Lectronz is simply a marketplace for open-source hardware makers and DIY electronics. Most of our sellers are not factories aliases well-funded start-ups. They are engineers, independent designers, and hardware enthusiasts moving from spare rooms, garages, and mini workshops.
Some gain a surviving from their products. Some waste only a fistful of boards each year. Others build 10 units simply because they created thing useful and want to stock it pinch the community. Occasionally, 1 of those experiments grows into a existent business. Every Arduino originates somewhere.
But the European Union's caller packaging rules now frighten to termination the world of makers and micro-entrepreneurs, putting jobs, livelihoods and an full ecosystem of invention astatine risk.
And this threat is not conscionable constricted to makers and engineers. It affects artists, craftspeople and different micro-entrepreneurs trading their activity crossed the EU.
A bully idea, a unspeakable implementation
The EU has required producers to return work for packaging discarded for galore years done Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes. The caller Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which mostly applies from 12 August 2026, intends to harmonise packaging rules crossed the European Union and trim waste.
The main thought of EPR is sensible: businesses that spot packaging connected the marketplace should thief finance its postulation and recycling.
For makers, this intends taking work for the boxes, envelopes, integrative bags and different packaging utilized to present their products. This is an thought we tin each get behind.
Unfortunately, alternatively of creating a azygous European system, the PPWR preserves a fragmented nationalist model. A business trading straight to customers crossed the EU must registry and fulfil its obligations separately successful each Member State wherever its packaging becomes waste. For ample companies, this is portion of the costs of doing business; for micro-businesses trading only a fistful of products into each country, the costs and administrative load tin beryllium wildly disproportionate to the magnitude of packaging involved.
Imagine an technologist successful Greece who designs a €25 open-source sensor board...
During the first year, he sells 5 to Germany, 2 to France, 2 to Austria and 1 to Belgium. Each ships successful a mini antistatic container and a padded envelope. The magnitude of packaging generated for each waste is astir apt astir 50 grams.
He has conscionable go a packaging discarded shaper successful 4 countries.
Based connected suggestive prices presently quoted by nationalist schemes and compliance providers, the yearly costs for France unsocial tin look for illustration this:
- Registering for a packaging scheme, totalling €110 successful fees per year.
- Using the services of an Authorised representative, adding €190 to €300 successful costs per year.
- Spending clip registering, documenting, and reporting discarded created.
These suggestive costs proceed to adhd up for each country:
- Belgium: €50 to €100 administrative fees per year, positive the services of an authorised typical (approx. €250 to €450).
- Germany: registration is free, but packaging-scheme information starts astatine astir €10 per year, positive an authorised typical costing astir €190 per year.
- Austria: €250 administrative fees per year, positive the services of an authorised typical (approx. €100).
In short, the obstruction to introduction for these 4 countries totals €1150 per twelvemonth successful an optimistic scenario.
The weight-based biology publication associated pinch half a kilogram of packaging should beryllium measured successful cents. The bureaucracy required to relationship for it is measured successful thousands of euros.
Now ideate you want to waste to each 27 Member States! To make it worthwhile, our Greek technologist needs to waste not 10 boards, not 100, but virtually thousands of boards each year from the very start.
It simply isn’t worthy it anymore.
Killing invention softly
Often, invention doesn’t travel from ample established corporations, but from mini businesses that commencement from scratch pinch caller ideas and small money. Before becoming successful and trading millions of products, galore companies started trading 10, past 100, past 1000. Most businesses ne'er make it there. But location has to beryllium abstraction wherever ideas tin beryllium tested. This is 1 of the reasons Lectronz exists.
In the past year, while immoderate sellers connected Lectronz sold hundreds of products, half of our registered sellers sewage less than 10 orders. This is not a bug, but the quality of a marketplace for illustration Lectronz wherever makers are free to research pinch merchandise ideas. Some ideas don’t work. Some creators connected Lectronz only build 10 units and stock them pinch the organization without making a profit. But moreover products that “fail” person a value. When hardware creators stock them pinch the community, they thief others turn arsenic well. One portion of hardware whitethorn unlock the creation of another, starring to caller merchandise ideas and innovation.
The EPR regulations frighten the beingness of this innovative abstraction successful the EU.
EU policymakers support sounding the siren astir Europe’s deficiency of innovation, but look hell-bent connected making it arsenic difficult arsenic imaginable for invention to look astatine all, pinch regulations that create a disproportionate obstruction to introduction for micro-enterprises and SMEs. It’s an situation wherever only large players for illustration Amazon, Temu, aliases eBay tin exist.
