IN Brief:
- Specright’s new workflow assembles PPWR Declarations of Conformity and supporting technical documentation.
- Finished products are connected with component specifications, supplier records, and article-by-article readiness checks.
- Automated reporting can accelerate preparation, although manufacturers remain responsible for the evidence behind each declaration.
Specright has introduced an automated reporting function for the Declarations of Conformity required under the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
The software creates a structured record connecting finished products with their packaging components, supplier documentation, material specifications, and the technical evidence used to demonstrate compliance. Customer access begins on 23 July, ahead of the regulation’s general application from 12 August 2026.
Manufacturers placing packaged products on the European market must be able to produce signed declarations covering the applicable requirements. These include substance restrictions, packaging minimisation, recyclability, recycled content, reuse provisions, and labelling.
A new PPWR compliance tab within each finished-product record tracks readiness requirement by requirement, flags missing information, and combines the status of individual packaging components into a complete product view. A guided workflow then assembles the declaration and accompanying technical file.
Supplier Collaboration tools allow users to request and retain evidence from material producers, converters, closure suppliers, label manufacturers, printers, and other businesses responsible for individual parts of the pack. Records can be updated as specifications or supplier documents change.
Many food products rely on multiple packaging components, including trays, films, pots, closures, labels, sleeves, absorbent pads, cartons, cases, and transport materials. Each element can carry a separate material composition, recycled-content statement, compliance certificate, and revision history.
Spreadsheets and shared folders become difficult to control once a portfolio contains thousands of products and market-specific pack variants. A change to one tray or film may affect several stock keeping units, while the supporting evidence may sit with procurement, packaging engineering, quality, regulatory, or the supplier itself.
Specright’s system is designed to bring those records together and show whether a declaration can be supported before it is signed. Missing data can then be assigned to the relevant function or supplier rather than discovered after an authority or customer requests the file.
Conformity depends on controlled specifications
A comparable effort to connect product and packaging records is already under way through the integration of TraceGains ingredient data with Esko’s packaging and artwork systems, where formulation changes can be transferred more quickly into compliant pack development.
PPWR documentation requires the same continuity. Packaging engineers may own dimensional and material specifications, procurement teams hold supplier agreements, regulatory specialists interpret the legislation, and artwork teams manage labelling. A valid declaration depends on each system describing the same approved version.
Automation cannot establish whether weak evidence is technically defensible. A system may confirm that a recycled-content certificate has been uploaded without determining whether it covers the correct material grade, production site, supplier, time period, or component.
The authorised signatory therefore retains responsibility for the declaration and its supporting records. Internal review must examine the scope, date, traceability, test methods, and continued validity of supplier evidence rather than treating document presence as proof of compliance.
Version control becomes particularly difficult during packaging transitions. A lighter tray, alternative polymer, new pigment, amended adhesive, or revised label may enter production gradually while remaining stock is consumed, leaving more than one valid configuration in distribution.
Batch and production records must identify which packaging version was used, when the change occurred, and which declaration applied. Without that link, a current technical file may be incorrectly presented as evidence for products packed under an earlier specification.
Material changes can also alter factory performance. Reduced thickness, different stiffness, modified coatings, or higher recycled content may affect denesting, sealing, friction, print quality, heat response, line speed, leak rates, and shelf life. The conformity record must remain connected with production trials and quality validation.
Suppliers will receive similar documentation requests from multiple customers, often using different formats and definitions. Larger converters may provide detailed digital records, whereas smaller operations may rely on manually maintained certificates or need additional support to produce evidence at component level.
Retention requirements extend beyond the application date. Declarations and technical files must remain accessible for products already placed on the market, while later changes to legislation or standards must not overwrite the historic records that applied to earlier pack versions.
Further delegated legislation, harmonised standards, and recyclability methodologies will continue to develop. Software must accommodate those changes without severing the relationship between a declaration, the evidence supporting it, and the rules in force when the document was signed.
The reporting function gives manufacturers a more controlled route through the administrative workload, but the quality of the output will remain bounded by the quality of the input. Accurate specifications, disciplined change control, and complete supplier evidence will determine whether a generated declaration withstands regulatory examination.
