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>Could EU just ask DHL/Hermes/whatever to charge an additional €1 "for recycling"? Yes, but... Within EU we already pay ~€3 for packages from China. And in Aus

>Could EU just ask DHL/Hermes/whatever to charge an additional €1 "for recycling"? Yes, but... Within EU we already pay ~€3 for packages from China. And in Austria we will soon pay additional ~€2 for every delivered package. And 20% VAT. Edit: I am pretty sure at least some part of these already contribute towards recycling. The goal here is likely not just to get more funding for recycling, but rather to use materials that can be recycled in the first place. Which you cannot achieve simply by charging businesses or consumers more.

mstaoru 25d ago
> Within EU we already pay ~€3 for packages from China Yes, the point is, pay +€1 for packages from EU to EU to finance all this PPWR circus.
- mordae 25d ago
  It is already €20+ to send something from e.g. Czechia to France.
  - mstaoru 25d ago
    It doesn't matter, PPWR needs to get money from somebody to finance itself. Consumers end up paying it regardless of where PPWR's cut is taken.
deno 25d ago
This has nothing to do with EPR. The €3 for packages from China is a fixed processing fee on top of potential tariffs. They got rid of the de minimis €150 limit for tariffs and added fees on top. There was also €25 VAT de minimis limit but that’s also no longer the case since some time.
- LaurensBER 25d ago
  Important nuance here is that the €3 for packages from China is a temporary solution and will eventually (2028?) be replaced by a more permanent system which _might_ work out more favourable for electronics. Having said that, the customs duty will go to the EU budget so there's now a direct incentive for the EU to maintain or perhaps even increase this.
danielovichdk 25d ago
It should be much higher. The amount of shit that gets shipped from China to Europe (world) is fucking ludicrous, and people should be taxed heavily for the stupid shit they often don't need.
- deleted 25d ago
  [deleted]
- FpUser 25d ago
  [flagged]
  - bryanlarsen 25d ago
    You're replying to a comment that proposes a market-based solution. Shipping has externalities. Those externalities should be included in the cost of shipping. Then the market will make the right decision.
    - Betelgeux 25d ago
      Well, if some bureaucratic governing body provides decisions based on some opaque system, and forces these upon market participants - usually that is regarded just the opposite of market-based solutions in economics. Those decisions do have zero chance of internalizing external costs, but most likely will just add an other layer of externality and move the process even more into the field of non-market based coordination mechanisms.
    - timmmmmmay 25d ago
      Every time I see somebody make an argument about "externalities" it's never actually backed up with any fact-based analysis about the magnitude of them. It's always exclusively vibes-based, "this thing you like is too cheap, it should be prohibitively expensive to make up for the thing I just thought of"
      - anigbrowl 25d ago
rvba 25d ago
DHL charges 1 eur for recycling, which it pockets since the envelope or box with thr product went to the consumer... who throws it away to the segregated garbage bin - for which every consumer also pays.
- thesimon 25d ago
  > for which every consumer also pays. Idk, at least in Germany paper and (plastic) recycling is free. I only have to pay for organic trash and trash to be burned.
  - emsign 25d ago
    That's correct. In Germany we pay "indirectly" via the end price. Meaning whoever has to pay the afforementioned EPR fee is free to add their cost to the price of the product.
    - yayachiken 25d ago
      But to be fair, at least paper disposal is truly free because paper recycling generally turns a profit for the municipalities.
  - arielcostas 25d ago
    In Spain we pay the "tasa de gestión de residuos" (residue management tax) to our city, for all recycling in general. doesn't matter if it's paper, plastics/packagings, organics (many cities now collect those separat from non-organic) and other residues. It also includes the "punto limpio", a place to take larger electronics, batteries, car fluids and other stuff you can't just throw to the bin. Old medicine is collected at pharmacies though, it's a separate thing to avoid animals or people looking from the trash from getting medication, that could be dangerous. How is recycling free but you've got to pay for organics? Don't you just pay a tax (or pay it indirectly through income tax or VAT)? And you've got the whole returning the plastic bottles on the supermarket thing too, right?
  - philipallstar 24d ago
retired 25d ago
Not just China. Also packages from Japan and Thailand get this charge.
piltdownman 25d ago
In Ireland, the National Postal Service (An Post) charges €6.95 processing on top of the €3 Customs Charge. An additional €2 handling fee per product is expected in November 2026. All subject to 23% Vat. So we go from €3 to about €15 a package ordering from the UK. The country we have a visa-less Common Travel Area exclusive from Schengen, without a land or sea border. You could feasibly pay less accompanying such a package in an Uber from Northern Ireland to Ireland (e.g. UK->EU). Joined up thinking at its finest to benefit the Benelux at the expense of the periphery.

