8 May 2024

Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) update

On Wednesday the 1 May the draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) regulations were sent to the EU (in respect of NI) and the WTO (for the labelling requirements) bringing closer the governments commitment to introducing packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) by 2025.

The legislation will now be brought forward before the UK parliament later in the year, with the aim of coming into force by 1 January 2025. Producers are required to report the amount of packaging they place on the market, for the period January to December 2024 and this will be used to charge producer fee and pay local authorities for managing packaging waste for the period April 2025 to March 2026.

These draft regulations have undergone several significant changes including:

• The addition of recycling targets for 2025 to 2030
• The extension of the regulations to cover drinks containers (PET plastic, aluminium and steel) if a DRS has not been established by 2028
• Pushing labelling provisions back to 1 April 2027
• The removal of binned waste and litter payments
• Guidance and methodology for assessing net efficient disposal costs and effectiveness
• The revision of the household waste definition

The reporting requirements under EPR however have been in force since 1 March 2023. For large producers the first report covered the period 1 March 2023 (or 1 January 2023 if the data was available) to 30 June 2023 and the second period covers 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2023. The reporting deadline for the first period was 1 October 2023 and for the second period was 1 April 2024, although the government has relaxed this deadline until 31 May.

Defra has recently informed us that only around 1/3 of the registered producers have uploaded data and has stressed that if packaging producers have not reported data by the new deadline, they may face enforcement action.

So please ensure that you contact us if you feel you may be covered by the legislation and avoid any penalties.

The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 came into effect on 1 April 2024.

These new regulations amend and clarify the previous Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation which came into force on 1 March 2023.

EPR currently requires a printing company to register and report their data where they import or supply packaging and:

• have an annual turnover of £1 million or more (based on your most recent annual accounts)
• were responsible for more than 25 tonnes of packaging in a year.

For large producers where annual turnover exceeds £2 million, and 50 tonnes of packaging – there will be recycling fees to pay also at a date yet to be confirmed – but likely 2025.

One of the main elements of the new regulations are to tighten up on the definition of Household Waste. It states that Household packaging is primary or shipment packaging that is NOT:

• packaging supplied to a business or to a public institution which in either case is the final user of that packaging.
• packaging for a product is designed only for use by a business or a public institution, and he packaging for that product is not reasonably likely to be disposed of in a household bin or a public bin.
• packaging imported into the United Kingdom by an importer and discarded in the United Kingdom by that importer.

In order to assess whether the packaging will only be supplied to a business or a public institution the Environment Agency will be looking at the following factors:

• the size of the packaging
• the weight of the packaging
• whether the supply of a product is subject to restrictions imposed by or under primary or secondary legislation
• how available a product or its packaging is to consumers
• whether a product is likely to be used by a business in a household
• any other factor the Environment Agency considers relevant

The second major change is the introduction of new obligations for packer/fillers and distributors.

• Packer fillers are now obligated where they fill packaging on behalf of small producers
• Distributors are now obligated where packaging they manufacture/import and supply is ultimately used by a small producer, even if the distributor did not directly supply that small producer. This means if the distributor sells packaging to a wholesaler, who then sell it on to a third party, the distributor will need to know whether or not that third party is a large or small producer to find out whether or not it is obligated for the packaging. In the absence of that information the distributor will need to take on the obligation.

These regulations cover data submissions for packaging placed on the market the calendar year 2024.

Current Packaging Waste Regulations

Please note that EPR data reporting is in addition to your normal packaging waste reporting. Its essential therefore that you ensure you are complying with existing Packaging Waste Regulations to avoid any fines. These regulations apply to any company that handles over 50 tonnes of packaging waste in the previous calendar year, has a turnover of more than £2m and carries out the defined packaging activities.  

For details on compliance on these or any other matters, please contact Steve Walker on 07801 981 326 or email [email protected].