July 31). PPWR: QR-Code zur Umsetzung der Kennzeichnungspflicht. https://www.landgard.de/de/neuigkeiten~PPWR---QR-Code-zur-Umsetzung-der-Kennzeichnungspflicht~

Lebensmittelzeitung. (2026, August 14). Verpackungsverordnung: Gartenbau greift wegen PPWR-Regeln zu QR-Codes. https://www.lebensmittelzeitung.net/industrie/nachrichten/verpackungsverordnung-gartenbau-greift-wegen-ppwr-regeln-zu-qr-codes-192598

Packaging Journal. (2026). Gartenbauverbände empfehlen QR-Code für PPWR-Kennzeichnung. https://packaging-journal.de/gartenbauverbaende-empfehlen-qr-code-fuer-ppwr-kennzeichnung/

Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation [PPWR]. (2026, August). LinkedIn post on the horticulture QR code recommendation. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/packaging-and-packaging-waste-regulation-share-7490370914778324993-XDF_/

Packreport. (2026, August 17). PPWR: Gartenbau greift zu QR-Codes. https://www.packreport.de/handel/ppwr-gartenbau-greift-zu-qr-codes-214435

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste. (2025). EUR-Lex. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/40/oj/eng

Zentralverband Gartenbau. (2026a, July 16). PPWR: Kennzeichnung vorerst über Begleitdokumente möglich. https://www.derdeutschegartenbau.de/2026/07/16/ppwr-kennzeichnung-vorerst-ueber-begleitdokumente-moeglich/

Zentralverband Gartenbau. (2026b, August 12). Neues EU-Verpackungsrecht tritt in Kraft, Kritikpunkte bleiben. https://www.derdeutschegartenbau.de/2026/08/12/neues-eu-verpackungsrecht-tritt-in-kraft-kritikpunkte-bleiben/