On 20 December the third iteration of the estimated pEPR base fees was released by Defra.
The fees will apply to packaging reported as household waste that was placed on the market by liable producers in 2024, and will be charged for in 2025. The fees cover the cost of collecting and recycling packaging waste by local authorities and are paid in addition to any PRN obligations. This is the third version of illustrative base fees, with previous iterations released in August and September this year.
The December 2024 illustrative base fees are as follows:
Material | Fee per tonne |
|---|---|
Paper | £215 |
Fibre composite | £455 |
Glass | £240 |
Aluminium | £435 |
Steel | £305 |
Plastic | £485 |
Wood | £320 |
Other | £280 |
The fees have been projected using the most recent data submitted by large organisations to the EPR Report Packaging Data portal, and the local authority waste management costs modelled using Defra’s ‘Local Authority Packaging Cost and Performance’ model.
Final fees coming in July 2025
The actual, final fees businesses will pay next year will not be confirmed until July 2025, after the full 2024 calendar years’ worth of producer data has been submitted. Whereas the previous version of the fees have provided a range of lower, intermediate and high estimates, this announcement provides a single estimate per material to ‘provide as much clarity as possible’.
In the first year of pEPR costs, liable businesses will just be charged the base fee per tonne of household packaging reported. In the second year, these costs will be modulated on the recyclability of the packaging via the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM).
Robbie Staniforth, Innovation and policy director, commented:
We welcome the publication of the new illustrative fees. Our members, some of the largest retail and consumer goods businesses in the UK, have been crying out for certainty over fees for quite some time.
"Immense changes in the new packaging compliance system mean the data set used to set fees will remain incomplete until the middle of next year at the earliest. Therefore, releasing a more accurate version of the base fees shows brave and decisive action by Government. It also shows that they are listening to stakeholder feedback about the realities of operating a business. We look forward to helping producers revise their budget lines for these new costs.”
EPR cost modelling for Ecosurety members
Our EPR cost modelling analytics tool in the Ecosurety Hub has been updated so that our members can easily review the implications on their future compliance costs. This is available for Advanced and Premium members. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact our team.
