On 12th August 2026 the EU de minimis for EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) will be removed. This means that all businesses, regardless of size, will need to register for EPR in each separate EU country, even if they only ship a single package per year into an individual country. Norway is also bringing in these rules.

Thus, from 12th August 2026. ALL businesses must maintain a representative in every individual EU country to which they send packages, and furthermore they must :

• pay EPR registration fees in each individual EU country
• keep detailed records of the weight of packaging sent
• file these records through the representative
• pay recycling costs in each country

The situation is complex as the regulations are not standardised across the EU and each member country has slightly different rules for the packaging evidence they demand.

These registration and representation costs are the same regardless of the size of the producer. Up until now, micro businesses like ours (employing less than 10 people and only shipping low volumes) were exempt from EPR rules, which targeted larger companies sending high volumes of packaging.

While producers being made accountable for the recycling of their packages is an excellent environmental policy, the multiple representation, the registration costs and the administrative burden will prove overwhelming for a small business like ours. So, unfortunately, it is not going to be possible for us to register with every EU country (and Norway), as it would cost thousands of pounds and involve many hours of administration.

Therefore, from now on, we will be shipping to just four EU countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

We are in the process of applying for registration and representation in these four countries, but because this is done through four separate organisations the timescale will be different for each one. We expect to be registered in Germany and the Netherlands within 1-4 weeks. We expect to be registered in France and Sweden within 2-8 weeks.

In the meantime we must temporarily suspend shipping to all EU countries and Norway. We will reopen to France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden as soon as we are set up with our registration details. We will keep you informed on this as time goes on.

To all of our customers in other EU countries and to our customers in Norway, we sincerely declare how saddened we are by these unfortunate developments. We have worked so hard to keep our business connected to the EU, and we do hope that as time goes on the new regulations will be standardised into one single fee for the EU as a whole, or reduced to be in line with the size of the business. If that happens then we could possibly resume sending, but as of now the situation is, regretfully, entirely beyond our control.

Our digital only classes and courses are unaffected by this and can still be bought from our www.steek.scot website.