中文Print service providers rarely think of themselves as regulators, but a patchwork of regional laws now reaches deep into large-format and packaging print. The most consequential are the EU Deforestation Regulation, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, and a tightening web of ink-compliance rules. Understanding them helps print shops protect employee health, ensure material sustainability, and advise customers across global supply chains.
There is little international regulation; instead, regional laws affect different parts of the supply chain, so vendors must track all of them. Eckhard Heisler of Actega’s Regulatory Affairs office notes the EU often leads, with other regions adapting what Europe does, while China is becoming another challenge, sometimes issuing directives in Chinese.
The EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, covers paper-based media including paper and corrugated board, though products made with 100% recycled content are exempt. Books, newspapers, brochures, commercial print, and secondary transport packaging are also exempt, but many stationery items, most packaging, and display graphics are included. Its aim is to ensure no deforestation links to the EU supply chain. Companies must provide a Due Diligence Statement verifying compliance. This mainly hits media suppliers, but print service providers exporting to the EU must collect the DDS reference number from suppliers and share it with EU customers on request. After several delays, EUDR is likely to start at the end of 2026 for larger companies and fully by mid-2027 for smaller ones.
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR, targets reuse and recycling. It requires all packaging to be recyclable by 2030 and recyclable at scale by 2035, forces more recycled content and compostable materials, and is replacing barcodes with 2D QR codes that explain how packaging is recycled or disposed of. It is pushing ink makers to reformulate so inks support recycling without contaminating streams.
Ink-specific rules are tightening too. Swiss Ordinance and the German Ink Ordinance have eliminated CMR, or carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reproductive, chemicals. The REACH directive and ECHA list Substances of Very High Concern that must carry warnings, while EuPIA keeps an exclusion list of banned chemicals. Recent examples include TPO, a UV-ink photo-initiator banned after proving more toxic to reproduction than realized, and GBL, a solvent-ink component also misused as a date-rape drug.
Tariffs complicate supply chains further. The aggressive US tariff posture has pushed manufacturers to source raw materials from alternative countries to dodge duties, so the same ink may not be available everywhere. As Dennis Siepmann, global head of sustainability at Actega, puts it, regulation and sustainability are business drivers and a service offering: “We act as consultants to our customers.”
Finally, health and safety rules matter for staff. Recent heatwaves have prompted calls to protect workers from extreme heat, a concern that will grow with climate change. For print service providers, the takeaway is clear: compliance is no longer someone else’s problem. Knowing the rules, collecting the right documentation, and choosing reformulated, sustainable materials protects both the business and its people.
Source: FESPA (fespa.com)
