Seller guide

The Complete Guide to EU Packaging Compliance for Print-on-Demand Sellers (LUCID, PPWR & EPR in All 27 Countries)

Last updated: August 18, 2026

At Ownprint, we believe your job should be creating and selling beautiful jewelry, not drowning in regulations. So we put together the most complete, plain-English guide we could on the new EU packaging rules, including exactly what you need to do for every one of the 27 EU countries. Bookmark this page. We keep it updated as things change.

First, what is EPR?

EPR stands for Extended Producer Responsibility. It's a simple idea: whoever puts a product and its packaging onto the market is responsible for paying to have that packaging recycled. Rather than local councils and taxpayers footing the bill for all the boxes, mailers and padding that end up as waste, the businesses that put them into circulation cover the cost.

For you as a seller, "packaging EPR" means: in each country you ship to, you register as a producer, report how much packaging you put on that market, and pay a small fee that funds its recycling. That's the whole concept. The rest of this guide is just the practical how-to for each country.

The 30-second version

• If you sell packaged goods to customers anywhere in the EU, that country generally treats you (the seller who invoices the customer) as the "producer" of the packaging.
• As the producer, you need to register in that country's packaging register, join a recycling scheme, report your packaging volumes, and pay a recycling fee.
• This is triggered by where your orders are delivered, not where you are based. A seller in the US, UK or anywhere else who ships to EU customers is still on the hook.
• There is no single EU-wide registration. Each country has its own system, so you register per country you ship to.
• The easy way to handle all of this is a single international service (see "The easy way" below) that registers you and acts as your representative across every EU country from one account.
• Ownprint handles the compliance for the packaging materials we produce, and we give you all the material and weight data you need for your own reporting.

What changed, and when

Germany's packaging law (VerpackG) has existed since 2019. What's new is the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR, Regulation 2025/40), which applies across all 27 member states from 12 August 2026. Alongside it, Germany introduced its updated implementation law (VerpackDG) on the same date. We cover Germany's system in depth in our German Packaging Law (LUCID / VerpackDG) guide.

The practical effects from 12 August 2026:

• Every EU country's "register, join a scheme, report, pay" model is being reinforced and harmonised.
• Online marketplaces (Etsy, Amazon, eBay and others) are legally required to check that sellers are properly registered, and can suspend listings that aren't.
• Sellers without a business presence in a given country generally must appoint a local Authorized Representative (AR) there.

Because the PPWR is an EU regulation, it applies directly in all 27 member states from that date, without each country needing to pass its own version. Germany additionally updated its national packaging law with VerpackDG on the same day, mainly to adapt its existing rules and set out enforcement. In the other member states, their established national EPR systems continue to operate alongside the PPWR. In short: the EU-wide rules apply everywhere from 12 August 2026, while each country still runs its own national registration and recycling scheme.

The two parts of the regulation that matter most to online sellers are Article 45(3), which requires producers who are not established in a country to appoint a local authorised representative there, and Article 45(4), which requires online marketplaces to check that their sellers are properly registered. You can read the full regulation here: Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste.

A note on how this is settling: the details of these rules are still being refined at EU level (for example, there have been proposals to adjust the authorised-representative timeline for EU-established businesses). Non-EU sellers are expected to need a representative regardless. Because this is still moving, always check the current position for your situation rather than treating any single date as final.

Who counts as the "producer" (why this lands on you, not Ownprint)

Two roles matter here:

• Manufacturer: the party that makes the packaging (or has it made) and markets it under its own name. This role covers packaging conformity and technical documentation. For the materials we produce and ship your orders in, this is Ownprint.
• Producer: the party that invoices the end customer. The producer registers with national registers, reports packaging weight, and pays the recycling fees in the country where the packaging becomes waste. Because your orders are sold under your brand, this is you.

This is why you can't simply use Ownprint's registration. The obligation is tied to your business identity and your sales. What we can and do help with is covering the compliance for our own packaging materials, and giving you the exact material and weight figures you need to report quickly.

