Companies in the UK are now obliged to report on and pay modulated fees for product packaging they handle. The amount each company must pay will be initially calculated according to the type of material used and who is responsible for each item of packaging placed on the market.

PackTotal software is designed to simplify the complex task of collating, categorising and analysing packaging data and ensuring accuracy.

On-Premises Solution

Our packaging data management software solution keeps your proprietary information secure by storing it in-house on your company’s servers.
The easy-to-use dashboard gives you a centralised view of your packaging data, ensuring everyone in your organisation can easily access all the tools necessary to manage your reporting.

Advanced Reporting

Collecting, formatting, and submitting compliance data can be complex and time-consuming. Calculating the volumes of each material handled is a mammoth task, and it is even more complicated to split it into the many categories and subcategories that must be reported to HMRC.

PackTotal automatically calculates and categorises the data into each packaging activity, class and material that must be reported.

EPR is based on the principle that each piece of packaging is only reported and paid for once. PackTotal reduces your liability and EPR costs by calculating the quantity of packaging for which someone else should bear the payment responsibility. PackTotal also correctly excludes packaging which is exported in the calculations.

PackTotal then produces a CSV file in the format specified by HMRC. This file is ready for submission to HMRC or via a compliance scheme.

PackTotal Data Management

So, how do we achieve this magic? Information relating to each product is loaded into your PackTotal database to collect all the necessary sustainability and materials data for every component of your product’s packaging, building a reusable library that saves you time and effort.

The most important details are the product packaging components. Knowing each component’s material, weight, and packaging level is critical. To minimise EPR liability, it is also crucial to know whether the secondary ‘shelf ready’ packaging is branded or not.

The tax liability is generated by cross-referencing the sale details with the product itself. The key points affecting categorisation are the customer size and whether the product is sold for household or non-household use. Other information required for EPR categorisation includes:

• brand owner information
• whether the product is usually shipped in whole pallets or picked
• whether the product is in HMRC’s list of ‘items that commonly end up in public bins

For each sale, PackTotal also calculates the Transit packaging required to ship the pallets of goods and adds this to the totals in the correct place.  

PackTotal also records the details of imports and exports to determine which packaging components a company is responsible for as the ‘first legal owner’ in the UK. This also enables the automatic calculation of Plastic Packaging Tax.

PackTotal also records and totals organisational and consumer ‘Self Collected’ waste collections as these are credited against your EPR liability.

How do we make data entry and data loading easy?

With the help of real users, manual data entry has been designed to be as quick and intuitive as possible.

Some companies prefer a more automated solution, so PackTotal can load data from external sources. Initially, product and component data can be loaded into the database. Then, as an ongoing process, sales data can be loaded in from Excel sheets each week or month. This way, a company can see its liabilities on a continuously updated basis.

How do we ensure accuracy?

We appreciate that not all the component, product, and customer data is necessarily present at the start of the process. To assist in data completion, we have an innovative solution called “Missing Data Reports,” which identifies what data still needs to be added to the system before an EPR return can be finalised.

In the screenshot above, you can see the list of components with missing data. The orange cells show the data that must be completed. Manual checking is not required.

What documentation is required?

HMRC requires proof of exemptions, such as PCR declarations. PackTotal can store documents for Components, Products, and Consignments and warn of documents with a limited expiry date.

What else does PackTotal help with?

PackTotal does so much more than just EPR calculations. It deals with Plastic Packaging Tax returns, easy reporting to third parties and calculates annual waste material totals. It allows complete visibility of your product packaging.

In conclusion:

PackTotal ties together the disparate data required to calculate EPR returns accurately. It determines what a company must report and excludes anything that is the responsibility of others in the supply chain, thus minimising EPR liabilities.

If you’re struggling with EPR data contact us to discuss how we can help you streamline your data collection and compliance reporting or to schedule a demo.