The UK government will ensure packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) Year 1 disposal fees remain unchanged, confirming that producers will not face retrospective fee increases linked to recalculations arising from revised packaging data submissions. The scheme’s funding shortfall will be met by government support on a one-off basis to safeguard local authority funding commitments and maintain regulatory stability in the first year of operation.
PackUK, the four-nation pEPR scheme administrator acting on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), identified a funding gap caused by lower overall packaging tonnages reported by producers in corrected and resubmitted data.
Because base fees are calculated by dividing the total cost of household waste management by total packaging tonnage placed on the market, a reduction in reported tonnages - without a corresponding reduction in costs - would typically have necessitated recalculation of per-tonne fees and potentially higher charges to producers. This has triggered sharp criticism from industry representatives, with calls for a fundamental reset of the system’s implementation.
PackUK announced on 24 February that there will be no change to Year 1 disposal fees as outlined in producers’ Notices of Liability (NoLs) issued in October 2025 as the UK government has agreed to cover the shortfall for Year 1, ensuring that local authorities will receive the expected level of funding for recycling and waste management services without imposing additional costs on producers.
The government and PackUK emphasise that the funding secured through pEPR, cited at approximately £1.4bn for 2025/26, remains in place to support local authority services, including household recycling and waste management infrastructure.
Looking ahead, the scheme will move to eco-modulated fees from Year 2 (2026/27), reflecting packaging recyclability under the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM). Producers can expect greater differentiation of fee rates based on material and design performance, a cornerstone of the UK’s broader packaging circular economy reforms.
