EU compliance for print on demand sellers: EPR, EUDR, GPSR & PPWR

Selling print on demand products to customers in the European Union means navigating a growing number of product, packaging and environmental regulations.

Four acronyms you're increasingly likely to encounter are EPR, EUDR, GPSR and PPWR. While some of these regulations overlap, they cover different areas and can place different responsibilities on sellers, manufacturers and fulfilment providers.

If you use Prodigi to manufacture and fulfil your products, this guide explains what each regulation means, what Prodigi takes care of and where you may need to take action as the merchant.

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What is EPR?

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach that makes producers responsible for products and packaging placed on a market, including their management at the end of their useful life.

For print on demand sellers, packaging EPR is particularly important. Unlike some EU regulations, EPR requirements are administered at a national level. This means registration requirements, thresholds, reporting processes and fees can differ depending on the country in which you're selling.

Who is responsible for EPR when using print on demand?

Using a print on demand fulfilment provider doesn't transfer your EPR responsibilities to that provider.

If you're selling personalised products under your own brand, you're considered the producer for EPR purposes, even when Prodigi prints, packages and ships the order on your behalf.

This means you may need your own EPR registration in countries where an obligation applies to your business.

Prodigi reports and fulfils its own packaging obligations, but our EPR registrations can't be used by merchants.

Do I need to register for EPR in every EU country?

Not necessarily. EPR requirements aren't standardised across every EU member state. Requirements and thresholds vary, so your obligations will depend on factors including the countries you're selling into, your sales volumes and the rules in each market.

Some businesses use an authorised representative or specialist EPR compliance provider to manage registrations and reporting across multiple countries.

Because every merchant's circumstances are different, we can't determine exactly where your business needs to register. If you're unsure, we'd recommend speaking to an EPR compliance specialist who can assess your business and the markets you're selling into.

It's also important to remember that EPR isn't exclusively an EU consideration. The UK, for example, has its own packaging EPR scheme, while requirements in other markets vary.

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What is EUDR?

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is designed to prevent products associated with deforestation or forest degradation from being placed on or exported from the EU market.

The regulation covers certain commodities and products derived from them, including wood. However, following amendments adopted in December 2025, certain printed products – including books, newspapers and printed pictures – have been removed from the scope of EUDR.

The regulation is now due to apply from 30 December 2026, with most micro and small operators given until 30 June 2027.

What is Prodigi doing about EUDR compliance?

For relevant products that remain within scope, Prodigi is classed as a downstream operator. Under the revised EUDR, the primary due diligence and reporting obligations sit with the operators first placing relevant products on the EU market.

As a downstream operator, we aren't required to submit our own due diligence statements for relevant products already covered upstream. We do, however, maintain the required supply-chain information and work with our suppliers to support compliance with the regulation.

Our wood mouldings are sourced sustainably from EU-based manufacturers. We'll continue to monitor the EUDR ahead of its application from December 2026 and update our merchants if any changes affect products fulfilled through Prodigi.

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What is GPSR?

The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) is part of the EU's product safety framework and came into effect on 13 December 2024.

The GPSR applies to consumer products sold within the EU and introduces requirements designed to ensure those products are safe and traceable.

If you sell products to EU consumers, you'll need to make sure the appropriate product and safety information is available to your customers.

How does Prodigi help with GPSR compliance?

We've created product-specific GPSR templates for our print on demand products to help merchants meet these requirements.

Each template contains pre-filled information including relevant product specifications and safety information, alongside fields for you to complete with your own business details.

To help with GPSR compliance, you should:

1. Update your product information. Include the information from the relevant GPSR template wherever you sell your products, whether that's through your own website, an online marketplace or a physical location.
2. Include the required information with your order where applicable. Each template indicates whether a packing slip is available for that product. For eligible products, the required information can be added to packing slips for EU orders.

You can find the templates and further guidance on our GPSR page.

What about the GPSR responsible person?

Applicable products also need an EU-based responsible person.

Acting as the responsible person for an entire brand is typically a service offered by specialist compliance consultancies following a wider assessment of the brand's compliance. Because we don't carry out this type of assessment, Prodigi can't act as the responsible person for your brand as a whole.

