Packaging EPR (extended producer responsibility for packaging)

How packaging EPR works

Packaging EPR replaced the old packaging waste regulations in 2024. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 require obligated producers to:

1. register each year with their environmental regulator, directly or through a compliance scheme;
2. report packaging data (material, type, class and weight) so the regulators and PackUK know who put what on the market;
3. pay disposal fees (large producers only) that fund local authority collection of household packaging waste;
4. meet recycling obligations (large producers only) by buying packaging recovery notes (PRNs) and export notes (PERNs).

PackUK, the scheme administrator established within Defra, calculates and invoices the disposal fees, runs the recyclability assessment methodology (RAM) and pays the money to local authorities. The four environmental regulators register producers and enforce.

Are you a small or large producer?

Thresholds are tested on your UK turnover in your last accounts and the packaging you were responsible for in the previous calendar year. Groups are assessed as a whole through the parent company.

"Packaging handled" depends on your activity. You are the producer for packaging you brand, fill, import, or, as a distributor, supply empty to unobligated businesses. Online marketplaces are responsible for packaging on goods that non-UK sellers supply through them. Where several activities apply to the same packaging, the regulations say which one takes precedence so that each tonne is reported once.

Registration and data reporting deadlines

Data is reported by material (aluminium, fibre-based composite, glass, paper and card, plastic split into rigid and flexible, steel, wood, other), by type (household or non-household), by class (primary, secondary, shipment and tertiary) and by weight. Large producers also submit RAM assessments rating each packaging line red, amber or green, which drive the modulated fees.

Disposal fees: 2025/26 and 2026/27

Fees apply to household packaging (and some packaging likely to end up in public bins) reported by large producers. The first year used flat base fees per tonne; the final 2025/26 figures published by PackUK on 30 June 2025 were:

First notices of liability went out from October 2025 based on 2024 tonnages. For the 2026/27 scheme year fees are modulated by RAM rating: amber pays the base fee, red pays the base fee multiplied by 1.2 (rising to 1.6 in 2027/28 and 2.0 in 2028/29), and green pays less than base, by an amount that depends on the overall mix. PackUK published RAM-integrated indicative fees in December 2025 but, as at October 2026, has said it cannot confirm final year-2 fees until all producer data is checked, and intends to issue initial 2026/27 notices by the end of November 2026.

Watch out: fees are charged on what you reported. Over-reporting packaging weight, mis-classifying non-household packaging as household, or missing a RAM assessment (which defaults to red) all inflate your invoice. Check the data before the deadline, not after the notice arrives.

PRNs, PERNs and recycling obligations

Large producers must also show that a set percentage of the packaging they handle has been recycled, by buying packaging recovery notes (PRNs) from UK reprocessors or PERNs from exporters for each material. Recycling targets are set in the regulations for each year to 2030 and the price of PRNs moves with supply and demand, so the obligation is a real cost that compliance schemes manage on members' behalf. Small producers have no recycling obligation and no disposal fees at present.

How to comply, step by step

1. Work out which activities make you the producer

   Map your packaging flows: brand, pack/fill, import, distribute, online marketplace. Apply the precedence rules so each tonne is counted once.

2. Weigh and classify your packaging

   Build a specification for every packaging line: material, household or non-household, class, and weight per unit, then multiply by units supplied.

3. Run RAM assessments (large producers)

   Rate each household packaging line red, amber or green using PackUK's methodology; unassessed lines default to red and pay the 1.2× fee.

4. Register and report on time

   Small producers report once a year by 1 April; large producers report January to June by 1 October and July to December by 1 April, directly or through a compliance scheme.

5. Budget for fees and PRNs

   Use the published base fees and your RAM mix to forecast the disposal fee, and ask your scheme for a PRN cost estimate.

6. Keep records for seven years

   Packaging specifications, supplier declarations, weight data and the basis of every RAM rating.

