EU's New Packaging Rules: What it means for Aussie Businesses

If you're shipping orders to Europe, then you will want to read this. The EU has introduced new packaging laws from August 12th which may change the way you ship your products. 

So what do you need to know exactly? We've got all the info here about what it is, who it affects, the cheapest way to get it sorted, and what we've got covered for you. 

Wait, what's happening? 

On 12 August 2026, the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) came into effect. In short, it's a bunch of rules aiming to make all packaging in the EU market recyclable or reusable by 2030 and reduce packaging waste. 

It applies to every package entering Europe, including the ones sent from your Aussie warehouse. Before you start panic Googling trying to get your head around all of this, let's get practical. 

First, The Good News

If you only ship within Australia or anywhere else outside the EU, nothing changes for you. You can stop reading here (see ya!)

If you do ship to Europe, then you'll want to keep reading. 

For those shipping to Europe: your HeapsGood mailers already meet the EU's new product requirements.

A big part of the PPWR is a ban on PFAS, which basically means harmful "forever chemicals" found in food packaging like takeaway containers, not mailers. Our compostable mailers contain no intentionally added PFAS anyway. They are tested against the compostability standard the EU uses, and are well under the heavy-metals limits. We've got the paperwork to prove it, we'll get to that later. 

So what's new for EU sellers? 

One thing, really: Registration.

The EU now treats you, the seller, as the "producer" of the packaging on your parcels. For each EU country you sell into, you need to

1. Register your business on that country's packaging register 
   
2. Appoint an authorised representative (this is a company locally based in the EU that files reports and pays fees on your behalf if you're outside the EU)
3. Pay a small recycling fee based on the weight of the packaging you ship. 

It might sound like a slog, but the good news is that you can now find bundled services that do all three tasks for you for one flat annual fee, instead of a whole legal project. 

It's worth knowing that you only have to register for the countries you actually ship to, not all 27. Ship to three, register in three. Ship to one, register in one.

Is it worth it? Let's do the maths

Registering costs about the same whether you send two EU orders a year or two thousand, and budget services can range from roughly AU$400-600 per country per year. Before you sign up for anything, count last year's EU orders and be honest about the margin.

Barely any EU orders? 

Registering will probably cost more than your orders make, so it may be worth pausing EU shipping for now. There's no shame in this, and for plenty of small stores, a simple "we've paused EU orders for now" message is the right choice. You can always revisit this at a later date. 

A steady trickle? Say 30 - 100 EU orders per year? 

Register in your biggest EU country only, for most stores that's usually Germany, and ship to there only. One rego, concentrated volume, and costs roughly halved. 

Real EU volume? 100+ orders per year? 

Register properly in the countries you sell into. If it's spread across that many orders, the compliance cost per package is tiny,

Want the sales without the admin?

Consider selling wholesale to one EU stockist. They import the goods, so the whole obligation shifts to them.

What it costs 

There are two costs to be aware of and are worth keeping apart: the admin side of things and the recycling fees.

The admin side of things include your registration, your local rep, and the annual reporting which is a flat fee through a bundled service. These will usually run you roughly AU$600 to $1,000 per country per year, with Germany being the cheapest out of the lot. You can also find self-serve platforms start around AU$25/month if you're happy driving yourself. 

The recycling fees are separate, and are charged on packaging weight, per country, at a rate set by the material. Lighter, cleaner packaging costs less to register, every time you report. A compostable mailer weighs a matter of grams, so this part comes out at cents per parcel, not dollars.

Who needs to get moving

On Amazon or eBay in the EU?

Do it now. The marketplaces have to check your rego number and they're pulling listings that don't have one.

On your own site?

You've got a bit more breathing room, but it's still the law and there's no grace period. Get it on the list.

Your five-step checklist

1. List the EU countries your orders actually land in (for most Aussie stores, one to three)
2. Pick a bundled registration service and sign up.
3. Hand them your packaging data. Ask us for the material and weight details on your mailers and pass them straight on.
4. Add your registration number to your marketplace seller dashboard, if you're on one.
5. Report your volumes once a year. With the weights to hand, it's multiplication, not archaeology.

What we've sorted

If you're shipping to the EU, we've created a PPWR compliance pack you can get for free. This contains all the material and weight details your rego needs, so you're not chasing a factory overseas for paperwork. We've done the homework so you can keep shipping to Europe without the headache, or worse, switching to packaging that's worse for the planet. 

Shipping to the EU? Email us for your free compliance pack.