New EU regulation finally cuts massive CPU boxes down to size

Once upon a time I bought a single, very much regular sized eyebrow pencil online. It arrived in a needlessly MASSIVE cardboard box, presumably for ease of storing in the back of a delivery van. Thankfully most of that box was recyclable, but the same cannot be said for what’s become typical for CPU boxes.

For me, excitement for new hardware is only matched by the existential dread that arises when confronted with a CPU box full of styrofoam packing peanuts that you know is just gonna go straight to landfill. Well, perhaps no longer; as of February 11, new EU regulation came into effect that will see those pesky CPU boxes finally cut down to size (via TechPowerUp).

The European Commission’s refreshed Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) seeks a number of aims, though the most pertinent here would be, “Minimising the weight and volume of packaging and avoiding unnecessary packaging.” Some are already wondering aloud whether this means those cooler bundles CPU manufacturers are so fond of may soon become a thing of the past, but I’m unsure whether those would fall under the designation of “unnecessary” packaging—surely some people use those bundled coolers, even if most of us rightly slap on a third-party one.

We already have EU regulation to thank for standardised charging ports on your phone, stronger legislation around ‘right to repair,’ and—with a bit of luck—the avoidance of anything like an AI monopoly in the future. This latest packaging regulation gives manufacturers far and wide an 18-month grace period to get their act together for a hopefully less wasteful, potentially greener future. That means the days of Destiny engram-esque packaging or any of the infamous examples seen in this story are decidedly numbered.

Furthermore, the PPWR aims to both “make all packaging on the EU market recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030,” and “decrease the use of virgin materials in packaging and put the sector on track to climate neutrality by 2050.” E-waste is something that continues to give me The Fear, so I definitely welcome the European Commission taking aim at wasteful packaging more broadly.

Practically speaking (and less full of existential dread), holding on to the original box can be handy for ensuring delicate tech survives, say, a stressful house move. For this reason, I’ve been wishing for a long time that hardware boxes were ever so slightly smaller—after all, if the boxes for my anime figures can form a pleasingly compact fort, then why not CPUs?