12/08/2026
We thought the US tariffs were our biggest obstacle, but we did not anticipate Europe blocking us!
Last week we started to see posts from fellow manufacturers announcing they were no longer shipping to Europe. At first we thought it was a viral post that we had missed and was a way to get attention, but really wasn't anything to be concerned about.
Unfortunately this is very real. The key purpose of these PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations) are to improve the recyclability of all product packaging and increase the circular economy, removing plastics, heavy metals and polystyrene from packaging all together. These changes came into force today, the 12th August.
Not to come across smug, but we have been plastic free since 2020, in fact we only use paper for our packaging. This makes it not only light weight and from 70% recycled material at the start,. Paper is also the most commonly recycled material and is found in domestic rubbish collections as standard across Europe, so can be carried out at home without the need for a specialist drop-off centre.
Here's the element that is forcing hundreds of small, independent manufacturers to either choose whether to sell in Europe or not. The PPWR requires all companies, regardless of size and volume to have a legal representative in each country the company delivers to, reported amounts start from €500 up to €1,000 per representative.
The worst part, is there are 27 individual countries within Europe making potentially a €27,000 upfront cost. This is before you sell a single item, and if in a year the business didn't sell to a particular country, they will not receive a refund. This is the part that sounds like it was created without any consideration as to how it could be implemented, and will undoubtably cause a huge backlash and cost to the European community.
There is hope; petitions are being signed to ask for a halt and assessment of the rules, you can find a link in the comment below.
After a lot of reading and research we have found a partial solution. If our trade customers (including Architects, Interior designers, restaurant owners, hoteliers and retailers) sign up to our Trade Portal (link below in the comments) or email us directly we can assign a trade discount to your purchases and also have you confirm that as the importer of the goods, the packaging will be recycled within your own organisation's recycling stream. As our packaging is already 100% paper, does not have any excessive waste of space, and is clearly traceable, the goods will be delivered as before and is compliant with the standards required.
I am afraid, it does mean that the option to buy our lights for non-business individuals (or B2C sales) in Europe will be removed from the website as of the 13th August, at least until we individually research and register with the 27 individual European states.
This is hugely frustrating and a level of bureaucracy that feels counter-productive, we would have preferred a "recycling tariff" to be on each import, based on waste and the material the packaging consists of to go towards the cost of recycling the packaging on delivery. This would at least be relative to sale quantity, but maybe that will come once the petition has been signed. We stand by the need to be responsible for end of use packaging and are proud to have been packing our products this way for the past 6 years.
If any of the details are confusing, or you feel we have miss-represented anything, please comment below.