A note on marketplaces: platforms like Amazon, Etsy and TikTok are tightening this independently of any supplier. They increasingly require you to upload your own valid EPR registration number, and they're legally required to restrict your listings if you don't have one on file. On at least one major platform (TikTok), the number must match your own legal entity name, so you can't rely on a supplier's number as a substitute. Watch for communications from each marketplace you sell on, since some also offer their own pay-on-behalf reporting schemes. Platform rules change often, so review the current requirements of each one you use.

The easy way: one account for all 27 countries

Registering separately in every EU country sounds overwhelming, but you don't have to do it manually. International compliance providers let you handle registration, representation and reporting for every EU country from a single dashboard.

The one we use ourselves is Lizenzero (part of Interzero). Here's exactly how it works, because the split matters:

• The registration itself is done by you, and it's usually free and quick. For example, Germany's LUCID register only lets the business register itself (third parties are not allowed to do that initial registration for you), and it takes just a few minutes. Each country issues its own registration number (Germany a LUCID number, France its own, and so on). There is no single number that covers the whole EU.
• Lizenzero handles the paid part: the licensing and recycling. This is the piece most people find confusing. Once you're registered, you pay a licensing fee that funds the recycling of your packaging. Lizenzero collects that fee, manages your recycling participation, and helps with your volume reporting, all across the countries you sell to from one account.
• For countries where you have no local presence, Lizenzero can also act as your Authorized Representative, taking over the ongoing licensing and reporting obligations there. An Authorized Representative becomes mandatory from August 2026 for sellers without a local presence.

So the simple mental model: you do the (free, quick) registration, and Lizenzero handles the paid recycling licensing and reporting for every country you sell into, from a single dashboard. For most of our sellers this is by far the easiest route. Pick the countries you ship to, register in each (a few minutes each), then let Lizenzero handle the licensing, payments and reporting.

The good news on cost

For a small shop, this is more affordable than it sounds. In Germany, for example, the LUCID registration itself is free, and the recycling (dual system) fee starts from around €39 per year for small volumes. Fees are based on the weight of packaging you actually ship, so low volumes mean low fees. To make it concrete: roughly 500 jewelry pieces shipped in bubble mailers works out to about 7.5 kg of packaging, which lands right around that €39 minimum. So even a solid volume of orders stays very affordable. Don't let this scare you off good markets. Closing off a country like Germany usually costs you far more in lost sales than the fee ever would.

You can check your own exact cost in a couple of minutes using the official Lizenzero calculator. Just enter your estimated packaging weights and it shows you the fee.

Your simple action checklist

What Ownprint takes care of

• We register and pay for the packaging materials we use to fulfill your orders (our manufacturer role).
• We provide a full breakdown of our packaging materials and their weights so your reporting is quick and accurate. All our paper and cardboard is FSC certified.
• We keep this guide updated as the rules evolve.

What we can't do is register on your behalf as the producer, because that obligation is tied to your business. Use the single-account route above to handle that side easily.

Quick reference: all 27 at a glance

Click any country for the full detail below.

In every country, fees are based on your packaging weight and materials, and non-established sellers generally need an Authorized Representative. Full detail below.

Country-by-country: what to do in each of the 27

For each country: who runs the register, which recycling scheme to join, whether you need a local representative, and any small-business threshold. Fees everywhere are based on your packaging weight and materials. If you're not established in the country, you'll generally need an Authorized Representative (handled automatically if you use a single-account provider like Lizenzero).

Western Europe

Southern Europe

Northern Europe

Central & Eastern Europe

The Baltics

Still have questions?

The rules are evolving as the PPWR rolls out, and we're monitoring developments closely. If you're unsure how any of this applies to your specific setup, we recommend checking with the relevant national authority or a qualified compliance advisor. And of course, our support team is always happy to help point you in the right direction.

Ownprint provides this information to help our sellers. It does not constitute legal advice, and Ownprint is not responsible for individual sellers' compliance decisions.