What is happening with UK EPR?
by Joshua Martin at 13:43 in Circular Economy, Environmental, Packaging, Content
If you're a business owner in the UK selling packaged products, you're likely aware of the ongoing packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reform. The EPR reform introduces extra layers of complexity to the existing packaging policies. In this article, we're here to provide you with clear information to help you navigate it effectively.
Understanding the EPR Reform?
The fundamental purpose of EPR reform is to hold producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their packaging, ensuring that they bear the full costs associated with managing the waste they generate.
Before delving into new EPR, let's talk about the existing packaging producer responsibility policy "PRN" (Packaging Recovery Note).
This is a shared responsibility model in which multiple entities of the packaging supply chain are responsible for the packaging recycling/recovery (though not the full cost).
It's important to note that PRN will be running in parallel with the new EPR. PRN reporting will continue until at least 2024 and the payment will not end until the authority's review in 2026/2027.
From this year (2023) onwards, the EPR system has been in place.The biggest difference between EPR and PRN is the destination of collected fund. PRN funds recyclers, while EPR funds local councils' waste management activities, covering everything from waste collection and sorting to transportation and final disposal.
EPR is a single responsibility model, and it targets at the brand owner of the packaging essentially; if the packaging doesn't have a brand or logo (i.e., unbranded outer cardboard boxes) then the obligation may pass to the importer or the packer/filler of the unbranded packaging.
What does this mean for UK businesses?
For businesses that are new to PRN and haven't submitted PRN reports before, we suggest the first step you should do is to enter a membership with an approved compliance scheme (see the official list here) and complete your EPR registration on the Report Packaging Data (RPD) portal.
If your business has been in compliance with PRN, apart from the RPD registration, we suggest you review the additional data points arising from the new EPR reporting requirement.
How we can help
Our ENVI software, which has been extended to calculate the DEFRA data requirements. This provides an automated solution to managing EPR reporting, joining our global suite of reporting templates.
Lorax EPI cover EPR reporting and analysis on a global scale, which means that alongside the work that has been done on the new UK EPR reporting, we have also been working on updates to a large number of reports including:
- The introduction of the new Hungarian Packaging EPR MoHU
- Price increases coming in Q1 2024 for schemes such as Ecoembes in Spain
- Updated to the UK Plastic Tax report.
- Parameter changes for the Slovakian packaging scheme Naturpak
All require a large amount of research and development work to ensure that the reports available to customers are in the exact format required.
Alongside the formal reporting updates, our Business Intelligence team have been working hard to implement new interactive tools for our software clients that allow them to analyse packaging and EPR costs.
Submitted Cost Analysis - shows Fee detail of Products, Trend of Fees, and Country Breakdown of Fees - with a Product Search filter.
Packaging Analysis – shows the Total Weight of Packaging, Sale Units & Weight per Unit, split by Material & Continent, with a monthly trend and Top 10 Product list.
At Lorax EPI, we're here to assist you throughout the UK EPR reform process. From understanding your business's obligations to handling registration, data review, and ensuring full compliance, we have the expertise to guide you every step of the way.
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