EU single-use plastics · Directive (EU) 2019/904
Is your product banned under the EU plastics rules?
The Single-Use Plastics Directive prohibits placing certain single-use plastic products on the EU market — plus everything made of oxo-degradable plastic. Pick your product and find out whether it is banned, exempt, or not on the ban list.
SUPD ban verdict
BANNED
This is a Part B single-use plastic product — placing it on the EU market is prohibited under Article 5.
What this verdict covers
This verdict is only about the Article 5 placing-on-the-market ban. Even when a product is not banned, it may still be subject to other SUPD measures — marking, consumption-reduction targets, tethered caps, recycled-content or extended-producer-responsibility obligations.
The rule, in one line
Under Directive (EU) 2019/904, Article 5, Member States prohibit placing on the market the single-use plastic products in Part B of the Annex — cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, beverage stirrers, balloon sticks, and food containers, beverage containers and cups made of expanded polystyrene — and any product made of oxo-degradable plastic. Cotton bud sticks and straws used with medical devices are exempt, as are balloon sticks for industrial/professional use not given to consumers. Other single-use plastics (drink cups, bottles, wet wipes) are not banned but face other measures (marking, consumption reduction, design).
Official sources: Directive (EU) 2019/904 · European Commission — Single-use plastics · EUR-Lex summary
All items verified against EUR-Lex and the European Commission (2026-06-14).
SUPD obligation classifier
Four tracks under Directive (EU) 2019/904 — which one is your product on?
Items per Directive (EU) 2019/904 (Annex) + the EUR-Lex summary, verified June 2026. The live checker below resolves the BANNED track; the other three are reminders that a 'not banned' product can still carry obligations.
What this tool is — and isn't
This checker tells you whether the product type you pick is banned under the Single-Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904 (EUR-Lex + the European Commission). It is an estimate and orientation, not legal advice, and it does not cover the directive's other measures (marking, consumption reduction, EPR, tethered caps) or borderline classification. Verify against the linked official sources.
How the determination works
1. Pick the product
The Article 5 ban targets a closed Part B list plus all oxo-degradable plastic products. You pick the closest match.
2. Material + single-use
The conventional Part B items are banned when single-use plastic. The expanded-polystyrene items are banned because of the material, and oxo-degradable products are banned outright.
3. Exemptions + other measures
Cotton bud sticks and straws used with medical devices are exempt. A 'not banned' result still leaves other SUPD measures (marking, consumption reduction, design) potentially in play.
The full ban list — Part B, item by item
Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2019/904 works off a closed list — Part B of the Annex — plus one blanket material ban. If your product is on the list and is single-use plastic, it cannot be placed on any EU market since 3 July 2021: no volume threshold, no small-seller exemption, no transition period for new imports. This is the exact list the checker above resolves.
| Banned product | What the ban covers |
|---|---|
| Cotton bud sticks | Banned as single-use plastic, except swabs that fall within the EU medical-devices rules (e.g. specimen-collection swabs). |
| Cutlery | Forks, knives, spoons and chopsticks. |
| Plates | Including paper plates with a plastic coating or lining — the Commission's 2021 guidelines confirm partly-plastic plates are caught. |
| Straws | Except straws that qualify as medical devices for patients who cannot otherwise drink. |
| Beverage stirrers | All single-use plastic drink stirrers. |
| Balloon sticks | Sticks and their mechanisms to be attached to balloons, except balloons for industrial or professional uses not distributed to consumers. |
| EPS food containers | Expanded-polystyrene boxes, with or without lids, for food eaten straight from the receptacle — on the spot or as take-away — without further preparation. |
| EPS beverage containers | Expanded polystyrene, including their caps and lids. |
| EPS beverage cups | Expanded polystyrene, including their covers and lids. |
| Anything oxo-degradable | A material ban, not a product ban: bags, film, packaging — prohibited whatever the product type, single-use or not. |
Official sources: Directive (EU) 2019/904, Art. 5 + Annex Part B (EUR-Lex) · Commission SUP guidelines (2021)
Marking rules: cups, wet wipes, pads and tobacco filters
Four product groups escaped the ban but must carry the harmonised “turtle” marking — the red-and-blue pictogram over the upper-case PLASTIC IN PRODUCT text — under Part D of the Annex and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2151: beverage cups, wet wipes, sanitary towels and tampons, and tobacco products with filters. The rules are precise enough that a surveillance officer can check them with a ruler.
