The EU’s 40% Empty Space Rule Takes Effect in 4 Months. Here’s What eCommerce Logistics Teams Need to Know.

On August 12, 2026, the way eCommerce businesses pack and ship orders into the European Union changes permanently.

That is the enforcement date for the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation — known as the PPWR (Regulation 2025/40). Among its many provisions, one stands out for online retailers: parcels shipped to EU customers must not contain more than 40% empty space.

If your eCommerce operation ships into or within the EU, this regulation applies to you. And with just four months to go, the window to prepare is narrowing fast.

Why This Regulation Exists

The EU generates 79.7 million tonnes of packaging waste per year — 177.8 kg for every person living in the bloc. Despite recycling improvements, total packaging waste has grown by 21.2 kg per capita since 2013.

eCommerce is a major contributor. Online retail generates roughly 4.8 times more packaging waste per order than brick-and-mortar stores. Industry studies consistently show that the average eCommerce parcel is 40-60% empty space — filled with air pillows, bubble wrap, paper padding, and foam that add weight, waste, and cost without protecting the product any better than a right-sized box would.

The PPWR is the EU’s response. It replaces the older Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC) with a directly applicable regulation — meaning it does not require transposition into national law. It applies uniformly across all 27 EU member states from August 12, 2026.

What the 40% Empty Space Rule Actually Says

Article 10 of the PPWR establishes packaging minimisation requirements. From August 12, 2026, all packaging placed on the EU market — including eCommerce parcels — must not exceed 40% empty space, unless this is technically unavoidable for the protection of the product.

This is not a guideline. It is a legal requirement with a hard compliance date.

Critically, void fillers count as empty space. Air cushions, bubble wrap, paper crinkle fill, foam peanuts, polystyrene chips, and wood wool are all classified as empty space under the regulation. A box that is 30% air and 20% bubble wrap is 50% empty — and non-compliant.

The regulation also imposes a broader minimisation principle: packaging weight and volume must be reduced to the minimum necessary for the product. Double walls, false bottoms, and unnecessary layers will face further restrictions from January 2030.

The European Commission is due to publish implementing acts by February 2028 that will define the formal calculation methodology for the empty space ratio. But the 40% cap applies from August 2026 — meaning companies must comply even before the precise measurement standard is finalized. The expectation is that businesses demonstrate good-faith minimisation and can justify their packaging choices.

The 2030 Threshold: It Gets Stricter

August 2026 is the first milestone, not the last. From January 1, 2030, a formal 50% maximum empty space ratio becomes enforceable for grouped packaging, transport packaging, and eCommerce packaging — backed by a standardised calculation methodology.

While 50% may sound more lenient than 40%, it comes with a critical difference: the 2030 rule includes a precise, auditable calculation framework. Companies will need to prove compliance with documented measurements, not just demonstrate reasonable effort.

The trajectory is clear. The EU is tightening packaging requirements in stages, and each stage demands more operational rigour than the last.

Who Is Affected

The PPWR applies to any economic operator that places packaging on the EU market. For eCommerce, that includes:

Direct-to-consumer brands and retailers. If you ship products to EU customers, the packaging you use must comply. This applies whether you are based in the EU or shipping cross-border from outside it.

Online marketplaces. This is where the regulation breaks new ground. Under the PPWR, online marketplaces are explicitly defined as responsible economic operators when they handle packaging or logistics on behalf of third-party sellers. Platforms like Amazon, Zalando, and eBay must verify that sellers hold valid Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) registration in each country of sale. Sellers without proper registration face listing suspension.

Fulfilment service providers. Third-party logistics (3PL) providers that unpack and repackage goods are responsible for reporting and compliance on the packaging they handle — even if they do not own the products.

Importers and distributors. Companies that import packaged goods into the EU bear compliance obligations equivalent to manufacturers for the packaging they place on the market.

The net effect: compliance responsibility extends across the entire supply chain, and the days of treating packaging as a warehouse afterthought are over.

What the Penalties Look Like

The PPWR requires all EU member states to establish “effective, proportionate, and dissuasive” penalties for non-compliance. While the regulation itself does not prescribe EU-wide fine amounts, individual countries are setting their own enforcement frameworks:

• Germany: Fines of up to EUR 200,000 per violation
• France: Fines of up to EUR 100,000 per violation
• Additional exposure under the EU Green Claims Directive: If packaging is marketed with unverified sustainability claims (e.g., “eco-friendly packaging”), penalties can reach 4% of annual turnover

Beyond financial penalties, enforcement authorities can impose:

• Marketing bans and forced withdrawal of non-compliant packaging from the market
• Product recalls, with associated logistics and reputational costs
• Criminal charges for serious, intentional violations or false declarations of conformity
• Escalating penalties for repeat offenses

Each EU member state will have its own enforcement authority, and companies shipping into multiple markets face the complexity of navigating 27 separate penalty regimes — all enforcing the same underlying regulation.

What eCommerce Operations Teams Should Do Now

Four months is not a comfortable timeline for supply chain changes. Here is what logistics and operations leaders should prioritize:

1. Audit your current packaging mix. Measure the actual empty space ratio across your most-shipped SKUs and box sizes. If your average parcel is in the 40-60% empty space range — which industry data suggests is typical — you already know you have a compliance gap.

2. Map your box size library to your product catalog. The root cause of excess empty space is almost always a mismatch between available box sizes and actual product dimensions. Most fulfillment operations stock 5-10 box sizes and default to “the next size up.” That approach will not survive the PPWR.

3. Eliminate void fill as a default. Void fillers are classified as empty space. Every air pillow and sheet of bubble wrap in your parcels counts against you. The goal is right-sized packaging that protects the product without requiring filler — not better filler.

4. Evaluate packaging automation. Manual packing processes rely on individual judgment, which produces inconsistent results. Automated or software-assisted packaging selection — where the system recommends or selects the optimal box based on item dimensions — produces measurably more consistent compliance outcomes.

5. Prepare your documentation. The PPWR requires declarations of conformity for each packaging type and supporting technical documentation to be available by August 12, 2026. Start building this documentation now, including records of how packaging decisions are made and why your empty space ratios are within limits.

6. Coordinate with your marketplace and 3PL partners. If you sell through online marketplaces or use fulfilment service providers, align on who owns which compliance obligations. Marketplace platforms are already building verification systems — make sure your EPR registrations are current and your packaging data is accessible.

The Strategic Opportunity

Regulation creates urgency. But the business case for packaging optimisation existed long before the PPWR.

Right-sized packaging reduces dimensional weight charges — the shipping cost calculation based on package volume rather than actual weight. For many eCommerce operations, dimensional weight is the dominant cost driver. Reducing empty space by even 15-20% can meaningfully lower per-shipment costs at scale.

It also reduces material costs, warehouse storage requirements (fewer box SKUs, less void fill inventory), and environmental impact — all of which matter to increasingly sustainability-conscious consumers.

The PPWR is not creating a new problem. It is putting a hard deadline on a problem that operations teams have been living with — and paying for — for years.

What Comes Next

This is the first piece in a two-part series. On Friday, we will look at the technology and automation side: how modern delivery management platforms are helping eCommerce businesses solve the packaging optimisation challenge operationally, not just on paper.

The regulation is set. The deadline is fixed. The question is whether your operation will be ready.