Delay to small organisation packaging EPR data obligations

Defra have announced that the data reporting deadline for small organisations under EPR has now been deferred by a year to 2025.

Small organisations, those who handle less than 25 tonnes of packaging and have a turnover of less than £1 million a year, had previously been preparing to submit packaging data to the deadline of April 2024, relating to placed on the market (POM) figures from 2023. However, their first data reporting deadline will now be in April 2025, for 2024 POM data.

Under the current EPR 2023 data collection regulations, small organisations are still legally obliged to collect and record packaging data from 2023 onwards, although it will not need to be submitted. This is because the wider EPR legislation that will contain provisions for small producer data submissions and is set to replace the 2023 data regulations, has in turn been deferred by a year.

Nation of sale data deadline to be delayed

Although not confirmed officially in the government guidance, Defra have also advised that the nation of sale reporting requirement will also be postponed by a year for both small and large organisations.

The original deadline for ‘sellers’ to report nation data was again planned for 2024. However, we expect it to be confirmed soon that the first nation of sale submission will now fall in July 2025, and relate to packaging sold in 2024.

Data statutory instrument update

The data submission legislation for EPR that is in force, as mentioned above, has already undergone one amendment since it was passed in February 2023. Defra have stated they intend to amend it again in the New Year, which will affect data collection and reporting rules in 2024.

The additional amends will seek to clarify the definition of household and non-household packaging, and take account of the delay to the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme within the data reporting rules. They will also seek to ‘address loopholes, gaps or errors’ that have been identified by respondents in the recent consultation on the main EPR legislation. These include:

• Placing the obligation of unfilled branded packaging, where the brand relates to the packaging not the product (e.g. jiffy), on the pack/filler
• Amending the seller definitions, who are obliged to submit nation of sale data, to include business to business packaging
• Address the potential for double reporting of branded packaging by brand-owners and importers

We will keep our members updated as these regulation updates come into force. If you have any questions please contact your account manager directly or the wider team on .