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Jurisdiction: Scotland
Commencement: 1st April 2024
Amends: The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (Scotland) Regulations 2023
The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 are in force from 28th February 2023.
Duties are imposed on producers* in Scotland to collect data on the amount and type of packaging** they put on the United Kingdom (UK) market from March 2023 (or from January 2023, if they have this data). The data is required to calculate the fees that producers will have to pay from 2025 as part of the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The new EPR system aims to deliver a more circular economy by charging producers to cover the collection and disposal costs of their packaging once it becomes waste.
*Producer, for the purposes of these Regulations, means an organisation operating in the UK as:
**Packaging is any material that is used to cover or protect goods that are sold to consumers and includes anything that is designed to be filled at the point of sale, e.g. coffee cups.
Exempt packaging
The following types of packaging are exempt from the requirements of these Regulations.
N.B. These Regulations will be replaced by The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Waste) Regulations 2024, which will include provisions for the introduction of the EPR.
Various duties apply.
Definitions and responsibilities for reporting packaging waste have been updated.
Drinks
For the purposes of defining packaging, where a drink container is made up of multiple components made of different materials, the drink container is to be treated as being made of the same material as the component which is predominant by weight, unless the predominant component is made of glass. In that case, each component of the container has to be treated separately.
Household packaging
The following types of primary or shipment packaging are not classed as household packaging.
Producers
A packer / filler, or importer is classed as a producer of filled packaging if the packaging they fill or import:
Where different individual products are grouped together to be sold as a single sales unit, the producer of the following must be determined.
UK owners
A first UK owner is a producer of packaging where:
A first UK owner is classed as a supplier for packaging which:
An importer is to be treated as “supplying” packaging or packaging materials which the importer imports into and discards in the United Kingdom.
Data reporting
Where a large producer is also a first UK owner, they have obligations to report the data listed in regulation 17.
Data recycling
Where data has already been reported under The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 a large producer may choose to submit a supplementary report identifying the proportion of packaging that has already been reported on.
Reporting period
Producers must ensure that data submitted for the period between 1st January 2024 to 30th June 2024 complies with the requirements in regulation 17.
If a producer does not have sufficient data to report from the period 1st January 2024 to 1st April 2024, they:
Monitoring
SEPA is required to publish a list of large producers and produce guidance in relation to the definition of “household packaging”.
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Jurisdiction: England
Commencement: 30th June 2023
Amends: The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023
The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023 are in force from 28th February 2023.
Duties are imposed on producers* in England to collect data on the amount and type of packaging** they put on the United Kingdom (UK) market from March 2023 (or from January 2023, if they have this data). The data is required to calculate the fees that producers will have to pay from 2024 as part of the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The new EPR system aims to deliver a more circular economy by charging producers to cover the collection and disposal costs of their packaging once it becomes waste.
*Producer, for the purposes of these Regulations, means an organisation operating in the UK as:
**Packaging is any material that is used to cover or protect goods that are sold to consumers and includes anything that is designed to be filled at the point of sale, e.g. coffee cups.
Exempt packaging
The following types of packaging are exempt from the requirements of these Regulations.
N.B. These Regulations will be replaced in December 2023 by The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Waste) Regulations 2023, which will include provisions for the introduction of the EPR.
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007
These 2023 Regulations are currently in addition to The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 which also put duties on organisations that handle packaging. They extend the responsibilities of those already obligated under the 2007 Regulations, and capture more organisations by reducing the threshold of packaging handling to 25 tonnes, and reducing the financial turnover threshold.
Producer obligations
The obligations imposed by these Regulations vary depending on whether the producer is classed as a small or large producer.
An organisation will be classed as a small producer if either:
An organisation will be classed as a large producer if:
Small producers
To comply with these Regulations, small producers must do the following.
*Data collection period means:
Large producers
To comply with these Regulations, large producers must do the following.
