Draft EPR Statutory Instrument (SI) laid in parliament

The draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 were laid in parliament on 24 October, where they will need to ‘sit’ for 40 days before being passed.

The Statutory Instrument (SI) will revoke and replace the EPR data reporting regulations currently in place and the 2007 PRN regulations. In May of this year they were notified, as a legal requirement, to the World Trade Organisation and the EU.

DEFRA intends that the legislation will be passed by 1 January 2025, as it contains provisions for wider aspects of EPR, such as obligations on liable producers to pay waste management fees and details of the Scheme Administrator's responsibilities.

The SI will also introduce a number of other changes and regulatory additions to the system including:

• Provisions for ‘regulator charges’ – owed by producers to the Environment Agency and other regulators for their enforcement activities
• An amendment to the definition of ‘shipment packaging’ to ensure it only captures packaging being delivered to consumers as opposed to businesses, and transitional arrangements for any resubmissions needed
• The obligation for businesses classed as small producers under EPR to register and report packaging data from April 2025
• The transition from shared supply chain compliance under the 2007 regulations, to the single point of compliance for both recycling obligations (i.e. the PRN system) and local authority waste management fees

Once the SI is passed it will mean 2025 is the first year of full EPR arrangements, and the requirement to report data and pay costs under the 2007 PRN regulations will be withdrawn.

The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 draft SI can be viewed here on gov.uk.