Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a new piece of UK legislation, which will be coming into force in 2023 requiring businesses to change the way they collect and report data on packaging they handle, in the hope of delivering a more circular economy.
Get Prepared for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
In March 2022, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published its response to the second consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, focussing on specific policy proposals to make producers responsible for the full net cost of packaging they handle in the UK. The consultation’s main focus was the introduction of a new regime to reform and replace the UK’s current Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) system.
The changes are expected to cost UK producers around £1.7 billion each year, creating a strong incentive to reduce packaging and increase its recyclability. They also include the introduction of provisions placing legal obligations on online retailers and digital marketplaces to comply regarding the packaging of imported products sold over their platforms and the introduction of modulated fees to help move away from packaging types that are difficult to recycle.
What do you need to do?
There are four key steps you need to focus on for packaging EPR:
1. Prepare - understand how your organisation is impacted and your required actions.
2. Collect - efficiently gather the required data about your packaging.
3. Comply - register, submit data and pay financial obligations on time.
4. Improve - reduce the environmental impact of your packaging and your EPR liabilities.
How can we help?
Veolia operates one of the UK’s longest running Packaging Compliance Schemes. Whether you are transferring from the existing Packaging Regulations to EPR or this is the first time you are having to calculate & report your packaging, we can help manage your requirements and enable you to comply with this changing legislation.
To read more about Packaging EPR, Government guidance is available on their website here, with further detail regarding reporting requirements available here.
FIND OUT MORE
For more information on our packaging compliance scheme, get in touch with our expert teams.
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