However, for products fulfilled exclusively by Prodigi, you can list our EU entity, provided all relevant GPSR information is displayed correctly:

Prodigi B.V.
Jan van Riebeeckweg 15
5928 LG Venlo
Netherlands

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What is PPWR?

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) – Regulation (EU) 2025/40 – introduces new EU-wide requirements intended to reduce packaging waste and improve the sustainability and recyclability of packaging placed on the European market.

The first PPWR requirements came into effect on 12 August 2026, with further requirements being introduced in stages through to 2040.

Among other measures, the regulation introduces requirements around:

• Minimising unnecessary packaging weight and volume
• Packaging design and material use
• Technical documentation and demonstrating compliance
• Responsibilities and traceability throughout the supply chain
• Designing packaging with recyclability in mind

Detailed recyclability grading requirements will follow at a later stage.

What does PPWR mean for Prodigi merchants?

The PPWR introduces different responsibilities for businesses involved in supplying packaging and packaged products. In particular, it's important to distinguish between the requirements relating to the packaging itself and the responsibilities of the producer placing packaged products on a market.

For orders fulfilled by Prodigi, we'll continue to manage the packaging we supply. We've worked with our packaging suppliers to ensure our packaging is aligned with the applicable PPWR requirements, including those relating to packaging design and material use.

Relevant technical documentation for our packaging materials is held by our packaging manufacturers and suppliers. If you require additional information about the packaging used for your products, please get in touch with us.

However, our management of the packaging we supply is separate from your potential responsibilities as a producer under the PPWR's Extended Producer Responsibility requirements.

If you sell directly to customers in EU Member States, you may be considered the producer of the packaging placed on that market. Depending on the applicable national requirements, this can include obligations such as registering with the relevant national authority, reporting packaging volumes and paying applicable EPR fees.

These requirements are administered at a national level and can vary between EU Member States, so you'll need to assess where your business has EPR obligations based on where and how you sell. If you're unsure, we'd recommend speaking to an EPR compliance specialist.

We'll continue to monitor the PPWR as further requirements are introduced, update our packaging and processes where necessary and let merchants know about changes affecting products fulfilled through Prodigi.

What's the difference between PPWR and EPR?

Although PPWR and EPR both concern packaging, they cover different responsibilities.

PPWR packaging conformity requirements cover areas such as packaging design, materials, minimisation and recyclability. Prodigi manages the applicable requirements relating to the packaging we supply for Prodigi-fulfilled orders.

EPR requirements under the PPWR relate to responsibility for packaging placed on individual national markets. As the merchant selling to the end customer, you may have separate producer obligations, including registration, reporting packaging volumes and paying applicable EPR fees.

In other words, using Prodigi means you don't need to design or manufacture the shipping packaging yourself, but it doesn't automatically remove your responsibilities as the business placing packaged products on a particular market.

EU compliance at a glance

The key thing to remember is that these regulations cover different responsibilities.

Regulation	What it covers	What it means for Prodigi merchants
EPR	Producer responsibility, including packaging placed on individual markets	You may need your own registrations depending on where and how you sell. Prodigi's registrations can't be used by merchants.
EUDR	Deforestation and supply-chain due diligence for relevant commodities and products	Prodigi works with its suppliers to support the relevant requirements for affected materials and products.
GPSR	Consumer product safety and traceability	Merchants selling to EU consumers need to provide the relevant product and safety information. Prodigi provides product-specific GPSR templates to help.
PPWR	Packaging design, materials, minimisation and recyclability	Prodigi manages the applicable requirements relating to the packaging we supply. Merchants may have separate producer and EPR obligations in the EU countries where they sell.

EU compliance can seem complicated, particularly because several regulations can apply to the same order for different reasons. The important thing is not to treat EPR, EUDR, GPSR and PPWR as interchangeable: each covers a different part of selling and fulfilling products within the EU.

We'll continue monitoring regulatory developments, working with our production and supply partners and updating our merchants when changes affect products fulfilled through Prodigi.

Can't find the answer to your question in this guide? Email us at support@prodigi.com.