What is the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)?
The EPR is designed to transfer the responsibility and the full net cost of managing packaging once it becomes waste; collection, sorting, treatment, as well as the actual recycling of packaging, from the taxpayer to brand owners and producers. The aim is that the direct cost of specific packaging recycling should be met by those placing the packaging onto the UK market.
Producers and importers will continue to fund the actual recycling of their packaging waste through purchasing of Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs). The EPR will fund the collection, treatment and sorting costs of packaging waste through direct payments from those producers.
The main aim of EPR is to transfer the cost to producers in order to incentivise more sustainable packaging choices. EPR will also support local authorities by funding more effective management of packaging waste and will help the UK meet their objectives under the Circular Economy Package (CEP).
Advice to Businesses:
- Review your packaging options; check the recyclability and how widely recycled your chosen packaging materials are.
- Collect data now and prepare for two submissions per year from October 2023.
- Capture packaging data by brand, and by material type from the 1st January 2023.
- Preparing for more granular reporting by polymer types and packaging formats for the second stage of EPR reporting, coming in 2025.
- Reliably automate data collection and validation where possible.
- Keep up to date with any developments on the timeline of EPR.
Who does EPR apply to and what should I do?
You need to take action if all of the following apply:
- you’re an individual business, subsidiary or group
- you have an annual turnover of £1 million or more
- you’re responsible for over 25 tonnes of packaging in a calendar year
- you carry out any of these:
- packaging own-brand products to sell to UK consumers
- using a third party to package and sell own-brand goods to UK consumers
- using 'transit packaging' to protect goods during transport so they can be sold to UK consumers
- hiring or loaning out reusable packaging to UK third parties
What you need to do
Small organisations
Definition: If your annual turnover is between £1m-£2m and you supply less than 25m tonnes of packaging, OR, your packaged goods are less than £1m and you supply between 25-50 tonnes of packaging or packaged goods.
- From 1 January 2023 take steps to record all data on the empty packaging and packaged goods you handle and supply through the UK market.
- 2024 register for the EPR for packaging online service:
- Submit data on all of the empty packaging and packaged goods you handled or supplied through the UK market.
- 2024 pay an annual fee to the environmental regulator for the period of January to December 2023. You have between 1 January 2024 and 1 April 2024 to submit the data.
Large organisations
Definition: If your annual turnover is £2 million or more AND you are handling and supplying more than 50 tonnes of empty packaging or packaged goods in the UK.
- 1 January 2023 take steps to record all data on the empty packaging and packaged goods you handle and supply through the UK market.
- From April 2023 register for the EPR for packaging online service:
- Pay a fee to the environmental regulator.
- Obtain PRNs or PERNs to meet your recycling obligations.
- Submit data on all of the empty packaging and packaged goods you handled or supplied through the UK market.
- For the period of January to June 2023. You will have between 1 July 2023 and 1 October 2023 to submit all data.
- For the period of July to December 2023. You will have between 1 January 2024 and 1 April 2024 to submit all data.
Source: Packaging waste - prepare for extended producer responsibility
What are the cost implications of EPR?
Under EPR, responsibility will now sit with one company. Producers will fund the full net cost of the collection, sorting and treatment of packaging waste. These costs are roughly estimated to be around £1.4bn.
EPR is changing the way that costs of compliance and recycling are currently spread throughout the supply chain. Under the current producer responsibility system, these costs are shared throughout the supply chain, with a percentage responsibility allocated at different points. For the part of EPR that funds the recycling process, the biggest change is in the percentage responsibility for PRNs. It is estimated that once the costs are spread amongst those obligated under the new EPR, the costs to these businesses is likely to exceed 5 times their current cost obligation, if not more.
It is estimated that EPR could generate up to £1.8bn. £1.2bn of which will be passed to Local Authorities to fund the collection, treatment and sorting of packaging waste.
Data collection will take time - so start now
EPR means businesses now have to collect more complex data on their packaging, likely introduce a new reporting format and submit data more frequently. It will take time to gather this data, so the sooner you start the better.
Ensure you are capturing the data you need in an easy to use format, automated wherever possible. Our team can help you streamline your compliance process under EPR.
With the right solution, compliance and compliance reporting can quickly become second nature. Segura provides the transparency you need by capturing your packaging data and providing automated reporting.
"The Segura platform gives us a deeper insight into our suppliers and the products and components they are providing us. This enables us to minimise risk and ensure products continue to comply with ever-tightening legal requirements. Segura’s ability to centralise all of our data and evidence onto a single platform allows the various teams to use the same robust data to underpin their decision-making, and provides the business and consumers with the confidence that we are working towards the same goals.”
About Segura
Segura Systems is a UK-based SaaS company enabling ethical, sustainable and efficient multi-tier supply chains.
Segura provides n-tier mapping, transparency, traceability, visualisation, compliance and reporting. Segura sits in the centre of your supply chain management structure creating a central repository for all your supply chain, ESG-related data and evidence, including from third-party data sources.
To learn more why not contact us today.
