Excel vs. Platform: Why Spreadsheets Fail You Under the PPWR

The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will apply directly and fully from 12 August 2026. It tightens documentation duties, raises the bar for recyclability and labelling, and introduces fines of up to €200,000 per infringement.

For packaging, this is no longer “business as usual”. You will need complete, audit-ready data across thousands of packaging items, including:

• Detailed packaging specifications and material structures
• Evidence of recyclability and recycled content
• Declarations of conformity and technical documentation
• Supplier certificates, test reports and audit documents
• Labelling proofs (incl. QR code / digital product passport in the future)

Many companies still manage all of this in Excel. For day-to-day lists, that works. For PPWR compliance at scale, it does not. This article compares Excel vs. a specialized digital packaging platform – and explains why spreadsheets inevitably lead to document chaos, compliance gaps and rising risk.

What PPWR really means for your data and documentation

Under the PPWR, packaging data moves from “nice to have” to “licence to operate”:

• Directly applicable EU law: Unlike previous directives, the PPWR applies without national transposition. Requirements are uniform – and enforced – across the EU.
• Short transition period: Companies have only around 18 months to adapt design, supply chains and documentation.
• Proof, not promises: Authorities and customers will expect verifiable documentation for recyclability, material composition, EPR fees and claims such as “recyclable” or “climate-neutral”.

For organisations with >1,000 packaging items, multiple plants and international suppliers, this creates three core challenges:

• Volume – tens of thousands of data points and documents
• Complexity – changing legal rules, markets and materials
• Traceability – being able to demonstrate, at any time, where data comes from and whether it is up to date

This is exactly where Excel reaches its limits.

How most companies still manage PPWR in Excel today

Typical PPWR “setups” we see in FMCG, food & beverage, cosmetics and e-commerce:

• Multiple Excel files by brand, plant or country
• Local versions on network drives or personal folders
• Email as the main “workflow engine” for supplier queries and approvals
• Certificates and test reports as scattered PDFs without expiry tracking
• Manual copy & paste between ERP exports, lab reports and master spreadsheets

This might work for a few dozen SKUs. But once you reach 500, 1,000 or 5,000+ packaging items, the model breaks down.

Seven concrete reasons why Excel fails you under PPWR

1. Document chaos instead of a single source of truth

In our webinars with packaging and sustainability leaders, the same risks appear again and again: missing evidence, document chaos and compliance gaps.

With Excel:

• There are multiple versions of the “master file” in different teams
• Certificates are stored separately without a clear link to the item
• Nobody sees at a glance which documents are missing or expired

Result: When an auditor or key customer asks for proof, finding the right, current documents becomes a project in itself.

A specialized platform like Packa centralises all packaging specifications, documents and supplier data in one audit-ready system – including versioning, expiry dates and responsibilities.

2. Hidden data gaps and error risk

Manual Excel maintenance inevitably leads to:

• Inconsistent material names and layer structures
• Missing data for recyclability assessments
• Typing errors in weights, dimensions or material codes

Real-world digitization projects show that 30–70% of required packaging data is typically missing or incomplete when first consolidated.

A digital packaging platform automatically:

• Identifies data gaps
• Enforces mandatory fields
• Uses AI-supported extraction to populate specifications from PDFs and technical sheets

3. No embedded PPWR logic or automated checks

Excel is a blank grid. To use it for compliance, you must:

• Interpret legal texts and guidance on your own
• Translate them into formulas, conditional formatting and macros
• Continuously update rules when PPWR details and national interpretations evolve

This is error-prone and not scalable.

A specialized packaging compliance engine instead:

• Stores regulatory logic centrally (PPWR, EUDR, ESG, digital product passport)
• Automatically checks your packaging portfolio against current rules
• Flags non-compliant items and required redesigns in real time

You don’t build and maintain the legal logic yourself; you consume it as a service.

4. No real audit trail

PPWR will not only ask what your data is, but also how you manage it. With Excel, you usually cannot:

• See who changed which value and when
• Reconstruct earlier states of a specification
• Prove that only authorised users edited compliance-critical fields

Modern packaging software offers comprehensive versioning and audit trails, so you can demonstrate data governance and responsibility at any time.

5. Inefficient supplier collaboration

PPWR compliance is impossible without your converters, printers and material suppliers. In Excel-based setups, collaboration looks like this:

• Long email threads and attachments
• Manual reminders when certificates expire
• Repeatedly requesting the same data points

A platform like Packa automates supplier communication:

• Structured data requests instead of unstructured emails
• Clear deadlines and automated reminders
• Direct upload of certificates into the right item record

You move from reactive chasing to proactive, standardized workflows.

6. No scalability for thousands of items

Excel was never designed as a multi-user, multi-country compliance backbone. Problems grow exponentially with:

• 10+ stakeholders across procurement, packaging, quality and ESG
• Thousands of SKUs and packaging hierarchies
• Multiple legal regimes and customer-specific requirements

Digital packaging management platforms are built for exactly this use case: they handle complex hierarchies, user roles, and large data volumes without falling back into manual firefighting.