Details on the data that needs to be collected and submitted are available for each type of producer in Schedule 1 (Collection and reporting information) and Schedule 2 (Licensors and Pub Operating Businesses).
Members of registered compliance schemes
A producer who is a member of a registered compliance scheme* is exempt from the data reporting obligations under these Regulations. Instead, the operator of the registered scheme must report the packaging data for them.
*Compliance schemes are third party organisations that help producers meet their EPR requirements. The public register of compliance schemes can be accessed here.
Regulator powers and duties
The EA is responsible for the enforcement of these Regulations. The EA must:
The EA may also approve a person to verify the information submitted directly by a producer or provided by a producer to the operator of a scheme. The approved person would be, where the producer:
Offences and penalties
A producer who contravenes the duties under these Regulations, or fails (without reasonable excuse) to comply with any direction from the EA, is guilty of an offence which is punishable by a fine.
Clarifications are made on when a brand owner is a producer in relation to packaging and responsibility for certain packaging is assigned to packers / fillers instead of brand owners. Also, responsibility for certain packaging is assigned to importers. These Regulations came into force on 30th June 2023 and apply to England only.
Where different individual branded or unbranded products are packed to be sold together, the brand owner is considered the producer for the packaging of an individual branded product, and the packer/filler is the producer in relation to any unbranded packaging they filled.
Brand owners
When more than one brand appears on filled packaging, the brand owner who makes the first supply of the filled packaging is to be treated as the brand owner and producer in relation to that packaging.
Packers / fillers
Packers / fillers are considered producers, where:
Importers
An importer is also considered a producer:
Schedule 1 (collection and reporting information) is amended to clarify and simplify the data reporting requirements for reusable and refillable packaging for producers. Certain requirements on collecting and reporting information are either simplified or removed.
Minor corrections are also made to the drafting and some incorrect cross-references are fixed.
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Jurisdiction: Scotland
Commencement: 28th February 2023
Amends: New Legislation
These Regulations are in force from 28th February 2023.
Duties are imposed on producers* in Scotland to collect data on the amount and type of packaging** they put on the United Kingdom (UK) market from March 2023 (or from January 2023, if they have this data). The data is required to calculate the fees that producers will have to pay from 2024 as part of the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The new EPR system aims to deliver a more circular economy by charging producers to cover the collection and disposal costs of their packaging once it becomes waste.
*Producer, for the purposes of these Regulations, means an organisation operating in the UK as:
**Packaging is any material that is used to cover or protect goods that are sold to consumers and includes anything that is designed to be filled at the point of sale, e.g. coffee cups.
Exempt packaging
The following types of packaging are exempt from the requirements of these Regulations.
N.B. These Regulations will be replaced in December 2023 by The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Waste) Regulations 2023, which will include provisions for the introduction of the EPR.
Producer obligations
The obligations imposed by these Regulations vary depending on whether the producer is classed as a small or large producer.
An organisation will be classed as a small producer if either:
An organisation will be classed as a large producer if both:
Small producers
To comply with these Regulations, small producers must do the following.
*Data collection period means:
Large producers
To comply with these Regulations, large producers must do the following.
Details on the data that needs to be collected and submitted are available for each type of producer in Schedule 1 (Collection and reporting information) and Schedule 2 (Licensors and Pub Operating Businesses).
Members of registered compliance schemes
A producer who is a member of a registered compliance scheme* is exempt from the data reporting obligations under these Regulations. Instead, the operator of the registered scheme must report the packaging data for them.
*Compliance schemes are third party organisations that help producers meet their EPR requirements. The public register of compliance schemes can be accessed here.
Regulator powers and duties
SEPA is responsible for the enforcement of these Regulations. SEPA must:
SEPA may also approve a person to verify the information submitted directly by a producer or provided by a producer to the operator of a scheme. The approved person would be, where the producer:
Offences and penalties
A producer who contravenes the duties under these Regulations, or fails (without reasonable excuse) to comply with any direction from SEPA, is guilty of an offence which is punishable by a fine.
