EPR scheme administrator formally launched as PackUK

The packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme administrator has been officially established today as PackUK, from its former iteration as the ‘interim scheme administrator’.

The EPR scheme administrator will hold a number of important functions under the scheme including:

• Setting the waste management fee rates for large producers reporting ‘household’ packaging
• Collecting the funds from businesses and distributing them to local authorities to reimburse them for waste packaging management
• Deliver public communication and information campaigns to consumers

The design and set up of PackUK has been supported by an industry-led steering group that included Ecosurety. PackUK is a function of Defra but will eventually be advised by a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) that will be appointed in the future, the establishment of which is currently being led by the Food and Drink Federation. The administrator will eventually ‘act on the recommendations of this group, to maximise value chain involvement whilst providing robust governance’.

The administrator has been formalised ahead of the first waste management fee invoices that are charged to large producers, later in the year. PackUK will act as the not-for-profit pEPR administrator for all of the four UK nations, and will be funded by the producer fees.

To mark the launch, PackUK will host an event at the Packaging Innovations Birmingham conference on 12 and 13 February. The event will provide an opportunity to engage with the team, followed by a session on pEPR hosted by Mary Creagh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Defra.