UK Packaging Legislation
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
The main objectives of the regulations are;
- Minimise packaging use and generation of packaging waste
- Encourage reuse of packaging
- Increase recovery and recycling of packaging waste
The regulations are the statutory framework by which the UK must meet the minimum recovery and recycling targets set out in the EU directive. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is the government department that oversees the obligations and The Environment Agency enforces the obligations in England and Wales. The regulations place an obligation on companies that have a turnover above a specified minimum and handle more than a certain amount of packaging to undertake or arrange for some recovery and recycling of packaging waste. The more packaging your company handles, the greater the obligation to recycle and recover.
The Regulations:
Apply to companies that handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging per year and have a turnover of more than £2m. Businesses that fall below these thresholds have no producer responsibility obligations.
Requires companies that meet these conditions to take responsibility for the recovery, reuse and recycling of their obligation for packaging waste.
Calculation of the obligation quantity is a function of:
- the amount of obligated packaging handled
- the activity obligation (raw material manufacturer 6%; converter 11%; packer/filler 36%; seller/final retailer 47%)
- UK recovery/recycling targets
The Obligations:
Registration Obligations
Producers must register with their environmental regulator before 7th April each year, pay a fee and provide information regarding the amount of packaging handled in the previous year. Recovery and Recycling Obligations
Producers must take the appropriate steps to achieve the specified targets for recovery and recycling of packaging waste.
Certification Obligations
At the end of the year, companies are required to demonstrate that they have paid for the recovery and recycling of the required amount of packaging. This is achieved through the Packaging Waste Recovery Note (PRN) system. To make this process easier for our clients, we include product weights on every invoice.
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