EU packaging rules burden small businesses with red tape

New EU packaging rules are intended to cut waste and make online retailers more responsible, but they are also creating costs and administrative work for small businesses, BR reports.

Since 12 August, businesses shipping to other EU countries have had to register in each country, appoint a local representative and report how much packaging they put on the market, including cardboard, plastic and polystyrene. The rules make environmentally harmful materials more expensive to encourage greener packaging.

For publisher Anton G. Leitner, who has run the contemporary poetry journal Das Gedicht for about 35 years from Weßling in Upper Bavaria, the requirements add a heavy burden to a business that only just breaks even. The journal sends about 200 books a year to customers elsewhere in the EU, but registering in each country costs several hundred euros.

“This is completely uneconomic and completely absurd for us,” Leitner said. His assistant, Gabriele Trinckler, said each book shipment could become a problem under the rules.

Some smaller online shops have stopped delivering to Germany, affecting customers such as Diletta Tavanti, a trainee at Bavarian broadcaster BR who buys specialist fabrics for costumes and distinctive outfits. She said she had previously ordered from shops elsewhere in Europe, but many smaller sellers no longer ship to Germany. Italian specialities, unusual teas and creative gifts are also among the products that can remain in their country of origin as small retailers avoid the extra work.

Medium-sized businesses are also facing new administrative demands. The Kunzmann car dealership in Kleinostheim, near Aschaffenburg, ships up to 400 parcels a day to destinations across Europe. Its packaging is already fully recyclable and designed to use as little material as possible.

“Nothing is really changing for us in terms of packaging. We were already environmentally conscious,” said Dennis Ostner, head of the dealership’s parts centre. The new burden is paperwork, including registration in each EU country and differing requirements that can include appointing representatives with notarised authorisation. Managing director Karl Diehm puts the additional costs at about 20,000 euros a year, alongside three employees currently working on compliance.

Green MEP Jutta Paulus defended the rules, saying they put responsibility on those who produce packaging and prevent oversized parcels. But she said small businesses had valid grounds for complaint and that the European Commission should have assessed the effects on micro-enterprises more carefully.

MEPs on the environment committee have voted to exempt small and micro-enterprises from some requirements and create a digital one-stop shop for registration. The proposal still needs approval from the full European Parliament.

Leitner says the relief may come too late: he is shutting down Das Gedicht.