Cosmetic Labeling Regulations in the UK and EU: Materials, Compatibility, Packaging and Waste

Makers think about packaging as design and cost. The law thinks about it three ways. First, as part of the cosmetic product: Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 requires the safety assessment to consider the packaging material and requires the container and outer packaging to carry specific information, and the UK regulation enforced through the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013 does the same. Second, as a chemical article, subject to REACH restrictions on the substances it contains. Third, as waste, subject in the UK to Extended Producer Responsibility under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 and in the EU to the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.

This guide walks through all three: what the safety assessor needs to know about your packaging and why compatibility matters, what must appear on the container and the box and how that shapes design, the substances rules that affect materials, and the waste and producer responsibility obligations that now reach even small brands.

Packaging in the safety assessment

Section A4 of Part A of the CPSR requires information about the packaging material, specifically its relevant characteristics, including purity and stability, and the assessor must consider possible interactions between the product and the pack. Section A2 requires stability under reasonably foreseeable storage conditions, which depends on the pack. Section A3, microbiological quality, considers how the consumer accesses the product, which is a packaging question: a wide mouthed jar admits fingers and water in a way an airless pump does not. The consequence is that the CPSR is valid only for the product in the packaging assessed. Change from a tube to a jar, from glass to a plastic, or from a pump to a dropper, and the assessor must review it. Our guide to Part A explains where packaging appears.

Compatibility: what it is and how it is tested

Compatibility has two directions. The product must not damage the pack: oils can soften some plastics, essential oils and solvents can craze others, acidic products can corrode metal, and fragrance can degrade certain elastomers in pumps. The pack must not contaminate the product: plasticisers, monomers, colourants and other substances can migrate from packaging into the formula, and the product can absorb them or react with them. Compatibility testing places the product in the intended pack, and in a reference glass container, under accelerated and real time conditions, and compares appearance, odour, colour, pH, viscosity, weight loss, pack integrity and, where relevant, migration. It is often combined with stability testing because the questions overlap. Phoenix offers compatibility testing as a service, and packaging suppliers' own compatibility data for their materials with product types is valuable input.

Materials and the substances they contain

Packaging materials are articles under REACH, and the substances in them are subject to its restrictions, including limits on certain phthalates, heavy metals and other substances of very high concern, and to the requirement that suppliers disclose the presence of candidate list substances above a threshold. Recycled plastics raise particular questions because their history is uncertain, which is why food contact grade recycled material is preferred for products that contact the mouth. Cosmetics law does not prescribe packaging materials, but the safety assessor must be satisfied that migration does not introduce prohibited substances or unsafe levels into the product, and supplier declarations of composition and migration data are the evidence. Ask your packaging supplier for a declaration of compliance covering REACH, heavy metals and, for lip products, food contact suitability.

What must appear on the container and the outer packaging

Article 19 of the Cosmetics Regulation requires the container and the packaging to carry, in indelible, easily legible and visible lettering: the name and address of the Responsible Person and the country of origin for imports; the nominal content at the time of packaging by weight or volume; the date of minimum durability or, where durability exceeds thirty months, the period after opening symbol with the period; particular precautions for use, including those in the annexes and those the safety assessor requires; the batch number or reference; the function of the product unless clear from its presentation; and the list of ingredients, which may appear on the packaging only. Where size makes it impracticable, some information may appear on a leaflet, label, tape or card enclosed or attached, indicated by the hand and book symbol. Language requirements are set by each country. These requirements shape pack design: a small lip balm tube needs a label solution, a boxed product needs the ingredient list on the box, and a Responsible Person address must fit somewhere permanent.

A label and packaging review checks artwork against all of these, and against the Part B warnings, before print.

Nominal quantity and the e mark

The nominal quantity must be stated in metric units and, for prepacked products in the UK and EU, weights and measures rules govern how it is declared and controlled. In the UK the Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations 2006 set the average system and the tolerances; the estimated sign, the e mark, may be used where the packer meets those requirements and is a declaration of conformity with them, not a decoration. Products below a minimum quantity are exempt from the nominal quantity requirement altogether, and free samples are exempt.