mstaoru 25d ago

> Within EU we already pay ~€3 for packages from China Yes, the point is, pay +€1 for packages from EU to EU to finance all this PPWR circus.

mordae 25d ago
It is already €20+ to send something from e.g. Czechia to France.
- mstaoru 25d ago
  It doesn't matter, PPWR needs to get money from somebody to finance itself. Consumers end up paying it regardless of where PPWR's cut is taken.

deno 25d ago

This has nothing to do with EPR. The €3 for packages from China is a fixed processing fee on top of potential tariffs. They got rid of the de minimis €150 limit for tariffs and added fees on top. There was also €25 VAT de minimis limit but that’s also no longer the case since some time.

LaurensBER 25d ago
Important nuance here is that the €3 for packages from China is a temporary solution and will eventually (2028?) be replaced by a more permanent system which _might_ work out more favourable for electronics. Having said that, the customs duty will go to the EU budget so there's now a direct incentive for the EU to maintain or perhaps even increase this.

danielovichdk 25d ago

It should be much higher. The amount of shit that gets shipped from China to Europe (world) is fucking ludicrous, and people should be taxed heavily for the stupid shit they often don't need.

deleted 25d ago
[deleted]
FpUser 25d ago
[flagged]
- bryanlarsen 25d ago
  You're replying to a comment that proposes a market-based solution. Shipping has externalities. Those externalities should be included in the cost of shipping. Then the market will make the right decision.
  - Betelgeux 25d ago
    Well, if some bureaucratic governing body provides decisions based on some opaque system, and forces these upon market participants - usually that is regarded just the opposite of market-based solutions in economics. Those decisions do have zero chance of internalizing external costs, but most likely will just add an other layer of externality and move the process even more into the field of non-market based coordination mechanisms.
  - timmmmmmay 25d ago
    Every time I see somebody make an argument about "externalities" it's never actually backed up with any fact-based analysis about the magnitude of them. It's always exclusively vibes-based, "this thing you like is too cheap, it should be prohibitively expensive to make up for the thing I just thought of"
    - anigbrowl 25d ago

rvba 25d ago

DHL charges 1 eur for recycling, which it pockets since the envelope or box with thr product went to the consumer... who throws it away to the segregated garbage bin - for which every consumer also pays.

thesimon 25d ago
> for which every consumer also pays. Idk, at least in Germany paper and (plastic) recycling is free. I only have to pay for organic trash and trash to be burned.
- emsign 25d ago
  That's correct. In Germany we pay "indirectly" via the end price. Meaning whoever has to pay the afforementioned EPR fee is free to add their cost to the price of the product.
  - yayachiken 25d ago
    But to be fair, at least paper disposal is truly free because paper recycling generally turns a profit for the municipalities.
- arielcostas 25d ago
  In Spain we pay the "tasa de gestión de residuos" (residue management tax) to our city, for all recycling in general. doesn't matter if it's paper, plastics/packagings, organics (many cities now collect those separat from non-organic) and other residues. It also includes the "punto limpio", a place to take larger electronics, batteries, car fluids and other stuff you can't just throw to the bin. Old medicine is collected at pharmacies though, it's a separate thing to avoid animals or people looking from the trash from getting medication, that could be dangerous. How is recycling free but you've got to pay for organics? Don't you just pay a tax (or pay it indirectly through income tax or VAT)? And you've got the whole returning the plastic bottles on the supermarket thing too, right?
- philipallstar 24d ago

retired 25d ago

Not just China. Also packages from Japan and Thailand get this charge.

piltdownman 25d ago

In Ireland, the National Postal Service (An Post) charges €6.95 processing on top of the €3 Customs Charge. An additional €2 handling fee per product is expected in November 2026. All subject to 23% Vat. So we go from €3 to about €15 a package ordering from the UK. The country we have a visa-less Common Travel Area exclusive from Schengen, without a land or sea border. You could feasibly pay less accompanying such a package in an Uber from Northern Ireland to Ireland (e.g. UK->EU). Joined up thinking at its finest to benefit the Benelux at the expense of the periphery.