There are now just two weeks to go for businesses to submit 2024 packaging data under the new extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) scheme. 

Under legislation which came into force on 1 January 2024, large organisations must submit their July-December 2024 data by 1 April. 

Small organisations must submit their January-December 2024 data in one annual submission by 1 April. 

In addition, all obligated organisations, large and small, must also register with their environmental regulator by the same date. Guidance on how to register can be found here. 

The data producers provide will be crucial in helping to ensure fees are set at an appropriate level.

The Government is grateful to all those in industry who have engaged closely with pEPR and already submitted extensive data, helping to finetune the policy. If obligated packaging producers have neither reported their data nor registered, they could face enforcement action.

To check whether they need to report packaging data, businesses should visit EPR: who is affected and what to do and, if necessary, follow the online instructions to access the new Report Packaging Data service. 

pEPR will move the cost of dealing with household packaging waste away from taxpayers onto the businesses who produce the packaging.  

It will incentivise businesses to reduce unnecessary packaging and use more recycled and recyclable packaging, leading to less waste to landfill and reducing the release of damaging CO2 emissions. 

Dr Margaret Bates, head of the UK pEPR scheme administrator PackUK, said:

The need for an effective pEPR scheme that shifts the cost of managing household packaging waste to producers has never been more critical. 

We urge all businesses to check their obligations under pEPR and to report their data and register with environment regulators by 1 April. 

Together, we will deliver a fair and collaborative scheme that addresses the challenges of packaging waste and lays the foundation for a more sustainable and responsible approach to packaging.

If a firm or a member of the public suspects a business is not complying with the regulations, they should report this to the regulators by contacting them directly via the details listed below.  

• packagingproducers@environment-agency.gov.uk 
• producer.responsibility@sepa.org.uk 
• packaging@daera-ni.gov.uk  
• packaging@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk 

To report via a 24-hour telephone service, call 0800 80 70 60 for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and 0300 065 3000 for Wales. All reports are treated with strict confidentiality, with the option to report anonymously.