Tamper evidence, child resistance and dispensing

The Cosmetics Regulation does not generally require tamper evidence or child resistant closures for cosmetics, although the safety assessor may require particular packaging where the product's safety depends on it, for example airless packaging to support a preservation strategy, or a child resistant closure for a product that would be dangerous if swallowed. Home fragrance products such as reed diffusers classified under CLP for aspiration hazard do require child resistant closures and tactile warnings, which is a reminder that non cosmetic products in a range follow different packaging rules.

Packaging waste: UK Extended Producer Responsibility

The UK's packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme places the cost of collecting and managing household packaging waste on the producers who place packaging on the market, with reporting and fee obligations scaled to the tonnage and the recyclability of each material. Small producers below the turnover and tonnage thresholds have reduced obligations, typically registration and data reporting without fees, while large producers pay modulated fees. Brand owners are generally the obligated producer for packaging bearing their brand. The scheme also introduces recyclability assessment and labelling expectations that reward mono material, widely recycled packs and penalise complex or hard to recycle formats. Small cosmetic brands should check whether they meet the thresholds, register where required, and keep packaging weight data by material from the start.

Packaging waste: the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation

The EU has replaced its packaging directive with a directly applicable regulation that phases in requirements over several years: all packaging to be recyclable by design, minimisation of empty space and unnecessary layers, restrictions on certain substances, harmonised labelling for sorting, minimum recycled content for plastic packaging, and reuse targets for some sectors. Extended producer responsibility remains national, so a brand selling into several EU countries registers with each country's scheme, often through an authorised representative. Cosmetic packaging is not exempt, and the minimisation and recyclability rules will affect secondary packaging, inserts and multi material components in particular. Brands designing packs now should design for the regulation's end state rather than its transition.

Refill, reuse and bulk formats

Refillable and bulk packaging is increasingly popular and raises its own compliance questions. A refill pouch or a refill station changes the container the consumer uses, so the safety assessment must consider the refill pack, the consumer's own container and the hygiene of the transfer; preservation strategies that relied on airless packaging may not survive decanting into an open jar. Label information must still reach the consumer, which for a refill station means a label on the container filled or an accompanying card. Packaging waste rules reward reuse systems but set their own requirements for them under the EU regulation. Refill is a good idea that needs to be assessed as a product configuration in its own right, not assumed to inherit the original pack's compliance.

Secondary and transit packaging

Outer cartons, gift boxes, inserts and shipping materials matter in two places. For the Cosmetics Regulation, the outer packaging that reaches the consumer must carry the mandatory information and is where the ingredient list usually goes. For packaging waste law, every layer counts towards your reported tonnage and, under the EU regulation, towards the minimisation requirements that discourage empty space and unnecessary layers. Gift sets with elaborate secondary packaging are the most exposed: a box, a tray, a sleeve and tissue are four materials to report and four opportunities for the minimisation rules to bite. Design gift packaging with both the label requirements and the waste rules in view from the start.

A packaging compliance checklist

• Safety. Packaging described to the assessor; compatibility and stability tested in the pack; CPSR covers the pack as sold.
• Materials. Supplier declarations for REACH, heavy metals, and food contact where relevant.
• Label content. All Article 19 elements on container and packaging, Part B warnings included, correct language.
• Quantity. Metric nominal quantity; e mark only if you meet the packaged goods rules.
• Special closures. Airless or child resistant where the assessor or CLP requires.
• UK EPR. Threshold check, registration, data by material, fees if large.
• EU PPWR and national EPR. Registration in each market, recyclability by design, labelling as it phases in.
• Change control. Any pack change goes back to the assessor and updates the PIF.      
• If your range is changing packs or entering a new market, a consultation maps the packaging obligations alongside the CPSR and label work so nothing is done twice.
  

Official sources and legislation

•  Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products, Article 19 and Annex I
• Cosmetic Products Enforcement Regulations 2013
• Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024
• Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste
• REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006
• Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations 2006

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. Regulations change and product decisions depend on your exact formulation, claims and market. Have your product assessed by a qualified professional before sale.