Who is obligated in the UK from 25 tonnes of packaging a year, which dates the EU and California have set, and the 4 design decisions that sit behind the reported numbers.
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) makes the company that puts packaging on the market answerable for it after use. In the UK the threshold starts at more than 25 tonnes of packaging supplied or imported in a year, and large producers report data every 6 months. For design, it means recording the material and weight of every part of every pack.
What extended producer responsibility means
Extended producer responsibility, usually shortened to EPR, is a type of law that makes the company behind a pack answerable for that pack after the product has been used. CalRecycle, the California agency that oversees the state’s programme, puts the idea in one sentence: “EPR gives primary responsibility for managing products after their useful life to producers, who can design and market products to be more easily reused or recycled.”
The second half of that sentence is why a design agency writes about it. The UK rules count what packaging weighs and what it is made of, and a designer settles both.
The UK guidance Check if you must comply with EPR for packaging defines packaging as any material used to contain, protect, handle, deliver or present goods supplied to an end user. Pallets and display units are included, and so is anything designed to be filled at the point of sale, such as a coffee cup.
We cover 3 markets: the UK, the EU and California. For any other country or US state, check with your adviser. Whether your company is a producer in the UK depends on 7 packaging activities, which we went through in our comparison of custom and stock packaging. We pick up where that article stopped, with the thresholds and the duties. Nothing here is legal advice.
Who is obligated in the UK: the 25 tonne threshold
A company that carries out any of the packaging activities has obligations in the UK when the conditions in the GOV.UK guidance all apply. The guidance, last updated on 19 August 2026, lists them. 2 of them concern the place of business and the packaging:
- It is an individual business, subsidiary or corporate group established in the UK.
- In the guidance’s words, “you supplied or imported more than 25 tonnes of packaging in the UK in the previous year”.
The guidance adds a condition about the size of the business, with figures of its own, so read the full list there before you conclude either way.
A company with its head office abroad still counts as established if it has a UK branch, warehouse or postal address.
Size then decides the duties. The guidance sorts obligated companies into small and large producers in a table, and the packaging weight steps in that table are 25 tonnes and 50 tonnes. A large producer supplies or imports more than 50 tonnes. Below 25 tonnes the table shows no obligation. Charities are exempt, although their subsidiaries that trade for profit are not.
For 2026 packaging data, the weight is what was supplied or imported from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. The guidance adds a counting rule: “only count the packaging once, even if you carry out more than one packaging activity on it”.
As plain arithmetic, a pack that weighs 20 grams reaches 25 tonnes at 1,250,000 units.
Duties for small and large producers, and the scheme for drinks
The guidance says it plainly: “Large producers have more obligations than small producers under EPR for packaging.” A small producer registers with its environmental regulator, reports packaging data every year and keeps the required data for 7 years. A large producer registers each year, reports every 6 months, acquires enough recycling notes to meet its recycling obligations, submits a certificate of compliance and pays a waste disposal fee for household packaging to PackUK each year. The table below compares the 2 lists.
Drinks have a separate scheme. The GOV.UK guidance on the Deposit Return Scheme, last updated on 30 January 2025, says customers in England and Northern Ireland will pay a refundable deposit on certain single-use drinks containers from 1 October 2027. The containers in scope are made wholly or mainly from aluminium, steel or PET plastic and “have a capacity of between 150 millilitres and 3 litres”.
Producers, typically the brand owner, must register, apply the deposit, report the number of drinks placed on the market and comply with scheme labelling requirements. A drinks brand can leave room for that labelling now, and our guide to drinks labels that survive ice and condensation covers the rest of the label. Product lines with less than 5,000 units per year are exempt from the producer fees, the deposit and the labelling, although they still register and report.
| Item | Small producer | Large producer |
|---|---|---|
| Packaging supplied or imported in the previous year | From 25 tonnes; the GOV.UK table gives the full test | More than 50 tonnes; the GOV.UK table gives the full test |
| Registration with the environmental regulator | Required | Required each year |
| Packaging data report | Every year | Every 6 months |
| Recycling notes (PRNs or PERNs) and certificate of compliance | Not listed | Required each year |
| Waste disposal fee for household packaging | Not listed | Paid to PackUK each year |
| Recyclability assessment (RAM) | Not required | Household packaging, since 1 January 2025 |
| Keeping the required data | 7 years | 7 years |
The UK recyclability assessment: red, amber and green
Since 1 January 2025, large producers in the UK have also had to grade their packaging. The recyclability assessment methodology, known as the RAM, applies to household packaging, to packaging that commonly ends up in public bins and to household drinks containers made of glass.
The method sorts materials into 8 categories: paper and board, fibre-based composite materials, plastic, steel, aluminium, glass, wood and other. The working rule follows: “Each unit of packaging or component should be assessed under one of these categories.”
Each part receives 1 of 3 ratings. Red means the packaging has specifications that make it difficult to recycle at scale. Amber covers packaging that may meet difficulty during collection and sorting. For the third rating the wording is: “green packaging is widely recyclable in the current UK infrastructure”. The rating affects the disposal fee charged for that packaging, which the guidance calls fee modulation.
Some decisions lead straight to red:
- Integrated electrical components or batteries, for example boxes that include LED lights.
- Inks that do not comply with the printing ink exclusion policy the guidance names.
