Englisch

PPWR-Brief an EU-Politiker - Problematik Erzeugerkennzeichnung auf Verpackungen (Englisch)

Der kursiv markierte Bereich kann ausgetauscht und ergänzt werden. In jedem Fall sollte die kursive Markierung vor der Versendung durch Unternehmen aufgehoben werden.

Ms. Jessika Roswall
Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy European Commission
Rue de la Loi 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium

Dear Ms. Roswall,

As a trade business owner from Germany, I am writing to you today with an urgent request. The planned implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) as of August 12, 2026, threatens to impose significant additional burdens on us, which could jeopardize my company’s economic viability. There is an urgent need to amend the PPWR.

We call for the effective date of the PPWR to be postponed by at least twelve months—similar to the postponement of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)—so that outstanding questions of interpretation can be clarified, uniform European procedures can be established, and companies can be given sufficient time to implement the regulation in a legally certain and practicable manner.

We are committed to sustainable business practices and recognize the need to reduce packaging waste. Creating a practical and predictable PPWR is essential to achieving and ensuring this goal. Nevertheless, future business operations and regulation must go hand in hand. We believe the PPWR jeopardizes this balance.

The requirements for identifying the responsible producer on packaging are particularly problematic. For many retail companies and wholesalers engaged in drop shipping, this obligation could have a significant impact on existing business models. For example, many retailers source packaging or packaged products through supplier networks and sell them to their customers through their own online stores. If the contact information of the actual supplier or manufacturer is clearly displayed on the packaging, there is a risk that customers will use this information directly to establish business relationships while bypassing the wholesaler. This would significantly impair the economic function of the wholesale trade.

Under the PPWR, a responsible producer must be identifiable. In many cases, therefore, the actual manufacturer or supplier would have to be named on the packaging. For retail companies whose business model is based on acting as an intermediary between the manufacturer and the end customer, however, this leads to significant competitive disadvantages. The regulation thus risks undermining established distribution structures without providing any additional benefit to consumers or the environment.

While the so-called “producer fiction” under Article 21 of the PPWR does, in principle, allow a retailer to identify itself as the producer and assume the corresponding obligations—thereby avoiding the need to display the actual supplier’s contact information on the packaging—in practice, this results in a complete transfer of producer responsibility to the retailer. For small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, this represents an additional legal and administrative burden that is often disproportionate to the intended purpose.

We therefore propose the following adjustments:

Clarification of labeling requirements: It should be expressly permitted to identify the economic operator responsible for compliance with the PPWR without being required to disclose the contact details of the actual manufacturer or upstream supplier.
Creation of a “Responsible Economic Operator” solution: Similar to other EU legal acts, it should be sufficient to designate a responsible economic operator who is accessible to authorities and fulfills the obligations under the PPWR.
Protection of legitimate business interests: The PPWR should explicitly recognize that retail and wholesale companies can protect their supplier relationships, provided that traceability and market surveillance remain ensured.

The free internal market is a core promise of the European Union. A regulation that, in practice, can only be complied with by large corporations with their own compliance departments undermines this promise. Small and medium-sized enterprises—the backbone of the European economy—are not protected by this regulation but are instead excluded from cross-border trade.

I urge you to address this issue and advocate for a practical solution.

Best regards

Zusätzlich können Sie den Musterbrief an folgende eMail-Adressen der Mitglieder des Europäischen Parlaments aus Hessen schicken:

Aus Nordhessen:

Engin Eroglu: engin.eroglu@europarl.europa.eu
Martin Häusling:martin.haeusling@europarl.europa.eu

Aus Hessen:

Christine Anderson:christine.anderson@europarl.europa.eu
Dr. Udo Bullmann: udo.bullmann@ep.europa.eu
Michael Gahler: michael.gahler@europarl.europa.eu
Dr. Sven Simon: sven.simon@ep.europa.eu

Eine Bitte: Sollten Sie die Europaabgeordneten anschreiben, nehmen Sie gern IHK-Umweltreferentin Elke Elsner mailto:elsner@kassel.ihk.de in cc