New EU Packaging Regulation: Why we only ship to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

The new EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is meant to reduce packaging waste, promote recycling, and make packaging in Europe more sustainable. Goals we generally welcome.

Since August 12, 2026, however, the new regulation has also brought changes to extended producer responsibility (EPR) – and with it new challenges especially for small businesses that sell their products across borders.

For us at Crystal Paradise, this has very concrete consequences: With a heavy heart, we have decided to focus our shipping going forward on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Thank you, dear EU – now it's really easy for small businesses

At this point, we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to the European Union.

Because while large corporations can employ entire departments for compliance, legal issues, and environmental regulations, reality looks a bit different for small businesses.

Anyone who, as a small online retailer, supplies customers in different European countries has to deal with the respective national requirements regarding extended producer responsibility.

Because despite an EU regulation, there simply isn't one registration for all of Europe. The implementation of producer responsibility still takes place at the national level, and the respective registrations do not automatically apply to other EU countries.

For a small online shop, that quickly means:

• Registration and review of legal requirements in various countries

• different national packaging registers and systems

• contracts with corresponding disposal or recycling systems

• ongoing volume reporting and documentation obligations

• possibly authorized representatives or external service providers

• different deadlines and administrative requirements

• additional ongoing costs

Thank you very much for that.

Sustainability yes – but bureaucracy also has to be economically feasible

So no wrong impression arises: We stand behind the idea of reducing packaging, conserving resources, and financing recycling.

We too, as a company, bear responsibility for how our products are packaged and shipped.

The problem is not the goal.

The problem is the administrative burden that arises when a small company sells its products, for example, only a few times a year in a certain EU country and still has to check the requirements that apply there and, where applicable, fulfill registrations, contracts, reports, and other formalities.

With large shipping volumes, such fixed costs and administrative burdens can be spread across thousands of orders.

For a small company, however, this math doesn't work out.

If we, for example, only ship a few packages a year to a certain country, the organizational and external costs around registration, system participation, consulting, or authorization can quickly become disproportionate to the actual revenue.

One EU – but not a single packaging registration

What's particularly hard for small retailers to understand is that the European single market is supposed to appear borderless when it comes to selling, but packaging responsibility is still organized largely on a national basis.

A German registration number, for example, does not automatically apply to other countries. To make packaging available in other member states, the regulations that apply there must be observed.

What starts out as a small online shop that actually just wants to sell minerals, crystals, and gemstones quickly turns into a company that would also have to deal intensively with packaging law in numerous countries on the side.

And this is exactly where we have to draw a line.

That's why we now only ship to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

We thought long and hard about how to handle the new situation.

Of course, we would have loved to continue supplying customers all over Europe. We're happy about every person who shares our passion for extraordinary minerals, crystals, and gemstones.

But at some point, a small business has to ask itself:

Is the additional effort still economically justifiable?

For us, the answer is unfortunately: No.

That's why we are now focusing our shipping on:

🇩🇪 Germany
🇦🇹 Austria
🇨🇭 Switzerland

This way, we can continue to put our resources where we believe they belong: in selecting extraordinary minerals, in personal customer advice, and in reliable and caring service.

What does the new EU Packaging Regulation PPWR mean?

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is the new European packaging regulation. It replaces or unifies essential parts of the previous European regulations regarding packaging and packaging waste.

An important component is the so-called extended producer responsibility (EPR).

Simply put, it means: companies that make packaging or packaged products available in a market are supposed to take responsibility for the later collection, sorting, and recovery of this packaging.

Basically a sensible idea.

For small online retailers operating across borders, however, this means they have to carefully check which obligations they must fulfill in the respective target countries.

Why does the packaging regulation hit small online shops especially hard?

A large online retailer can spread compliance costs across enormous quantities.

A small specialty retailer cannot.

Shops with extraordinary products and small quantities in particular often have customers spread across all of Europe. Maybe only five, ten, or twenty packages a year go to a certain country.

Still, the legal requirements for that country must be checked and complied with.

This can create a paradoxical situation:

Actually shipping a package would be entirely possible – but the administrative burden surrounding that one package makes the sale economically uninteresting.

The consequence then is not more European trade.

The consequence is: We simply no longer ship there.

Whether that is really in the spirit of a common European single market is something everyone can judge for themselves.

Our promise remains

Even though we have to shrink our delivery area, nothing changes about what Crystal Paradise stands for.

We continue to search with great passion for special minerals, crystals, and gemstones from all over the world for you.

We continue to rely on quality, transparent origin, personal advice, and a responsible handling of our products.

And of course, we will continue to try to use our packaging as sensibly and resource-efficiently as possible.

Sustainability is important to us.

However, we wish for a sustainability policy that doesn't just work on paper, but can also be practically implemented by small and medium-sized businesses.

Thank you for your understanding and your support

We are aware that this decision may be particularly disappointing for our longtime customers outside Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

We are really sorry about that.

We would have liked to avoid this decision.

But as a small business, we have to use our time and financial resources sensibly. The effort of checking and permanently complying with different requirements for numerous countries is no longer economically viable for us.

That's why, in closing, we don't just say "Thank you" to the EU.

Above all, we say:

Thank you to you.

Thank you for your understanding.
Thank you for your loyalty.
Thank you for your support of a small family business.

And thank you for letting us continue to share our passion for extraordinary crystals and minerals with you. ❤️

Your Crystal Paradise Team