Packaging and products
Battery regulations: producer responsibility and take-back
Anyone who places batteries on the UK market for the first time, on their own or inside equipment, is a battery producer under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators...
Environmental compliance for manufacturing businesses
Manufacturers typically face the widest spread of obligations: waste duty of care and hazardous waste, packaging EPR and plastic packaging tax on what they ship, ESOS and SECR if they are large, environmental permits for process emissions, F-gas for refrigeration, and climate change agreements for energy-intensive sectors.
Not sure which apply? Use the compliance checker or ask for a free review.
Guides most relevant to manufacturing
Property and development
Biodiversity net gain (BNG) for development in England
Most planning permissions in England must deliver a biodiversity net gain of at least 10%, measured with the statutory biodiversity metric and secured for 30 years....
Energy and carbon
Climate change agreements and the Climate Change Levy
A climate change agreement (CCA) lets an energy-intensive site pay a reduced rate of Climate Change Levy, 92% off electricity and 89% off gas from 1 April 2026, in...
Packaging and products
Deposit return scheme for drinks containers (from October 2027)
From 1 October 2027 a deposit will be added to single-use drinks containers of 150ml to 3 litres made of PET plastic, aluminium or steel across the UK, refunded when...
Waste and resources
Mandatory digital waste tracking
Digital waste tracking replaces paper records with a single UK-wide digital service. In the first phase, operators of permitted and licensed sites that receive waste...
Permits, air and water
Environmental permits: who needs one, how to apply and what it costs
An environmental permit is the legal authorisation you need before running an activity that could pollute air, water or land, such as an industrial installation, a...
Energy and carbon
ESOS Phase 4 (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme)
ESOS Phase 4 requires every large UK undertaking (250 or more employees, or turnover above £44 million and a balance sheet above £38 million) and its UK group to...
Permits, air and water
F-gas regulations for refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps
Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases), mainly the HFC refrigerants in chillers, cold rooms, air conditioning, heat pumps and vehicle refrigeration, are controlled in...
Waste and resources
Hazardous waste: classification, consignment notes and returns
Hazardous waste (called special waste in Scotland) includes oils, solvents, paints, batteries, fluorescent tubes, asbestos, many chemicals and contaminated...
Reporting and management systems
ISO 14001:2026 environmental management systems
ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management systems (EMS). The revised ISO 14001:2026 was published on 15 April 2026 and strengthens...
Permits, air and water
Medium combustion plant and specified generator permits
Any boiler, engine or turbine with a rated thermal input of 1 MW or more but less than 50 MW is a medium combustion plant (MCP) and needs an environmental permit...
Packaging and products
Packaging EPR (extended producer responsibility for packaging)
Packaging EPR makes the businesses that put packaging on the UK market pay the full cost of collecting and managing it when it becomes household waste. You are...
Packaging and products
Plastic packaging tax
Plastic packaging tax is charged on finished plastic packaging components manufactured in or imported into the UK that contain less than 30% recycled plastic. The...
Energy and carbon
SECR reporting (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting)
SECR reporting requires UK quoted companies, and unquoted companies and LLPs that exceed two of three tests (turnover over £36 million, balance sheet over £18...
Packaging and products
Single-use plastics bans, vapes, wet wipes and carrier bag charges
Each UK nation bans the supply of a list of single-use plastic items, enforced by councils and Trading Standards: plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, trays, balloon...
Reporting and management systems
UK Sustainability Reporting Standards and climate disclosures
The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards, UK SRS S1 (general sustainability) and S2 (climate), are the UK's endorsed versions of the ISSB standards, published on 25...
Energy and carbon
UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (UK CBAM) from 2027
From 1 January 2027 the UK CBAM places a carbon price on imports of aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, iron and steel goods, equivalent to what UK producers pay...
Energy and carbon
UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS)
The UK ETS is a cap-and-trade scheme covering power generation, energy-intensive industry with combustion plant over 20 MW, aviation and, since 1 July 2026, ships of...
Waste and resources
Waste carrier, broker and dealer registration (and the move to permits)
Anyone who transports waste as part of their business, arranges for waste to be moved (a broker) or buys and sells waste (a dealer) must be registered with the...
Waste and resources
Waste duty of care and waste transfer notes
The waste duty of care applies to every business and organisation in the UK that produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of waste. You must stop waste escaping,...
Waste and resources
Waste exemptions: when you can operate without a permit
A waste exemption lets you carry out a small-scale, low-risk waste operation without an environmental permit, provided you register it and stay within its limits. In...
Permits, air and water
Trade effluent consents, water discharge permits and abstraction licences
Anything other than domestic sewage and clean rainwater that leaves your site as liquid needs permission. Trade effluent to the public sewer needs a consent from your...
Packaging and products
WEEE regulations: producers, retailers and online marketplaces
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 make anyone who manufactures, imports or rebrands electrical equipment for the UK market a producer who...
Waste and resources
Workplace recycling rules: Simpler Recycling and the devolved regimes
Every UK workplace must now separate recycling and food waste from general waste, but the detail differs by nation. In England, Simpler Recycling has applied to...
Other sectors: Construction and property, Food and drink, Retail and e-commerce, Logistics and transport, Waste and recycling, Chemicals, Hospitality, Professional services.