7. Cost and opportunity losses

Beyond risk, Excel has a very real cost:

• High manual effort for data maintenance, report creation and audits
• Slow tenders because specifications are incomplete or inconsistent
• Missed savings from poor transparency on materials, prices and suppliers

Customers using Packa report 15–40% savings potential in packaging procurement and up to 70% faster tenders, because all specifications and documents are centrally available and comparable.

In other words: sticking to spreadsheets is not only risky – it is expensive.

What a specialized packaging compliance platform does differently

A digital packaging management platform like Packa is designed from the ground up for PPWR, EUDR and ESG requirements. Core capabilities include:

• Centralised data model: One consistent data structure for all packaging items, components, materials and suppliers
• End-to-end digitization: From Excel and ERP imports to AI-based specification extraction from PDFs, with expert validation
• Automated compliance checks: PPWR, recyclability, labelling and other rules are embedded in the platform
• Document and certificate management: Expiry tracking, reminders and direct linkage to items and suppliers
• Analytics and reporting: Portfolio-wide views on recyclability, CO₂, EPR fees and cost-saving opportunities
• Audit-ready documentation: Version histories, approvals and evidence at the click of a button

In short: once your packages are digitized in a central system, you can control and improve them continuously – instead of reacting to exceptions in Excel.

Excel vs. digital packaging platform – a direct comparison

Key benefits: packaging software vs. Excel

When decision-makers search for “Benefits Packaging Software”, they are usually looking for concrete, measurable advantages over tools like Excel. For PPWR contexts, these benefits cluster in three areas:

Compliance and risk

• Lower probability of fines and market exclusions
• Fewer surprises in audits and customer assessments
• Better control over claims, recyclability and documentation scope

Efficiency and cost

• Less manual data entry and chasing of documents
• Faster tenders and harmonisation of packaging portfolios
• Data-based negotiations through transparency on prices and specifications

Sustainability and strategy

• Reliable recyclability and CO₂ analyses across the portfolio
• Early identification of non-compliant or non-circular designs
• Proactive steering of your packaging roadmap towards 2030 and 2035 PPWR targets

In other words: once your packages are digitized in a specialised system, compliance becomes a continuous, data-driven process – not a last-minute Excel project before audits.

Moving from Excel to a platform – without losing control

Many teams hesitate to move away from spreadsheets because they fear a complex IT project. With Packa, the transition is structured and manageable:

Data import from Excel and ERP

• Existing spreadsheets and exports are uploaded into the platform
• AI-supported tools read specifications from PDFs and technical data sheets

Data quality and gap analysis

• Automated checks identify missing or inconsistent fields
• You receive a clear picture of where supplier input is required

Supplier onboarding

• Standardised requests to suppliers close data gaps and attach documents
• Workflows replace email chaos and individual follow-ups

Live compliance dashboards and reporting

• PPWR-readiness, recyclability and certificate status become visible in real time
• Reports for management, ESG and auditors are generated at the click of a button

You keep full control over your data – but offload the manual work and technical complexity to a dedicated platform.

FAQ: Excel vs. platform for PPWR compliance

Is Excel ever “enough” for PPWR?

For very small companies with a handful of packaging items and stable local markets, Excel can be a temporary solution. But for typical FMCG, e-commerce and manufacturing companies with 500–1,000+ items and EU-wide distribution, spreadsheets are no longer sufficient as a compliance backbone.

How long does it take to move from Excel to Packa?

Implementation times depend on portfolio size and data quality. Because Packa imports Excel and ERP exports and uses AI-supported digitization, projects can often be rolled out in weeks rather than years – without a large IT transformation.

What does “audit-ready” mean in practice?

Audit-ready means that for each packaging item you can show: the current specification, all relevant documents, who changed what and when, and how PPWR rules were applied. All of this is traceable and can be exported for authorities, auditors or major customers.

How do suppliers work with such a platform?

Suppliers are integrated via structured workflows – not via additional licence barriers. They receive clear requests for data and documents, can upload information directly for the right items and are reminded automatically when certificates expire. This reduces friction for both sides and improves data quality.

Conclusion: Under PPWR, spreadsheets are a risk you can no longer afford

The PPWR turns packaging data and documentation into a strategic, high-stakes topic. In this environment, Excel is a useful export and analysis tool – but a fragile foundation for compliance.

A specialised, digital packaging management platform like Packa gives you:

• Central, audit-ready packaging data and documents
• Automated PPWR checks instead of manual spreadsheet logic
• Structured supplier collaboration and significantly lower manual effort
• Data-driven savings and a clear path towards circular, compliant packaging portfolios

If you want to move from document chaos to transparent, future-proof packaging management, now is the right time to leave spreadsheets behind – and put your packaging data on a platform that is built for PPWR.