PackUK release illustrative year 2 waste management fees

Illustrative waste management fees for the 2026 compliance year, including the first look at the impacts of eco-modulation, were published on 16 December by PackUK.  

The fees will apply to eligible packaging placed on the market by liable producers in 2025, and will be charged in the 2026/27 financial year. The fees cover the cost of collecting and recycling packaging waste by local authorities and are entirely separate from recycling (PRN) obligations.

Crucially, year 2 fees will be eco-modulated according to the Recycling Assessment Methodology (RAM).  

The illustrative year 2 waste management fees are as follows: 

The amber fee is essentially the ‘base fee’. The red fee is calculated at 1.2x the amber fee. The green fee is variable and based on the volume of red-rated packaging. PackUK have estimated the ‘green discount’ to be 9% (i.e. 0.91x the amber fee). 

While the amber fees are broadly similar to the 2025 ‘base fees’, wood has increased by 60% (from £280 per tonne in 2025 to a 2026 amber fee of £450 per tonne). 

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 (LAPCAP). The modelling also includes an inflationary increase to ensure full net cost recovery. 

PackUK also published the relative proportions of red, amber and green packaging from the 2025-H1 data submission: