EPR payments for packaging have been deferred for 12 months and will not apply until October 2025. In light of this, and to support producers, the Environment Agency (Regulator in England) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Regulator in Scotland) have now issued a Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) which confirms no legal enforcements will be taken as long as data, as per the regulations, is submitted by 31 May 2024 for businesses registered in England and Scotland.
Read the England Regulatory Position Statement
Read the Scotland Regulatory Position Statement
Notwithstanding the publication of the statements for businesses registered in England and Scotland, we encourage obligated producers in the flexo industry to use all reasonable endeavours to report packaging data by the current reporting dates of 1 October 2023 and 1 April 2024, wherever possible.
This packaging data will be used to improve the modelling of illustrative base fees. The more data available, the more accurate the illustrative base fees will be. The first estimates are expected by the end of 2023/early 2024.
Please note: the publication of the Environment Agency for England and Scottish Environment Protection Agency – Regulatory Position Statement’s does not impact any obligations you may have under The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 and if obligated under these regulations you will need to continue to comply throughout 2024.
Report Packaging Data (RPD)
To report packaging data, producers need to enrol through the online Report Packaging Data service. Once registered, producers (or their representatives) can start to submit their data from 13 September 2023.
Video guidance to support with enrolment is available on YouTube:
If you have any questions about the England Regulatory Position Statement, please contact the Environment Agency, and for the Scottish Regulatory Position Statement, please contact the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
If you have questions about enrolling onto the online Report Packaging Data service, please contact the EPR helpdesk on 0300 060 0002 or email Customer Services.
The latest update features a full Q&A – click here to read it in full.