Defra releases second set of indicative fees for packaging EPR

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has published its second version of illustrative base fees for the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme.

These fees, which will apply from 2025 to 2026, outline the estimated costs per tonne for packaging materials, including aluminium, plastic, glass, paper and card, steel, and wood. This second release shows a decrease in base fees across all materials compared to the original estimates, published 15 August 2024. For most materials, except for wood, the range of fees has also been narrowed.

Methodological Changes

The updated illustrative base fees are calculated by dividing the costs incurred by local authorities for managing household packaging waste by the total weight of the relevant packaging materials placed on the market.

For each packaging category, Defra has considered two key components. The numerator includes the cost of collection, disposal, and administration. The denominator represents the total weight of that packaging category placed on the market for household use, including packaging commonly disposed of in public bins.

The second version uses updated data from the Report Packaging Data (RPD) system, which compiled tonnages reported by producers for the calendar year 2023. In the first release, the government used estimates from the Packflow Refresh 2023 reports.

For glass, the government continues to rely on the PackFlow estimates as the requirement to report drink containers in 2023 only applied to England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. From 2024 onwards, these requirements will be extended to Scotland.

Defra warns that the RPD tonnage figures could be an underestimate, as they do not include data from large producers who are required to report their data not have not, or reported their data after 9 September 2024.

The updated illustrative base fees (Table 1) continues to present a range of fee estimates - lower, intermediate and higher - to account for potential fluctuations in disposal costs, material revenue prices, and the estimated weight of household packaging entering the market.

Table 1. Second release of illustrative packaging Extended Producer Responsibility base fees for 2025 to 2026 for all packaging materials.

Further updates

As the EPR scheme moves closer to implementation, Defra emphasises that these illustrative fees are still subject to change. Final base fees will not be set until after the 1 April 2025 reporting deadline.

Defra clarified: “Government recognises that obligated producers may wish to use the higher or lower illustrative base fees to assess worst and best case scenarios. This is not recommended. While illustrative base fees can provide further clarity to support industry with early preparedness, these figures are still subject to significant uncertainty and will change in Year 1 of packaging Extended Producer Responsibility and in future years.”

For large organisations, data for the first half of the year was due by 1 October 2024, and data for the second half by 1 April 2025.

Defra will be hosting a webinar for stakeholders to ask questions, relay feedback, and receive details on matters relating to the EPR illustrative base fees. The webinar will take place on 3 October 2024 from 11:30am to 12:30pm. For those who cannot attend, a recording will be made available.