EPR Reporting Starts Soon – Are you ready?

In addition to the Plastic Packaging Tax and the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is another ongoing area of reform of the UK’s Resources Waste Strategy.

EPR is designed to ensure that the full net cost (FNC) associated with the environmental disposal of a product and it’s packaging are met by the business which place the packaging onto the market. This is a significant change from the current system, which only covers the recycling of packaging waste. FNC includes the cost of collection, recycling, disposal, the clearing up of littered and fly-tipped packaging, and communications relating to recycling and tackling littering.

It is hoped this will encourage the use of easy to recycle materials in packaging.

The additional regulations for EPR are expected to have a phased implementation from 2024 and affects current packaging producers, as well as other businesses handling packaging who are currently not required to do anything.

Who will have to report under the proposed EPR regulations?

These reporting obligations will apply to all producers who have an obligation to pay packaging waste management costs:

• Brand owners who place goods into packaging
• Importers who import filled packaging into the UK for sale
• Distributors who sell unfilled packaging
• UK businesses selling through websites where filled packaging is sold online
• Service providers who supply reusable packaging by hiring out, leasing or lending

Are you ready?

It is essential that companies affected by this new legislation start their preparations for EPR now.

With the introduction of Plastic Packaging Tax data submissions have already become more demanding. Add to that the predicted additional requirements for EPR, and data submissions will reach a new level of complexity. By beginning efficient data collection now, you can ease the burden of submissions in the future.

PackTotal is a tool that can help significantly ease this burden whilst leaving you in full control of your data. PackTotal will extract waste packaging obligations from your data and convert this to the codes required for submission to HMRC. Export to a CSV in the correct format directly from PackTotal for uploading to HMRC portal.