EPR Recyclability assessments: update and explanation
From 1 January 2025, liable producers who supply household packaging must also assess the recyclability of that packaging and report the results of the assessment to regulators (Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Natural Resources Wales or the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, as appropriate).
These assessments must be submitted alongside 2025 packaging data, with a Red, Amber or Green rating for each element of the household packaging. These ratings will be used to adjust fees paid in 2026 relating to household packaging placed on the market throughout 2025.
Read our briefing to understand more about recyclability assessments and to see the final confirmed base fees to be charged in 2025 for packaging placed on the market in 2024.
Defra publish third round of EPR illustrative base fees.
Defra have now published a third round of illustrative base fees for EPR, now with a single value estimate, rather than a range. They expect to release a final round of fees after 1 April 2025, which is the deadline for reporting packaging supplied by registered producers in 2024. If you are obligated as a producer, but have not yet registered, or submitted data for 2023, please do so as a matter of urgency, or you could face enforcement action. If you believe you are exempt, we recommend you keep records of your calculations and assumptions made.
The graph to the right shows the previous range of fee estimates provided by Defra in the dark green bar. The light green boxes show the single value now estimated by Defra. The table on the right shows how the new estimate varies from the highest estimate in the previous round.
We have had the following clarification and update from Defra regarding how both registered plant names and Plant Breeder’s Rights interact with Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging legislation.
“Being the owner of the Plant Breeder Rights does not equate to being a brand owner for the purposes of packaging extended producer responsibility. The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023 defines a brand as ‘a brand name, trademark or other distinctive mark’, as the registered name of the plant does not constitute any of these things, we do not consider a plant name to constitute a brand where it is listed on the packaging for the purposes of compliance with the Plant Varieties Act 1997.
However, it is important to note that if the plant name is also a registered trademark, this would be considered a brand and as such the owner of the trade mark may have obligations under The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023.”
We have had the following clarification and update from Defra regarding how both registered plant names and Plant Breeder’s Rights interact with Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging legislation.
Updated FAQs on EPR following Defra webinar, published by Defra on 9 Jan 2024
Updated details around the reserve system, distribution labels, timing of obligations and how sellers fit into the thresholds for supplying packaging.
In the last Defra-run Business Readiness Forum of the year, it was announced that the obligation on small producers to register and report their data will be delayed to 2025. The guidance on gov.uk will be updated soon. This means that businesses who were between the lower and higher thresholds for reporting, no longer need to report their 2023 data in 2024. You should still start collecting data for 2024 to report in 2025. It was also announced that Nation of Sale data will not be required on 2023 data, but will be required on 2024 data, and this is for all businesses, not just the small producers.
Defra has announced that both the Environment Agency in England and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in Scotland have issued Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) which confirms no legal enforcements will be taken as long as data is submitted by 31 May 2024 for businesses registered in England and Scotland.
While this provides a grace period for obligated businesses to submit data, we still encourage members to do so as soon as they can to avoid non-compliance.
In addition, you can now access the platform for both uploading and submitting your packaging data on the government website
On 25th July Defra announced a delay to the implementation of EPR fees from October 2024 to October 2025, this news update can be read on the government website. However, any business that is currently obligated to report data for 2023 will still be required to report this data. The delay of fees means that any business that was previously obligated under the 2007 Packaging Waste Regulations will need to conform to these regulations for another year as well. This means reporting data into both systems and continuing to pay for PRNs and/or PERNs, but there will be no fees under EPR. In October 2025, fees will be paid based on packaging data for 2024 under the EPR system only.
Considering these changes, please note that our existing guides on EPR will now have the wrong dates, however the rest of the content remains relevant. For further information please visit the government website.
Under the current regulations they are, with the following exemption defined by the Environment Agency (applies for devolved nations as well): “Except when biodegradable and intended to be planted with the plant, or when sold containing a plant intended to stay in the pot for example, a house/patio plant”
Links you can follow:
https://bit.ly/3UJu56k- EA Agreed positions and Technical Interpretations - Producer Responsibility for Packaging document
https://bit.ly/3hh6Vqa- definition of packaging under EPR from Defra
https://bit.ly/3YivljG - list of packaging in scope of Plastic Packaging Tax from HMRC
If your business operates across multiple sites, and the sites are all subsidiaries under one parent company, the parent company will be responsible for all premises if they are under one legal entity. So if you are a garden retailer with a number of stores, but they are all under one legal entity, you do not need to split this up by store. Each legal entity will need to report if they are obligated under the thresholds and packaging activities.
If you have multiple businesses on one site, for example a retail shop, a grower business, a landscaping business, a café and a farm shop, if they are all registered under one legal entity, it is that legal entity responsible for EPR if the thresholds are met.
If you lease space, such as the coffee shop to a different company, or concession, that business’ packaging would not count towards your obligations.
You need to record and report everything that you send out, including all pallets and pallet wrap etc. Then you would record what is returned to you under backhauling. You would then be able to offset what you have received back against the PRN costs for the pallets you sent out.
If you are hiring the pallets from a service provider (such as CHEP Blue pallets) you do not need to record the pallets as they will be reported by CHEP, however you would still need to record any other packaging you add such as pallet wrap.
The trigger point is when the product is sold to a consumer. Products which remain unsold to consumers during the calendar year of reporting, will not need to be reported by sellers. They will need to be recorded from the time they are sold to a consumer, and nation of sale reports are to be made annually.
This is something we are urgently seeking clarity on, and will update members as soon as we know more.
Our current understanding is thus: If you are growing under contract for a retailer for example, and plants are ordered before they are produced by you (ie before the point of filling the plant pot with the product), the plant pots will be the responsibility of the retailer under EPR, along with any labels, tags and additional packaging. For plants you grow and then sell, this occurs after you have filled the pot and so the pot is your responsibility, and any labels or stickers you subsequently add with the retailer’s brand will be the retailer’s responsibility. Finally, all transit and shipment packaging would be your responsibility unless it is clearly branded with the retailer’s branding.
You would still be obligated if you are the brand owner/packer-filler/importer etc however, if you can prove that the packaging is not going to end up in a household waste stream, you will only be required to report and pay for PRNs and not the full net cost of compliance (top-up EPR fees).
If the box is being reused, it does not need to be recorded and reported, since it would likely have been picked up by the original filler/importer prior to you refilling it. You would be responsible for any additional packaging you add such as tape and packing materials like shredded paper or bubble wrap.
Unfortunately, this question at present is impossible to answer. No costs have been confirmed by DEFRA. If you currently have a PRN obligation it is advised to multiply this amount by a factor of ten, however, this is a very rough estimate.
