The government has made the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1369), approved by both Houses and applying UK‑wide with devolved consent. They amend S.I. 2024/1332 and come into force on 1 January 2026, with targeted transitional measures running into 2026 and 2027, according to legislation.gov.uk.
The instrument introduces a closed loop offset within the extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme, clarifies producer definitions and household packaging categorisation, creates explicit rules for mergers and brand transfers, permits the appointment of Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs), updates offences and enforcement tools, and uprates fees. DEFRA presents these as technical amendments to the 2024 regime rather than a redesign.
Closed loop packaging waste is defined narrowly. It must be food‑grade plastic household packaging that became waste, originated from filled packaging supplied on or after 1 January 2024 and already reported by that same producer, was collected directly from the consumer by or for that producer without mixing with other materials, and was sent by that producer to a single reprocessor (which may operate multiple sites, including overseas) for recycling into food‑grade plastics. Evidence must come from an accredited reprocessor or exporter under the 2024 Regulations.
Record‑keeping is tightened. Producers must retain required data and evidence for seven years. For closed loop claims they must hold proof of the quantities collected from consumers, that all elements of the closed loop definition are met, and that the material has been recycled into food‑grade plastic articles meeting the EU plastics food contact requirements referenced in the instrument (Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and, where recycled, Regulation (EU) No 282/2008).
Reporting is re‑baselined. Schedule 4 paragraph 12 now requires producers to report, by packaging category, relevant packaging waste recycled in the period, and-if eligible and paid for-closed loop waste recycled into food‑grade plastics. Aggregation across multiple reprocessors is generally prohibited, except for a one‑off allowance in the reporting period in which a producer switches reprocessor and sends no further closed loop material to the previous one. Sellers are no longer listed against paragraph 12 in the record‑keeping and reporting tables.
Disposal fees are recalculated to recognise both relevant packaging waste and closed loop packaging waste by category. Closed loop amounts may only be off‑set where the producer has paid an additional registration charge. The scheme administrator must set the “CW” input using reported or, in certain late‑assessment cases, estimated data and must set CW to zero if off‑sets exceed the household packaging a producer reported for the relevant year. Modulation is expanded so fees can reflect whether a producer uses no more packaging material than reasonably necessary. Administration fees can now include payments where the scheme administrator delegates functions, including to a PRO.
A formal late assessment regime is introduced. If a person was not originally treated as a liable producer but should have been, the scheme administrator can notify, allow representations, and then assess disposal and administration fees using best available estimates where the producer has not reported data. Interest can be charged from the date payment would have fallen due. Assessments are limited to four years after the end of the assessment year, extendable to ten years where non‑compliance prevented earlier calculation.
Producer status is clarified along the supply chain. Once the “first producer” has supplied packaging, no subsequent party becomes a producer through onward supply, other than a seller. If a new component (for example, a label) is added later, producer status for that component is determined afresh under the usual rules. For filled packaging bearing multiple brands, the producer is either the brand owner that made the first supply or, failing that, the brand owner occupying the largest external surface area.
Packaging categories are refined. “Fibre‑based composite material” is redefined, and “paper or board” now includes certain fibre‑based items if the plastic layer(s) are no more than 5% by mass and the supplying producer holds evidence. The household packaging definition is adjusted, and exempt packaging is expanded to include deposit items under relevant deposit schemes and lines benefiting from a low‑volume exemption. The term “marine installation” is defined for completeness.
Charity treatment is recast. Charities acting as producers are excluded from producer responsibility obligations under regulation 25 and Part 3, and from liability for annual disposal and administration fees. Separately, charities operating as reprocessors or exporters have deferred registration dates to 1 January 2027; associated offences and civil sanctions relating to registration are disapplied until then.
Corporate mergers are placed on a clear statutory footing. A merged body corporate is treated as large if any merging entity was large in the merger year, must register promptly, and is treated as having supplied the sum of all packaging supplied before and after the merger in that year. It inherits continuing obligations and unpaid liabilities, and PRNs/PERNs obtained pre‑merger may transfer to the merged entity to meet inherited recycling obligations. Disposal and administration fee liabilities for the current and previous assessment years follow into the merged entity.
Transfers of brands or businesses trigger data and liability shifts. The transferee must notify within 28 days and register or re‑register if necessary. For the transfer year and the following two years, large/small status is derived from “adjusted” turnover and packaging tonnage combining specified portions of the transferor’s figures. Both parties must submit or resubmit data for the periods ending 30 June and 31 December in the transfer year and the prior year; packaging supplied under the acquired brand or business is treated as if supplied by the transferee. Associated recycling obligations and fee calculations move across accordingly.
Governance of the scheme expands. Where the Secretary of State or a statutory body acts as scheme administrator, it may appoint a not‑for‑profit body corporate (not a charity) as a Producer Responsibility Organisation to perform specified functions. Appointments require consent from the appropriate authorities, run for set periods, and cannot permit the administrator to direct operational decisions. Appointments can be extended, varied, or revoked, including on mandatory or discretionary exclusion grounds under the Procurement Act 2023. On expiry or revocation, essential property, data, contracts, IT, and staff can transfer to ensure continuity. The complaints procedure now also covers actions by PROs or other delegated bodies.
Controls on evidence and market instruments tighten. Reprocessors and exporters must not issue PRNs or PERNs where one has already been issued for the same packaging waste, closing off double counting. Information provided to any appropriate agency, the scheme administrator, or an appointed PRO may be shared between them. Appeal rights expressly cover late assessments. Compliance notices are now available for certain registration‑condition breaches. It is an offence to report closed loop data without paying the additional registration charge, and in Scotland new offences apply to specified licensors and pub operating businesses that fail to collect, keep, or report data under Schedule 10.
Charges increase across the system and a new closed loop charge is created. Examples include large producer registration at £2,842, small producer registration at £1,303, exporter registration at £1,571, and an additional £2,548 payable by large producers that wish to report closed loop tonnages. Comparable increases apply to compliance schemes and to reprocessor/exporter accreditation bands. The annual inflation step now advances from 2027. For data already submitted, producers may amend historic 2024 and first‑half‑2025 reports to include certain material as relevant packaging waste if evidence thresholds are met; a flat £2,548 charge applies for such amendments and for including eligible 2025 material as relevant packaging waste in the 31 December 2025 report. Deadlines are 28 January 2026 for 2024 amendments and 1 April 2026 for first‑half‑2025 amendments. The scheme administrator must recalculate 2025 fees to reflect credited 2024 amendments where the charge is paid, without increasing other producers’ fees.
Operationally, compliance leads should map consumer take‑back routes, contract a single accredited reprocessor for closed loop volumes, and build evidence packs to food‑contact standards. Reporting systems need to tag closed loop material by reprocessor and packaging category and separate it from broader relevant packaging waste. Finance teams should budget for the 2026 registration cycle and the £2,548 closed loop charge, prepare for seven‑year record retention, and set controls for merger or brand‑transfer notifications within 28 days. Producers should also review fibre‑based composite versus paper/board categorisation thresholds and confirm where deposit scheme exemptions apply. Scheme administrators are asked to calculate disposal costs while facilitating the environmental effects in the policy statement published under regulation 127.