Parliament has approved a UK‑wide amendment to the 2024 packaging producer responsibility regime, due to come into force on 1 January 2026. The Statutory Instrument was laid on 3 November 2025 and refines definitions, reporting and charging across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The measure updates the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, which established extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging from January 2025. Those 2024 Regulations remain the legal foundation for registration, reporting and enforcement.
Material categories are clarified. “Fibre‑based composite material” is defined as paperboard or paper fibres with one or more plastic layers that cannot be separated by hand, while “paper or board” will include such items where plastic is 5% or less of mass and evidence is kept. This clarification applies for reporting from 2026, with an Environment Agency regulatory position allowing use of the new definitions for 2025 data.
The amendment introduces a closed‑loop offset that lets large producers deduct eligible food‑grade plastic household packaging that they themselves collect from consumers and have recycled back into food‑grade material by a single accredited reprocessor or exporter. The waste must not be mixed with other producers’ material and must relate to packaging the same producer supplied on or after 1 January 2024.
Using the closed‑loop offset is optional but chargeable. Producers must pay a £2,548 additional charge to report closed‑loop quantities; for 2024 and 2025 data there is a single combined payment due by 28 January 2026, with a separate payment required for 2026 data by the same date. The regulator will reject closed‑loop submissions if the charge is not paid.
Evidence standards are tightened. Producers must retain documentation from an accredited reprocessor or exporter demonstrating the amount collected from consumers and confirmation that it was recycled into food‑grade plastic materials or articles. Records should be kept for seven years in line with the base 2024 Regulations.
Corporate restructures are placed on a clearer footing. Where brands or businesses are sold, or companies merge, the new owner must inform the regulator and register or re‑register within 28 days. Data may need to be resubmitted so that packaging previously supplied under a transferred brand is treated as supplied by the acquirer for the relevant reporting periods, ensuring the right entity bears recycling obligations and related fees.
The scheme administrator gains explicit powers to issue late assessments of disposal and administration fees where a liable producer was missed at the time, using best‑available evidence and charging interest from the date the fees would have fallen due. Time limits apply, with a longer window where non‑compliance prevented timely assessment.
A Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) model is enabled to operate alongside PackUK. The PRO must be an independent not‑for‑profit body and will take on specified delivery functions such as elements of fee calculation, fee modulation, recyclability methodology and public information, subject to Four‑Nation ministerial consent. Applications opened on 3 November 2025 with appointment expected in March 2026.
PackUK remains the scheme administrator established in January 2025 to implement packaging EPR and to invoice and make payments. The PRO appointment process is designed to give producers a formal delivery role while retaining government oversight through PackUK.
Enforcement is reinforced. The core offences for producers in the 2024 Regulations continue to apply-failing to register, keep records, report or meet recycling obligations-and Scottish provisions are updated to support enforcement of data duties where Schedule 10 applies to licensors and pub operating businesses. Organisations should review their data capture and retention processes accordingly.
Immediate actions for compliance teams are clear. Confirm whether any in‑house take‑back schemes can qualify for the closed‑loop offset and, if so, arrange the £2,548 payment and evidence pathway before 28 January 2026; verify group structures, mergers or brand transfers and prepare any resubmissions required within 28 days; and ensure accredited‑reprocessor evidence, seven‑year retention and reporting are aligned to the updated definitions from the first 2026 reporting cycle.