Understanding the UK’s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR)

The UK’s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme is a regulatory framework designed to make businesses responsible for the packaging waste they generate. It replaces the previous Packaging Waste Regulations and aims to improve recycling rates while shifting the financial burden of waste management from taxpayers to producers. Under this scheme, obligated businesses must report their packaging data and pay fees based on the amount and type of packaging they introduce into the market.

Businesses need to collect and report packaging data for a given year if all the following apply:  

• You’re an individual business, subsidiary or group (but not a charity).

• You have an annual turnover of £1 million or more, based on your most recent annual accounts up to 7 April 2025.

• You were responsible for importing or supplying more than 25 tonnes of packaging to the UK market in the previous calendar year.

• You carry out any of the packaging activities i.e. fill or pack. 

BioPak needs this information as we are classified as a “large” organisation under the UK’s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme. Since we sell empty packaging that is later filled by both small and large organisations, we are required to collect, report, and pay fees based on the packaging we place on the UK market. Complying with the pEPR scheme ensures that BioPak meets legal obligations and avoids potential fines.

• 2023: Businesses must start collecting and reporting packaging data (from 1 January or 1 March, depending on data availability).

• 2024: The first full year of data collection to determine 2025 fees. The reporting deadline is 1st April 2024.

• October 2025: Businesses will start paying waste management fees based on 2024 data.

Businesses required to report their packaging data will have to pay registration fees and fees calculated based on the weight and type of packaging they’ve placed on the market.

More information about fees.

• Extended producer responsibility for packaging: who is affected and what to do

• Packaging data: what to collect for extended producer responsibility

• Extended producer responsibility for packaging: Regulators’ agreed positions and technical interpretations

• What is PFAS, And Why Are BioPak Removing it?
• What it means to be a BCorp
• Combating misinformation and understanding the role of compostable packaging