EU EPR & Book Boxes: What It Means for European Collectors
A new wave of packaging regulations is affecting businesses shipping products to customers in the European Union. If you've noticed some book boxes and special edition companies announcing that they are pausing or ending EU shipping, this is one of the reasons why.
What is EPR?
EPR stands for Extended Producer Responsibility. In simple terms, it makes businesses responsible for the environmental impact and waste associated with the packaging they place on the market.
Under the EU's new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which started applying on 12 August 2026, packaging placed on the EU market is subject to new requirements, including extended producer responsibility obligations.
For small businesses outside the EU, this can mean additional registration, reporting, compliance and financial obligations when shipping products to EU customers. The exact requirements vary between countries, which can make selling across the EU particularly complicated for smaller businesses.
For book subscription companies, this is especially relevant because a single monthly box can contain not only the book itself, but also multiple pieces of packaging and promotional or collectible items.
Book Boxes Currently Pausing or Ending EU Shipping
The following companies have announced that they are currently pausing or ending shipping to EU countries due to the new EPR/PPWR requirements.
- The Butterfly Book Club - shipping suspended. All outstanding orders must have their shipping address updated to an address outside the EU by 12:00 pm BST on Friday, 14 August. You can also request to have your subscription paused until shipping is resumed. (Instagram post & newsletter)
- Maide, Mother and Crone - shipping cancelled. Customers with affected outstanding orders will be contacted by email. (Instagram post)
- Page & Wick - shipping temporarily paused. (Instagram post)
- Chapter 55 - temporarily pausing new EU orders. Existing pre-orders are currently being reviewed, and customers will be contacted directly if anything changes with their order. (Instagram Stories & FAQ page)
- Beastly Tales Book Box - all EU shipping paused. If you’re a subscriber or have an open order, please update your address to a non-EU location before 6:00 pm EST on 12 August. After that, EU orders will be cancelled and refunded. (Instagram post)
- Midnight Whispers Book Box - discontinuing direct shipping to the EU. For existing orders, customers should change their shipping address to another country or cancel their order. (newsletter)
- Books For Days Crate - shipping paused. (Instagram story)
- After Dark Bookshop - temporarily pausing EU shipping. (Instagram post)
Where possible, we link directly to the company's original announcement. Information from social media posts is marked accordingly.
This List May Change
This is a developing situation, and the list above may change as companies find ways to comply with the new requirements, resume EU shipping, or announce new restrictions.
We'll do our best to keep this list as up to date as possible. If you've seen an announcement from a book box or special edition company that isn't listed here, please submit it through our Data Request form so we can verify it and add it to the list.
We'll continue updating this post as new information becomes available.
