Government steps in to maintain stability in first year of packaging EPR

The UK Government has confirmed a one-off intervention to address a funding shortfall identified in the first year of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility regulations.

This ensures that local authorities receive the full level of funding needed and that producer disposal fees for Year 1 remain unchanged.

PackUK, the scheme administrator for EPR, identified the shortfall following the resubmission of more accurate packaging data by producers throughout the last year.

As businesses have reassessed their obligations and become more familiar with the reporting requirements, revised submissions have resulted in a lower total packaging tonnage than initially reported.

While the EPR Regulations allow for recalculation of producer fees in circumstances like this, the government has agreed to close the funding gap for Year 1, recognising the scale and complexity of the transition to the new system.

A one-time measure to support the transition

The first year of the scheme has seen a high volume of data resubmissions as producers adapt to new obligations and reporting processes. This means overall UK packaging reported as being placed on the market has reduced, therefore the cost per tonne of the material base fees would have needed to increase. To mitigate the impact of these adjustments, and to avoid additional cost pressures on producers, the UK government has confirmed it will cover this shortfall.

Therefore, PackUK has confirmed there will be no change to Year 1 disposal fees and they will remain as set out in producers’ Notices of Liability (NoLs) – or invoices - issued in October 2025. The statement also confirms that this is a one-time intervention designed to maintain stability in Year 1 of the scheme.

Note, however, that producers who resubmitted packaging data, and whose revised submissions were accepted by regulators, will see their approved tonnages reflected in an updated Notice of Liability as normal. PackUK plans to issue these updated NoLs by the end of March.

Improving data stability in future years

As producer familiarity with the scheme continues to improve, the scale of data corrections is expected to reduce significantly in future years. PackUK may also take steps reduce the risk of late adjustments going forward by:

• Bringing forward deadlines for producer data submissions
• Using updated Year 1 data to improve guidance and future fee calculations
• Providing greater certainty to businesses to support forward planning

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