Beverage cups — marked on the cup itself
The marking goes on the external surface of the cup, horizontal when the cup stands upright, away from the rim so it never touches the drinker's mouth, and never under the base. Cups under 500 ml need a marking of at least 1.4 × 2.8 cm; cups of 500 ml or more, at least 1.6 × 3.2 cm. A cup made wholly of plastic may be printed or engraved/embossed; a cup made partly of plastic — the standard paper cup with a PE lining — must carry the printed pictogram.
Wet wipes, pads, tampons, tobacco — marked on the packaging
For these the marking sits on the front or top external surface of the pack, sized at no less than 6% of that surface up to a maximum required size of 3 × 6 cm; packs whose face is under 65 cm² use the 1.4 × 2.8 cm minimum. Tobacco products carry it on both unit packets and outside packaging.
Design, language and the end of stickers
The pictogram's colours and proportions are fixed (height-to-length ratio 1:2), the text is upper-case Helvetica Bold printed at 300 dpi or better, and it must appear in the official language(s) of every member state where the product is placed on the market — a cup sold into both Spain and France needs Spanish and French versions. Stickers were only tolerated for products placed on the market before 4 July 2022; new stock must be printed.
Official sources: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2151 (EUR-Lex) · European Commission — marking specifications
Where EU countries go further than the directive
The SUPD is a directive, so every member state transposed it — and several bolted on national measures that hit sellers harder than the EU text itself. The Part B ban list is identical EU-wide; the extras below are not. Country measures verified 4 July 2026.
| Country | Extra measure | What it means for a seller |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | Plastic packaging tax — Ley 7/2022, since 1 Jan 2023 | €0.45 per kg of non-recycled plastic in non-reusable packaging — manufactured, imported or acquired intra-EU, empty or filled. Imports up to 5 kg a month are exempt; certified recycled content stays out of the taxable base. |
| Germany | Single-use plastics fund — EWKFondsG, levy since 2024 | Producers (foreign sellers included) of cups, food boxes, wrappers, bags, wet wipes, balloons and tobacco filters register on the DIVID platform and report kilograms sold by 15 May each year. Rates run from €0.177/kg (take-away food boxes) to €3.80/kg (carrier bags), with a first rate review due end of 2026. |
| France | AGEC anti-waste law | Dine-in catering with 20+ seats must use reusable tableware since 2023; plastic packaging for fresh fruit and vegetables is being phased out, with the last exemptions ending 30 June 2026. |
| Netherlands | Charge + on-site ban on SUP cups and food packaging | Take-away customers pay per single-use plastic cup or container since 1 July 2023 (indicative €0.25 per cup, €0.50 per meal); offering them for on-site consumption is banned since 1 January 2024. Plastic-lined paper counts as plastic. |
| Italy | MACSI plastic tax — postponed | The €450-per-tonne tax on single-use plastic manufactured items was postponed for the eighth time — to 1 January 2027 — in the 2026 budget law. |
Marketplaces enforce parts of this stack themselves. Amazon has required sellers of in-scope single-use plastic products on Amazon.de to submit their German single-use-plastics EPR registration number since 1 January 2025, on top of its general restricted-products policy — a listing can disappear for a missing registration long before any authority writes to you.
