The UK's Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) replaces the old packaging-recovery-note (PRN) system with a scheme where obligated producers pay the full net cost of managing the household packaging they place on the market. It operates separately from the EU regime — a UK obligation is not met by an EU registration, and vice versa.
Who is obligated
Obligation depends on your size and how much packaging you handle. Broadly, organisations are split into large and small producers by turnover and packaging tonnage thresholds; large producers have the fullest duties (detailed data plus fees), while small producers have lighter reporting. Businesses below the lower thresholds may be out of scope — but should confirm rather than assume.
What you must do
Report packaging data through the government's "Report packaging data" service, split by material and, for large producers, by whether packaging is household or non-household and the nation of sale.
Pay scheme fees to the scheme administrator (PackUK), which are modulated by recyclability using the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) — a UK-specific red/amber/green style assessment that is not the same as the EU design-for-recycling grade.
Meet related duties such as nation-level data and, separately, packaging waste recycling obligations.
Thresholds, deadlines and fee details are set by the UK regulations and Defra/PackUK guidance — verify the current figures on GOV.UK before reporting.
