These fees will be charged to obligated packaging producers by the Scheme Administrator (SA) but do not cover regulator charges or costs associated with meeting packaging recycling targets, such as the purchase of Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs).
This document, representing the UK government as well as the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland, the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government, provides crucial information for producers as they prepare for the upcoming EPR regulations.
Key Details on EPR Base Fees
- The fees will be incurred annually starting from 1 April each year, based on the packaging supplied by registered producers during the previous calendar year. The deadline for producers to report their data on the Report Packaging Data (RPD) portal is 1 April, meaning that the exact fee rates for the first year of EPR (2025/26) will only be determined after this date.
- Each producer’s fees will be calculated by the SA using a specific fee formula integrated into the Fees and Payments Calculator (FPC). The legal framework for this fee formula is outlined in the draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations.
- Defra has introduced illustrative base fees for eight packaging categories in response to industry requests for greater clarity regarding the costs they may face. These initial fees are based on different datasets from those the SA will use to calculate the actual fees but are being shared early to assist producers in their planning.
Illustrative Base Fees for 2025/26
Table 1: Illustrative EPR for Packaging Base Fees (Excluding Glass)
| Material | Lower (in £/tonne) | Intermediate (in £/tonne) | Higher (in £/tonne) |
| Aluminium | £245 | £495 | £655 |
| Fibre-based composites | £410 | £525 | £655 |
| Paper or board | £185 | £260 | £350 |
| Plastic | £355 | £515 | £610 |
| Steel | £170 | £295 | £420 |
| Wood | £225 | £265 | £330 |
| Other | £225 | £265 | £330 |
Table 2: Illustrative EPR for Glass Packaging Base Fees
| Material | Lower (in £/tonne) | Intermediate (in £/tonne) | Higher (in £/tonne) |
| Glass | £130 | £260 | £330 |
These illustrative fees are based on the weight of household packaging placed on the market in 2022, as reported in the ‘PackFlow Refresh 2023’ reports. Defra has clarified that data from the RPD portal were not used due to identified “anomalies” needing correction.
Looking Ahead: Modulated Fees from 2026
From the second year of EPR, fees will be modulated to encourage the use of environmentally friendly packaging. Packaging materials with lower environmental impacts will incur lower fees, aiming to reduce the use of unsustainable materials. The specific packaging types that will be subject to modulated fees, along with the relevant sub-categories to be reported in 2025, will be announced in Autumn 2024.
Defra’s spokesperson emphasised the importance of EPR as a key step towards a circular economy:
“Extended producer responsibility for packaging is a vital first step. It will create 21,000 jobs, stimulate more than £10 billion investment in the recycling sector over the next decade, and see packaging producers, rather than the taxpayer, cover the costs of managing waste.”
The government plans to release refined figures for the illustrative base fees in September 2024, once additional data from the RPD portal have been reviewed. These fees are also subject to the 2024 spending review, and further changes may be anticipated.
