Small webshops struggling with new EU rules around packaging waste

Small online retailers in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe are facing new hurdles under the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, which aims to make packaging more sustainable across the bloc. Dutch shop owners say the rules create extra costs and paperwork that make shipping packages to customers in other EU countries difficult or unprofitable.

Yamie-lee Bijster, who runs a pet food webshop in the Netherlands, said she stopped shipping packages abroad starting overnight because of the regulation. "The borders within Europe are closing again," she wrote in a letter to RTL Z. She questioned who still has access to the European internal market: "The multinational with offices, lawyers, and staff throughout Europe? Or also the independent maker, specialist, family business, and small webshop?"

The PPWR requires the same packaging rules to apply throughout the European Union. It covers companies that produce, place on the market or use packaging. Additional rules are scheduled through 2029, according to the Dutch government.

Dave Verzijl, a Dutch entrepreneur who sells underwear through his online shop, said the practical requirements are unaffordable for smaller operations. "For small webshops that want to continue serving customers in many EU countries, the implementation is simply unaffordable," he wrote on his site. Sellers must register separately in each EU country where they do business and file separate declarations reporting the amount and type of packaging material used in each country.

Verzijl estimated that webshops could face thousands of euros in extra annual costs, depending on packaging type, country and order volume. "A webshop must also keep track of registrations, deadlines, declarations, and evidence per country. That means many extra hours of administration every year, on top of the thousands of euros in paid services," he said. In some countries a local representative is required for the administration.

Verzijl ships thousands of packages to 23 of the 27 EU countries, including some that receive only a few packages a year. For those low-volume destinations the registration and compliance costs can reach hundreds of euros, which he said is rarely profitable for either the shop or the customer.

Jeroen Maasdam, who runs an antiques webshop, described a similar problem. "I don't send something to Sweden that often. Then I would have to register there for one customer. I can't pass on those costs, because then I have to tell someone who orders something for about 50 euros that in addition to the 20 euro shipping costs, another 200 euros in registration costs are added," he told NRC.

Verzijl noted that large companies can spread the fixed costs across millions of orders, making the burden relatively smaller. As a result, he said, small webshops may stop serving certain EU countries entirely. That would leave consumers with fewer choices and less access to smaller European shops. Bijster expressed the same concern.

Both owners also pointed to remaining uncertainty about exactly what webshops must do and which authorities to contact. A European Commission document answering questions on the regulation still leaves issues unresolved, they said. A petition seeking changes has gathered nearly 50,000 signatures.

Verzijl and Bijster called for simpler rules for smaller businesses. "Who only sends a few hundred packages per year to a country should not have the same administration as a multinational with millions of shipments," Verzijl wrote. Bijster proposed a single European system for the administration, similar to the existing one-stop VAT arrangement that lets entrepreneurs handle obligations in multiple member states from one point.

Both stressed they support sustainability goals. "My call to the European Commission is simple: ensure that small entrepreneurs are not the victims of good environmental goals. Sustainability and a strong European market can go hand in hand, if the rules are proportional, affordable and feasible," Verzijl said.