Materials

PackUK launches as pEPR Administrator

Following the introduction of pEPR regulations on 1 January 2025, PackUK will oversee fee setting, collection from obligated producers, and payments to local authorities.

Packaging being moved in warehousePackUK, the new scheme administrator for Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR), has officially launched.

Hosted by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) on behalf of the four UK nations, PackUK will be responsible for setting pEPR fee rates, collecting the fees from obligated producers, and making payments to local authorities to cover the cost of managing household packaging waste.

Additionally, PackUK will lead public communications and information campaigns aimed at encouraging proper disposal of packaging waste.

The role of PackUK will facilitate shifting the cost of managing household waste from taxpayers and local authorities to the businesses who use and supply packaging, with the objective to “boost investment into local recycling” using the revenue generated from the scheme.

Alongside Simpler Recycling in England and Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drink containers, packaging reforms are expected to stimulate approximately £10 billion investment in recycling services over the next 10 years, and support up to 21,000 new jobs in England.

PackUK governance

PackUK will be run by a Four Nations Ministerial Steering Board, an Executive Committee, and an advisory Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

The design and function of the scheme administrator was supported by an industry-led advisory steering group, chaired by former chief executive of Unilever UK & Ireland and chair of WRAP, Sebastian Munden.

PackUK will be at the Packaging Innovations Birmingham on 12-13 February 2025 to discuss the launch and offer information about the pEPR system.

How will pEPR work?

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations came into force on 1 January 2025, after obligated businesses submitted their data for the first half of 2024 by 1 October 2024.

Submissions for July to December data for both large and small businesses are required by 1 April 2025.

In October 2024, Defra released a second set of indicative fees for pEPR, outlining the estimated costs per tonnes for packaging materials, including aluminium, plastic, glass, paper and card, steel, and wood.

From 2026/27, pEPR fees will be modulated to incentivise producers to use materials with lower environmental impact. The adjustment of these fees will be handled by the scheme administrator.

For more information about the material-specific guidance ahead of the fee modulations, Defra has updated its Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM), that classifies packaging components and gives details on the collection, sortation, and reprocessing of each material.

Sector responses

Concerns about the lack of representation of local government in the governance of PackUK have been raised by North London Waste Authority (NLWA), who say that the steering group is dominated by industry voices.

Cllr Clude Loakes, Chair of NWLA, commented: "The representation by those organisations which manage the waste must be equivalent to businesses which generate the waste. Previous attempts to address unsustainable packaging have marginalised local government representation to those attempts detriment and now we see that representation minimised again, which is unacceptable during a climate emergency."

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