- PFAS that have been intentionally added, unless the predominant material is aluminium, steel or glass.
- Household packaging that has not been assessed, or where the detail needed for an assessment is not available.
The guidance tells producers who do not know what their packaging is made of to contact the packaging manufacturer. The method is reviewed every year; the page carries version 1.1 from April 2025.
The EU regulation and its dates
The EU has replaced its 1994 packaging directive with Regulation (EU) 2025/40, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, or PPWR. The European Commission’s packaging waste page gives its status as in force since 11 February 2025, with an application date of 12 August 2026.
Among the aims the Commission lists, one is addressed to designers directly: “Make all packaging on the EU market recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030”.
The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, summarising a Commission press release on 6 April 2026, adds the later steps. Packaging has to be designed for material recycling, and the requirement that it can be recycled at scale enters into force in 2035. The summary continues: “The regulation establishes a system of recyclability performance grades, applicable from 2030, and introduces stricter obligations on recyclability from 2038.”
Two neighbouring subjects have their own articles: what the EU and UK rules say about reuse is in our guide to refill pack design for beauty brands, and what you may print about recycling is in green claims by market.
Who must register or report in each Member State is a question for your adviser. One obligation is under review: in December 2025 the Commission proposed suspending the duty to appoint an authorised representative for producers that sell directly to consumers in other Member States.
California and SB 54
California’s packaging EPR law is SB 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, signed on June 30, 2022. CalRecycle describes it as a programme “to manage packaging and single-use plastic food service ware products across every sector of the economy”.
The law sets 3 aims for 2032: to cut single-use plastic packaging and food service ware, to recycle a set share of it, and to ensure that single-use packaging and plastic food service ware is recyclable or compostable. The percentage attached to each aim is published on the CalRecycle page.
A producer responsibility organisation creates the programmes, enrols manufacturers and pays for implementation. CalRecycle received the first organisation’s plan on October 13, 2026 and has 75 days to review it.
Who counts as a producer in California, and from what size, is a question for your adviser. The same goes for every other US state.
2 CalRecycle lists matter when a pack is specified:
- The Covered Material Categories List names the regulated materials. Its next update is due by January 1, 2027.
- A database of de minimis components shows which specific components carry no reporting or fee obligations.
The 4 design decisions EPR reaches
EPR rules are written for compliance teams, yet 4 of their inputs are fixed at the design stage.
- The number of materials. The UK assessment runs part by part across 8 material categories, and fibre-based composite materials sit in a category of their own, separate from paper and board. Know which category each material falls in before the structure is approved.
- The weight. The UK thresholds are counted in tonnes, at 25 and 50. Ask the supplier for the weight of every part in grams and multiply by the units you plan to sell in a year.
- The parts that come apart. List the body, the closure, the label and any insert as separate lines, each with its material, so that every part can be assessed.
- The record. UK producers keep the required data for 7 years. Store the supplier’s specification with the artwork files, and update it whenever the structure, the material or the supplier changes.
Inks and intentionally added PFAS appear among the automatic reds in the UK method, so ask the printer to confirm both in writing. Our guide to printing methods and minimum orders covers the printer’s other questions.
These 4 records give your adviser the facts needed to decide whether you are obligated. How a pack can change material and still look like the brand is covered in recyclable packaging that does not look cheaper. The other documents to collect are in our article on what to prepare before a packaging project.
Working with MarkaWorks on packaging under EPR
MarkaWorks packaging projects start with the structure. Our packaging and product design work begins with the pack format, the material, the closure and the production method. Those are the decisions the EPR rules measure, so the 4 questions above fit into the first stage of the project.
Your regulatory adviser confirms whether you are obligated, in which markets, and what any required wording says; we design the layout and the pack. A project runs in 3 steps:
- You bring the material and the weight of each part from your production partner, and the structure is chosen with those figures on the table.
- A range is designed with a fixed information block on every pack, placed before the variants are drawn. That block is where a scheme mark would go.
- The production artwork follows your production partner’s dieline and arrives with the working files, so the specification and the artwork can be stored in one place.
If you are planning packaging for the UK, the EU or California, you can work with us on it. There are 17 food and drink case studies on our site if you would like to see the work first. Tell us about your product and your markets, and we will explain how we would approach the structure and the artwork.
Questions brand owners ask about EPR and packaging
Does UK packaging EPR apply to a small brand?
Below 25 tonnes of packaging supplied or imported in the previous year the GOV.UK table shows no obligation. From 25 tonnes a company can be a small producer, which registers, reports data every year and keeps it for 7 years. The table on GOV.UK gives the full test.
Is a takeaway cup counted as packaging under UK EPR?
Yes. The GOV.UK guidance defines packaging as any material used to contain, protect, handle, deliver or present goods supplied to an end user, and it includes anything designed to be filled at the point of sale, such as a coffee cup.
When does the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation apply?
The European Commission lists Regulation (EU) 2025/40 as in force since 11 February 2025 with an application date of 12 August 2026. Recyclability performance grades apply from 2030, the recycled at scale requirement enters into force in 2035, and stricter recyclability obligations follow from 2038.
Who decides whether a pack is rated red, amber or green in the UK?
The large producer assesses its own packaging with the recyclability assessment methodology and reports the result to the environmental regulator. Household packaging left unassessed counts as red.
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