Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is the principle that whoever places a product or packaging on the market must bear its environmental cost at the end of its life: collection, recycling and waste treatment. In practice, this means registering, joining a collective scheme, and periodically declaring how much you have placed on the market.
The key point: EPR is not a tax the end customer pays transparently. It is your obligation as seller, importer or manufacturer, and platforms (Amazon, Mirakl marketplaces) increasingly require your EPR registration number before letting you sell.
Who it affects and the regulatory framework
EPR stems from the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) and specific directives such as the Packaging Directive (94/62/EC). Each member state transposes it with its own registry and its own rates. In Spain, Law 7/2022 and Royal Decree 1055/2022 on packaging have extended EPR to commercial and industrial packaging, not just household packaging. France has a more mature system (AGEC categories, unique identifier), and Germany has the LUCID registry and the VerpackG law.
Beyond packaging, EPR covers batteries, electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), textiles, furniture and tyres, each with its own scheme. If you sell physical products within the EU, you are very likely to fall into at least one category.
Why it gets complicated when you sell in several countries
- Each country has its own registry and its own EPR number.
- Material categories and ecotaxes do not match between states.
- Filing frequency varies: monthly, quarterly or annual.
- What counts is the destination country of the sale, not the country of origin.
- You must declare weight per material (cardboard, plastic, glass, aluminium...), not units.
The usual result is an admin team gathering orders from each marketplace at the end of the quarter, multiplying packaging weights by hand and reconciling declarations in spreadsheets. It's slow, error-prone and impossible to audit.
How it works inside Odoo
The idea is to model EPR where the data already lives: the product and the sale. You attach each product's packaging composition — weight per material and, where relevant, the EPR category (packaging, WEEE, battery...). When a sale or delivery is confirmed, Odoo knows the destination country and can automatically accumulate weight per material and per country for the corresponding period.
From there, the module generates a per-country, per-period report ready to transfer into the declaration for the relevant collective scheme, with the weight breakdown per material and full traceability down to the order line that generated it. No more recounting by hand.
What to watch out for
- Keep your packaging composition up to date: if you change box suppliers, update the weight.
- Distinguish product packaging from shipping packaging: both count.
- Watch marketplace sales carefully: in some cases the platform declares for you, in others it doesn't.
- EPR is ongoing: registering is not enough — you have to declare every period.
One last honest note: the module automates the calculation and prepares the declaration, but it doesn't replace registering with each country's registry or joining the collective scheme. That legal part is still yours; what you save is the repetitive manual work and the risk of errors in the numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What is extended producer responsibility (EPR)?
It's the obligation of whoever places a product or packaging on the market to fund its collection, recycling and management as waste, usually by joining a collective scheme (a PRO) and declaring volumes.
Does EPR change from country to country?
Yes. Each state has its own registry, ecotaxes, material categories and filing frequency, so selling in several countries multiplies your obligations.
Can EPR be calculated from Odoo?
Yes. By attaching packaging weights and materials to each product, Odoo can accumulate the quantities per country and period from your real sales and prepare the declaration.
Who has to file cross-border EPR?
Whoever introduces the product into each market: the seller on marketplaces, the importer, or the manufacturer, depending on the country and the sales model.
Want to know if it fits your Odoo?
We'll set up a short call and review your catalogue, the countries you sell in and your filing frequency to tell you whether EPR calculation is automatable in your case. Book on Calendly (calendly.com/flexigotech0) or call +34 616 809 504.