Drinks containers and the deposit return scheme

Drinks containers that will be covered by the deposit return scheme (PET bottles, aluminium and steel cans of 150ml to 3 litres) are intended to leave packaging EPR disposal fees when DRS launches on 1 October 2027. If a DRS is delayed beyond the regulations' cut-off, those containers fall back into full EPR obligations. Glass bottles stay in packaging EPR in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland; Wales plans to include glass in its DRS with a four-year transition.

Enforcement and penalties

The regulators can prosecute producers that fail to register, report or meet their recycling obligations, with unlimited fines on conviction, and can use civil sanctions including variable monetary penalties and enforcement undertakings. Late or inaccurate data is the most common issue; the Environment Agency has published lists of unregistered producers and PackUK can issue fee notices based on the best available data where a producer has not reported.

How it differs across the UK

E England

The 2024 Regulations apply UK-wide; the Environment Agency registers and enforces English producers and PackUK invoices fees. Drinks containers in the England and Northern Ireland DRS leave disposal fees from 1 October 2027.

W Wales

Same UK regime, enforced by Natural Resources Wales. Welsh fees fund Welsh local authorities. Wales's DRS will include glass with a four-year transition, which affects which containers leave EPR.

S Scotland

Same UK regime, enforced by SEPA. Scotland is aligned with the October 2027 DRS launch for PET and metal containers; glass stays in packaging EPR.

NI Northern Ireland

Same UK regime, enforced by NIEA. Northern Ireland joins the England DRS from 1 October 2027.

Key dates

• 1 Oct 2026

  Packaging EPR: large producers submit January to June 2026 packaging data

  Large packaging producers EWSNI Annual

• Nov 2026

  PackUK intends to issue initial 2026/27 packaging EPR fee notices of liability

  Large packaging producers EWSNI Proposed

• 1 Apr 2027

  Packaging EPR: small producers submit 2026 data; large producers submit July to December 2026 data; nation of sale data becomes mandatory; annual registration

  All obligated packaging producers EWSNI Annual

• 1 Oct 2027

  Deposit return scheme launches; in-scope drinks containers leave packaging EPR disposal fees

  Drinks producers and large packaging producers EWSNI

Dates marked “Proposed” are announced or consulted on but not yet law. See the full deadlines calendar.

Fees and charges

Penalties and enforcement

Where to do it: official services

• Extended producer responsibility for packaging: report packaging data Report or submit

  Register your organisation and submit packaging data directly or as a compliance scheme member. Defra and the UK regulators EWSNI

• Check if you need to report packaging data Tool or calculator

  Work through the turnover, tonnage and activity tests to see whether you are obligated. GOV.UK EWSNI

• How to comply with extended producer responsibility for packaging Guidance

  The official guidance on thresholds, producer activities, deadlines and fees. GOV.UK EWSNI

• Packaging EPR base fees Guidance

  The published base fees per material and how they were calculated. PackUK EWSNI

• PackUK Guidance

  The scheme administrator's publications on fees, RAM and the roadmap to 2030. Defra EWSNI

• Find large producers on the report packaging data service Check a register

  Check whether a large producer or compliance scheme is registered. Environment Agency EWSNI

The law behind this

• Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1332) EWSNI
• Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023 E
• Environment Act 2021, Schedule 4 (producer responsibility obligations) EWSNI

Terms used in this guide

PackUK

The scheme administrator for packaging EPR, established within Defra, which sets and invoices disposal fees and runs the recyclability assessment methodology.

Recyclability assessment methodology (RAM)

PackUK's method for rating household packaging red, amber or green according to how recyclable it is in practice in the UK.

Large producer

A producer with UK turnover of £2 million or more that handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year; pays disposal fees and holds recycling obligations.

Small producer

A producer with turnover of £1 million or more handling more than 25 tonnes of packaging that does not meet the large producer test; reports data annually.

PRN

Packaging recovery note, issued by an accredited reprocessor as evidence that a tonne of packaging waste has been recycled; PERNs are the export equivalent.

Notice of liability

PackUK's invoice to a large producer for packaging EPR disposal fees, based on the producer's reported household packaging.

Full glossary