UK updates EPR packaging rules from 1 January 2026

From 1 January 2026, the UK tightens how Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging works. Parliament has approved amendments that fine‑tune who must act, what counts as evidence, and how fees are calculated. The regulations were made in December 2025 and apply across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the official text published on legislation.gov.uk and the parliamentary record confirming the in‑force date.

A quick refresher helps. EPR makes the businesses that put packaging on the market pay the efficient costs of dealing with that packaging once it becomes waste. The four UK governments set this direction earlier in 2025 and appointed PackUK to administer the scheme. The policy statement on GOV.UK frames this as applying the “polluter pays” principle and promises clearer design incentives through fee modulation.

So, who is a “producer” under EPR? You are if you are the brand owner that first supplies filled packaging, the packer/filler, the importer or first UK owner, the distributor, an online marketplace operator, a service provider, or a seller-depending on how the item is supplied. The 2025 update clarifies two everyday situations: when several brands appear on the same pack, the producer is usually the brand that first supplied the pack, or otherwise the brand with the largest share of the external surface; and after the first supply, only a seller can become a producer by making a further supply, unless someone adds a new packaging component (like a fresh label), in which case that new component has its own producer. These points come straight from the statutory wording.

Large or small producer? The thresholds from the 2024 Regulations still set the line. You are large for a given year if your turnover was over £2 million and you supplied more than 50 tonnes of packaging; you are small if your turnover was over £1 million and you supplied more than 25 tonnes but do not meet the large criteria. Registration timings also carry over: for 2026, large producers (other than sellers) should already have applied by 1 October 2025; sellers and small producers apply by 1 April 2026.

If you merge or buy a brand, there are new, clearer rules. After a corporate merger, the new body must register quickly and inherits continuing obligations, including record‑keeping and any unpaid fees. When a brand or part of a business is sold, the buyer must inform the regulator within 28 days and, for the current and previous year, both parties resubmit data so that the buyer carries the recycling obligations for the acquired brand or business going forward. Think of this as preventing gaps in responsibility when ownership changes mid‑year.

Charities get a narrower exemption. They are now exempt from producer responsibility duties and from paying the annual disposal and administration fees, but other parts of the system can still apply. Separately, charities that operate as reprocessors or exporters have later dates: registration by 1 October 2026, with related offences not applying until 1 January 2027. That timing is set out in the transitional provisions.

Let’s pin down “closed loop” because it changes fees. Under the amendments, closed loop packaging waste means food‑grade plastic packaging from your own products, supplied on or after 1 January 2024, that you or your agent collected directly from your customers, kept separate from other material, and sent to a single reprocessor to be recycled back into food‑grade plastic. This is strict by design: it tracks the same producer from sale through collection to verified recycling. Evidence must come from an accredited reprocessor or exporter.

What this means for your costs: if you pay the additional registration charge and meet the closed loop rules, you can offset those verified tonnes against the amount used to calculate your disposal fee. If your reported closed loop weight exceeds your reported household packaging for that category, the fee calculation floors at zero for that category; and if you have not paid the extra charge, the scheme administrator must ignore your closed loop claim in that year. These mechanics are written into the disposal fee formula and accompanying guidance.

Evidence is everything. You must keep packaging data and the supporting evidence for at least seven years. For closed loop claims, you must be able to show that the material was collected from your customers, remained uncontaminated by other streams, and was recycled into food‑grade plastic that meets the relevant food‑contact rules. The legislation points to the EU food‑contact plastics regulations used in UK law for these standards.

Fees and offences shift too. Many registration and accreditation charges rise from 1 January 2026, and there is a new £2,548 additional charge if you wish to report closed loop plastic tonnages for a period. It is now an offence to report closed loop without paying that extra charge. There is also a “late assessment” power that lets the scheme administrator bill previously unidentified liable producers for past years, using best‑available estimates and charging interest where non‑compliance caused the delay.

Dates you should actually write down: the amendments begin on 1 January 2026. If you want to include eligible historic material in amended 2024 returns, you must submit and pay the charge by 28 January 2026. If you need to correct data for the six months to 30 June 2025 (for example, where you lacked full recycling evidence), you have until 1 April 2026. Routine 2025 year‑end reports also fall due by 1 April 2026. These dates appear alongside the standard EPR reporting timetable on GOV.UK.

One quiet but important change is the new design signal inside the fee model: from 2026 the scheme can reduce fees where packs use no more material than reasonably necessary for their purpose. In plain terms, smart reduction counts alongside recyclability when fees are modulated. PackUK’s policy documents and government guidance set out how these signals will work and when they will be reviewed.

If you teach or study this topic, here’s the takeaway. EPR flips the bill for household packaging waste from local taxpayers to the businesses that put packaging on the market. Fees are higher if packs are hard to recycle, lower if they are widely recyclable and use less material. Closed loop claims reward verified, high‑quality recycling back into food‑grade plastics. This framework, explained by the four governments and delivered by PackUK, is intended to improve design choices and recycling outcomes over time.

What you can do next: confirm your producer class and registration status; check whether any mergers or brand transfers trigger the new 28‑day duties; speak to your reprocessor about accreditation and food‑grade outputs; decide whether the additional closed loop charge is worth paying in 2026 based on the tonnages you can evidence; and make sure your April deadlines are in your calendar. If you need the official detail, use legislation.gov.uk for the legal text and GOV.UK for worked guidance and deadlines.