The Legislation Update Service is the best way to stay up to date automatically with legislation in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
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Starting with this month, certain producers must collect and report data on the packaging they produce in accordance with new data reporting Regulations. This will help calculate the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fee that they will have to start paying from 2024. The Compliance People consultant Anca Alexa looks at this important change.
As the name suggests, the EPR is a new environmental policy that extends a producer’s responsibility to the post-consumer stage of their product’s life cycle. From 2024, producers must take responsibility for the environmental impact of the packaging they produce by paying for its collection and disposal once it becomes waste.
The data reporting Regulations will help calculate those fees. The following Regulations came into force on 28th February 2023 (Wales is expected to follow suit later this month).
The EPR defines packaging as any material that is used to cover or protect goods sold to consumers, including anything designed to be filled at the point of sale (e.g. coffee cups). However, there are some exceptions as outlined below.
Exempt packaging
The following types of packaging are exempt from the EPR requirements.
For the purposes of the EPR, a producer is any organisation operating in the UK as:
An organisation will be classed as a small producer if either:
An organisation will be classed as a large producer if:
Collecting and reporting data
In a nutshell, the main requirements for producers under the new ‘data reporting’ Regulations are to:
The data will be used to calculate the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fee that producers will start paying next year.
When to report the data
This depends on whether your organisation is a small or large producer.
Small producers will need to report their data between January and April 2024.
Large producers will need to report their data every 6 months as follows.
These are the key takeaways for now. To find out more about the EPR, please check the data reporting Regulations entry applicable to your jurisdiction on our Legislation Update Service. There you will also find links to detailed guidance from the government to help you better understand the new requirements.
Are you a UK company which handles or supplies packaging? New Regulations are set to come in which will change the way in which you are responsible for your packaging recycling responsibility. Get prepared for extended producer responsibility now.
With there being a strong focus on waste production in the UK, the new Regulations are set to change the way UK businesses handling or suppling packaging must manage their recycling responsibilities, through the adoption of an extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme.
EPR is an environmental policy approach which requires producers to be responsible for the packaging they place on the UK market, at the end of its life. It seeks to achieve a reduction in the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle, from production through to end-of-life. EPR follows the ‘polluter pays’ principle, if you produce the pollution, you should bear the costs of managing the impact on the environment and human health. Under EPR proposals, packaging producers will be made responsible for the entire cost of recycling the packaging they place on the market; this includes the cost of collection, treatment, and recycling.
The new EPR system will replace the current Packaging Waste Regulations with a phased implementation from 2023.
Current, guidance states this change will affect all UK organisations which handle* or supply packaging.
*Under the current Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007, handling activities are explained Schedule 1.
The size of your organisation (small or large) will determine the actions you need to take.
You will be classed as a small organisation if either of the following apply:
You will be classed as a large organisation if both of the following apply:
What action do I need to take?
The size of your organisation will determine the duties and actions you have and the dates whereby you need to comply with these.
Small organisations:
To comply you must:
You’ll need to submit your 2023 data between 1st January 2024 and 1 April 2024. Missed payments will result in a penalty charge.
Large organisations
To comply you must:
You’ll need to submit data every 6 months.
Organisations selling goods in the UK, including Distributors, Retailers, Online Marketplaces, and Sellers may also need to submit ‘nation data’ (separate volumes and material types of packaging placed on the market, broken down into England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). 2023 data will need to be submitted by December 2024.
Organisations may use a compliance scheme to complete certain steps on their behalf.
If you handle and supply any packaging that is collected by local authorities from households or street bins, from April 2024 you must pay the scheme administrator a fee for this.
The current guidance states these Regulations will not apply to charities.
The specific packaging activities which will come under these Regulations include:
Further guidance on EPR can be found on the Governments website.
All UK organisations which handle, or supply packaging will need to comply with the new EPR regulations in some way. These Regulations have not yet been published and are expected to be published in 2022 – 2023.