The European Commission commissioned a study to support its examination of the feasibility of reinforcing the essential requirements for packaging with a view to, inter alia, improving design for reuse and promoting high quality recycling, as well as strengthening thei r enforcement. The work included six main components: (1) review of their effectiveness, including an analysis of trends in packaging waste composition/ volumes and identification of packaging types/ materials that pose specific challenges for recycling, (2) review of the adequacy and relevance of the current essential requirements with the objectives of the revised PPWD and the wider objectives of waste and circular economy policy, (3) identification of obstacles to their effective implementation and enforcement, (4) preparation of case studies on approaches that could prove useful in reviewing/reinforcing the essential requirements with a view to identifying potential avenues for doing so, (5) identification and initial assessment of measures to reinforce the requirements including stricter definitions of recyclability/ reusability, and (6) extensive stakeholder consultation throughout the process. Based on the above possible measures to make the requirements more operational and effective were developed and underwent a preliminary assessment. An initial proposal for grouping the most promising measures under three coherent options was made.