BookNet Canada is a member of Book Industry Communication (BIC), our trusted industry partner in the UK. Earlier this year, BIC initiated the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) Project Working Group, which has been meeting regularly with the goal of providing comprehensive guidance to book industry supply chain participants trading in the EU. BookNet has participated in those meetings and is proud to amplify the first result of that group’s work, led by Simon Crump and Karina Urquhart: a BIC Bite on the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
The BIC Bite is designed to give you a clear, high-level overview and help your organization prepare for the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which comes into effect on August 12, 2026. It will impact any supply chain participant placing packaged goods on the EU market, including books, journals, toys: anything supplied by book publishers, distributors, or wholesalers. The regulation introduces new requirements around packaging design, documentation, labelling, and compliance that businesses across the book supply chain need to understand. The BIC Bite explains:
- what PPWR is and who it affects;
- what printers, publishers, distributors, warehouses, and booksellers need to know;
- the key actions organizations should be taking now;
- requirements for documentation and Declaration of Conformity; and
- more!
If you’re working with a distributor or wholesaler who supplies the EU market with your books, this is a worthy resource to share. If you’re not having discussions with that distributor or wholesaler, this welcomes a conversation.
BookNet has collected book industry resources relating to European Union (EU) legislation here. If you have resources you’d like to share, please email standards@booknetcanada.ca and we will share widely with the industry.