Lectronz is besides a micro-enterprise
Lectronz collects a 5% interest connected each transaction it processes. We waive this interest connected the first 5 income to promote sellers to trial our platform. After years of work, and pinch the recent surge of caller sellers joining our level successful 2026, Lectronz now generates astir the balanced of 1 humble salary.
I did not build it to go the adjacent Amazon. I built it because independent hardware creators merit a marketplace designed for them.
If these rules unit galore of our sellers to retreat from the European market, they could besides make Lectronz itself unviable. After everything we person built together, that would beryllium personally heartbreaking.
For now, Lectronz sellers should not expect immoderate contiguous disruption. It remains unclear really nationalist authorities will enforce these rules against makers and micro-enterprises, and we will proceed monitoring the business closely.
What are the solutions?
If these regulations are applied strictly, the short-term solution for makers is simple: extremity trading successful the EU and vessel exclusively to non-EU markets.
Yes, you publication that right. For a French micro-entrepreneur, it makes much consciousness to vessel products to the US than to vessel to neighbouring Germany aliases Belgium, for example. This is existent moreover pinch immoderate US tariffs successful place.
Of course, limiting income to the US is not a viable solution for immoderate sellers. It's besides a nonaccomplishment for the European system itself. I still dream that we tin activity retired realistic solutions that tin thief reconstruct the EU azygous marketplace for micro-enterprises. Here are immoderate ideas.
Solution #1: Introduce an EU-wide de minimis threshold.
Exempt small-volume sellers and micro-enterprises from cross-border packaging obligations. The period would use only to producers that are beneath a circumstantial measurement of discarded and/or a circumstantial yearly turnover.
Solution #2: Create an EU EPR One Stop Shop.
Create a centralised EU portal wherever sellers tin register, study waste, and salary genuinely reasonable fees astatine once, for each Member States wherever they vessel products. This could mimic the system that already exists for VAT pinch the One Stop Shop (OSS).
Ideally, since we are successful 2026, astir of this activity should beryllium done done a modern unfastened RESTful API (not web forms) and open-source software, to beryllium arsenic automated arsenic possible.
Solution #3: Allow marketplaces to correspond and negociate micro-enterprises collectively arsenic if it were a azygous producer.
A system should let marketplaces for illustration Lectronz aliases Tindie to register, study waste, and salary reasonable fees connected behalf of each their sellers arsenic if they were collectively 1 shaper of waste.
This intends that the marketplace would salary administrative fees and different EPR costs corresponding to a azygous producer, that would collectively correspond each its sellers. For Lectronz, this would person a non-trivial effect successful position of costs and administrative work, but it mightiness beryllium achievable nether the correct conditions.
As stated above, utilizing a communal API modular for each countries would thief automate things.
Make your sound heard
Again, to reiterate, we support the thought of reducing discarded and promoting sustainability. But there’s sewage to beryllium a better, simpler, and fairer measurement to do it.
This regularisation is having a monolithic effect connected the full ecosystem of micro-businesses, not conscionable makers. It affects artists who waste their creations online. Local accepted nutrient producers who export their products crossed the EU. It besides affects craftspeople who waste their activity online done their ain website aliases dedicated platforms for illustration Etsy. Beyond the mini world of makers and DIY electronics, this will person an effect connected the livelihood of perchance hundreds of thousands of group successful the EU.
And to beryllium clear: these rules impact not only businesses successful the EU, but immoderate business that sells to buyers successful the EU.
Jeanette Koňarčíková, an independent creator and micro-entrepreneur from Slovakia, launched an online petition to tie the attraction of policymakers to this issue:
https://www.change.org/p/stop-destroying-eu-micro-businesses-immediate-moratorium-on-cross-border-epr-fees
The petition is thoughtful and well-written. I promote you to publication and motion it!
The European Commission besides has an unfastened nationalist feedback page for this rumor here:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15352-Packaging-and-packaging-waste-rules-on-national-registers-of-producers_en
Consider leaving feedback location arsenic well.
Recently, the European Commission has begun to recognise portion of the problem and has projected suspending the request to name an authorised typical successful each destination state until 2035. But this connection has not yet been adopted. Unfortunately, this connection whitethorn return clip to beryllium voted connected and participate into force. By then, galore mini businesses whitethorn person closed. More importantly, removing the authorised-representative request would reside only portion of the problem. Rules for illustration this consequence undermining spot successful the European task itself. What’s the constituent of the EU if the azygous marketplace nary longer exists for micro-enterprises?
Here astatine Lectronz, we will proceed to move guardant and dream for the best.
But make your sound heard now to make judge policymakers understand the urgency of this issue!
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