PackUK release Recyclability Assessment Methodology v1.1

The latest version of the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) addresses several areas of improvement after industry feedback.

Completing the RAM is a legal requirement, under the packaging EPR regulations, for large producers. Obligated businesses must assess their ‘household’ packaging against the RAM, for packaging supplied from 1 January 2025 onwards.

The output of the methodology is a green, amber or red rating against ‘household’ packaging units and components that producers have supplied and reported, in turn allowing the scheme administrator – PackUK – to modulate fees in 2026 according to this recyclability rating.

After the initial release of the methodology in December 2024, government received feedback from industry concerning areas that could be improved and simplified, leading to an announcement that packaging producers should expect a modified version in April 2025.

This latest version of the RAM removes several data collection requirements from the original publication and clarifies some definitions. For example:

The definition of fibre-based composite packaging has been modified
The presence of retained residue on paper/board packaging – which previously triggered a red rating – has been removed as a condition
Labels covering more than 40% of the surface area of a plastic bottle is no longer a condition in the methodology.

A tough task ahead

“It is pleasing to see the methodology has finally been released after years of discussion about recyclability. The team at PackUK have been working at some pace to complete and publish this work after years of delays by previous Governments. Those delays earlier in the process will mean packaging producers have a tough task ahead to rate each of their household items by this October. Fortunately, Ecosurety are releasing a solution that will make life easier for our members. We're excited to get cracking now and help companies understand their impacts.”