Official sources: Ley 7/2022 (BOE) · trade.gov on the Spanish plastic tax · DIVID — Einwegkunststofffonds · KMLZ on the German levy rates · KVK — Dutch cup/container rules · CMS — plastics laws in France · Marosa on the Italian plastic tax · Amazon Seller Central — DE single-use-plastics EPR · Amazon restricted-products policy
Seller checklist before you list
Before listing a disposable food-service or hygiene product into the EU, run this once per SKU:
- Match the product against Part B. On the list and single-use plastic? Do not list it in any EU country — there is no de-minimis, and marketplaces remove detected listings.
- Check the material, not the marketing copy. EPS versions of cups and food boxes are banned by material; “oxo-biodegradable” anything is banned outright; paper with a plastic lining counts as (partly) plastic.
- Don't lean on “compostable”. Bio-based and biodegradable plastics are plastics under the directive — same ban, same marking.
- Marking for Part D items. Cups and wipes need the printed turtle pictogram, correctly sized, in the language(s) of every destination market. Stickers stopped being acceptable for new stock after 4 July 2022.
- Register EPR before selling into Germany. In-scope products need the DIVID single-use-plastics fund registration; Amazon.de blocks the listing without the number since 1 January 2025.
- Importing more than 5 kg of plastic a month into Spain?. Budget the €0.45/kg tax on non-recycled plastic — it applies to the packaging of filled goods too, and recycled content only reduces the base with a certificate.
- Selling packaging to Dutch or French businesses. Your trade buyers face the Dutch charge and on-site ban and the French reusable-tableware duty — expect demand to shift toward reusable or non-plastic lines.
- Keep the supplier's material spec on file. Composition — plastic or not, EPS or not, recycled percentage — is exactly what surveillance authorities and the national tax bases key on.
Frequently asked questions
- Which products are banned?
- Cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, beverage stirrers, balloon sticks, EPS food/beverage containers and cups, and all oxo-degradable plastic products (Part B of the Annex + Article 5).
- Are reusable versions banned?
- No. The ban targets single-use plastic versions. A reusable or non-plastic plate, cup or cutlery item is not caught by the Part B ban — though other rules may apply.
- Are EPS cups really banned?
- Yes. Cups, beverage containers and food containers made of expanded polystyrene are on the Part B ban list, banned from being placed on the EU market.
- Is there a medical exemption?
- Yes. Cotton bud sticks and straws used with active implantable or other medical devices are exempt from the ban.
- My product isn't banned — am I done?
- Not necessarily. 'Not banned' only means the Article 5 ban does not apply. Other SUPD measures — marking, consumption-reduction targets, tethered caps, recycled content, EPR — may still apply.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. This tool tells you whether your product type is banned. It is orientation, not legal advice, and does not cover the directive's other measures or borderline classification. Verify against the linked official sources.
- Is a paper cup with a plastic lining a “plastic” cup?
- Yes. The directive covers products made partly of plastic, so the standard PE-lined paper cup needs the printed cup marking — and under the Dutch rules it also counts as a single-use plastic cup for the take-away charge and the on-site ban.
- Are compostable or bio-based plastics exempt?
- No. The directive's definition of plastic includes bio-based and biodegradable polymers, so a compostable PLA cutlery set is as banned as a polypropylene one. Only natural polymers that have not been chemically modified fall outside it.
- Can I sell off stock bought before the ban?
- The ban attaches to “placing on the market” — the first making available of a product in the EU. Units already placed before 3 July 2021 could be sold through, but importing new stock is prohibited, and marketplaces generally remove banned-item listings regardless of when the stock entered.
- Are the rules the same in every EU country?
- The Part B ban list is. But the surrounding obligations differ per country — Spain adds a €0.45/kg plastic-packaging tax, Germany a per-kilogram fund levy, the Netherlands a consumer charge plus an on-site ban, France reusable-tableware duties. Check the country table above before treating the EU as one market.
- Is the directive about to change?
- The Commission opened a public evaluation of the SUPD in December 2025, but the bans and markings stay in force unchanged. Separately, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40 starts applying on 12 August 2026 and layers packaging-wide rules — reuse targets, recyclability grades — on top of the single-use regime.