Previous packaging reporting requirements to continue alongside EPR

Defra have confirmed that due to the implementation delay of EPR measures, the 2007 packaging regulation data reporting requirements will continue in 2024.

On 25 July Defra announced that the waste management fees under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging will be delayed by one year and will not come into force until 2025. The fees will apply to packaging that is deemed to be household waste or commonly ending up in public bins and aim to cover the cost of collecting and managing packaging waste by local authorities. The new EPR data reporting requirements will continue as planned however and are not delayed.

This week Defra confirmed that due to this delay, the 2007 packaging waste regulations will remain in force to calculate PRN obligations in 2024 - meaning that producers will be required to complete annual data reporting under the previous shared responsibility model, in addition to their new EPR reporting obligations under the single point of compliance. The PRN obligation will be the sole financial obligation for producers in 2024.

Defra have made clear that despite the new EPR data reporting not being used to calculate any financial obligations in 2024, it is still a legal requirement and will be used by government as a “dry run” using real-world data to test how the future waste management fees are calculated and managed, to inform the development of the system and process.

What does this mean for producers?

Obligated packaging producers will now have an extra packaging data submission, based on their 2023 packaging.

Producers obligated under the 2007 regulations will continue to be obligated under these regulations in 2024, based on their 2023 packaging. Producers will need to collect and report their annual 2023 data by 1 April 2024 (or by the deadline set by their compliance scheme) and purchase evidence of recycling to meet their obligation.

Producers also need to identify if they are obligated under the new EPR regulations, based on their 2023 packaging activities. Producers obligated under the single point of compliance will need to collect and report their 2023 data according to the new EPR data requirements, either bi-annually for large organisations, or annually for small organisations.

It is important to note that the EPR data reporting is more detailed than the 2007 requirements and the packaging that producers are obligated for may differ under each regulation requirement, due to the shift from a shared obligation model to a new single point of compliance.