How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs
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Lectronz is a marketplace for open-source hardware makers and DIY electronics. Most of our sellers are not factories or well-funded start-ups. They are engineers, independent designers, and hardware enthusiasts working from spare rooms, garages, and tiny workshops.
Some earn a living from their products. Some sell only a handful of boards each year. Others build ten units simply because they created something useful and want to share it with the community. Occasionally, one of those experiments grows into a real business. Every Arduino begins somewhere.
But the European Union's new packaging rules now threaten to kill the world of makers and micro-entrepreneurs, putting jobs, livelihoods and an entire ecosystem of innovation at risk.
And this threat is not just limited to makers and engineers. It affects artists, craftspeople and other micro-entrepreneurs selling their work across the EU.
The EU has required producers to take responsibility for packaging waste for many years through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes. The new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which generally applies from 12 August 2026, aims to harmonise packaging rules across the European Union and reduce waste.
The main idea of EPR is sensible: businesses that place packaging on the market should help finance its collection and recycling.