UK a step closer to packaging Extended Producer Responsibility
A notification of the draft UK Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 has been sent to the EU and World Trade Organisation.
This applies to all four administrations of the UK.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has stated this will bring the UK closer to meeting its commitment to introduce packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) from 2025.
The full draft Regulations are available for stakeholders online.
pEPR legislation will be brought before the UK Parliament later this year, with the aim of it coming into force by 1 January 2025.
Producers will be required to report the amount of packaging they place on the market.
This reporting will then be used to charge producers fees and pay local authorities (LA) for managing packaging waste.
Stakeholder feedback has driven changes to the draft Regulations.
These changes include:
- The addition of recycling targets for 2025-2030.
- Introducing a provision that ensures if a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) has not been established by 1 January 2028, producers of drinks containers made of PET plastic, aluminium and steel will be subject to the full range of pEPR obligations until a DRS is operational for this material.
- Amending the labelling provisions, so all labelling obligations will now come into force on 1 April 2027.
- The removal of provisions on binned waste and litter payments, which will now be delivered through a separate regulation.
- The Scheme Administrator (SA) must now provide guidance on the methodology used and factors considered in assessing net-efficient disposal costs and effectiveness.
- Revisions to the household packaging definition to widen the criteria. This allows packaging to become exempt from being classified as household packaging, and therefore exempt from disposal cost fees. This definition mirrors the definitions in the relevant data reporting regulations in each nation.
Further detail on these changes, and other key changes made to the Regulations can be found online.
A stakeholder webinar on the changes made to the draft Regulations and the next steps will be held on Thursday 9 May 2024 between 11:00am – 12:30pm.
By 31 May, if packaging producers have not reported their data, they may face enforcement action.
Packaging data for all of 2023 is due in two reports, each covering half of the year.
This data is essential to ensure the fees on which this scheme is based, are accurate. Further details are available online.
And further support is available through a helpdesk.
To prepare businesses for the implementation of the pEPR scheme and support its delivery, the four UK administrations intend to release a call for evidence shortly.
As part of this, DEFRA intends to publish a set of illustrative base fees, following industry calls for information on costs.
Its email packaging inbox can also be contacted for further information on pEPR.
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