The EU Detergents and Surfactants Regulation (EU) 2026/405 came into effect on March 22, 2026, with its main provisions applicable from September 23, 2029. For the first time, it frames the sale of refillable products as a more complete operational system: operators are required to reduce risks to personnel, especially children, prevent hazardous reactions from occurring within refill stations, and provide physical labels and corresponding data carriers for each refill. The timing is important—this is a newly announced regulation, but most obligations will not be fully applicable immediately.
The new regulations also retain the 'how much to use' aspect in the product liability chain. The labels of consumer laundry detergents must provide recommended amounts according to water hardness and indicate the standard number of washes that one package can achieve; when sold as refills, the standard number of washes should be expressed per liter or per kilogram. Surface cleaners must also provide recommended dilution ratios or usage per unit area. From this, it can be seen that concentration is not just about making the liquid thicker or the bottle smaller, but whether the formula concentration, measurement method, label language, and actual consumer use correspond to each other.
The current logic of the EU Ecolabel also explains why 'per use' is more meaningful than 'per bottle.' The current laundry detergent standards incorporate reference dosage, packaging weight-to-function ratio, performance during use, and dosage instructions into the same evaluation framework; packaging calculations also take into account situations involving reusable containers or refill packs. In July 2026, the European Commission once again listed packaging, dosage, and restricted hazardous substances for detergents as a set of requirements under circular design, rather than independent marketing points.
However, the industry cannot treat the 'version change window' as a formal requirement. The product information from the European Commission shows that the current standards for the eco-labels of various cleaning and detergent products are valid until December 31, 2026, and revisions are still underway. The Joint Research Centre has published the 2025 technical report, as well as draft annexes for laundry detergents and hard surface cleaners; these materials can help companies anticipate the direction of data preparation, but they still belong to revision process documents. The final requirements should be based on officially published texts and interpretations from the competent authorities.
From the consumer's perspective, accurate dosing remains the key to whether concentrated products can achieve their design goals. The current EU Ecolabel requires providing dosing instructions and convenient dosing systems, and the new regulations also include different water hardness, stain levels, and standard washing cycles on the label information. As a result, the industry needs to ask four questions at the same time: Is the recommended amount easy to read? Can the cap or pump measure reliably? Could refill containers be installed incorrectly? Does the online product page match the version on the physical label? Reducing the bottle weight alone without addressing these actions may turn the environmental narrative into misuse and after-sales issues.
In the context of EPHYON's products and OEM/ODM, the currently available 1:2 perfume-scented enzyme laundry liquid records confirm the 1.0 kg specification and liquid form; these facts only support basic product information and do not support any EU certification or specific environmental performance conclusions. A more valuable connection is to set 'target dosage—formula concentration—measuring structure—packaging specification—label version—channel instructions' as a set of jointly confirmed deliverables in OEM/ODM projects.
The first-class clean public service process covers demand communication, planning, sampling, production, quality inspection, and delivery, but the enterprise service page cannot replace compliance with target market regulations or specific product certifications. For supplement and concentrate projects, project review should also clarify responsibilities for child misuse prevention, container compatibility, supplement station operation, batch traceability, and data updates, and regulations should be re-checked when the sales country changes.
The changes in 2026 give brand clients a very real reminder: reducing packaging should not start with 'switching to a different bag,' but should start with an actual use.