EPR Explained: Do you need to report packaging weights and pay fees?
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging has changed the way businesses need to think about the packaging they manufacture, import, pack, supply and sell in the UK.
One of the questions we are increasingly being asked is:
“Am I responsible for reporting the weight of this product and paying EPR fees?”
The answer depends on your business, your position in the supply chain and, importantly, what part of the product counts as packaging.
It is also important to distinguish between reporting packaging and paying EPR-related fees. A packaging component may need to be included in your packaging data without necessarily attracting a waste-disposal fee.
What is EPR?
Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging is a UK regulatory framework designed to make businesses responsible for the environmental impact of the packaging they place on the market.
Depending on the size of your organisation, the amount of packaging you supply or import and your position in the supply chain, your obligations may include:
The rules are intended to encourage businesses to reduce unnecessary packaging and make packaging easier to reuse and recycle.
However, not every organisation has the same obligations and not every organisation handling a piece of packaging is responsible for reporting it.
Is my business responsible?
EPR does not simply mean that every business buying or selling a packaged product has to report its weight.
Responsibility depends on who is considered the producer of the packaging under the regulations. Importantly, the producer is not necessarily the company that physically manufactured the packaging.
You may have obligations if your organisation supplies or imports packaging or packaged goods into the UK. Activities that can bring a business within the EPR rules include:
It is therefore important to establish where your organisation sits within the supply chain rather than assuming that responsibility automatically sits with either the manufacturer, supplier or customer.
The EPR thresholds
Whether your organisation is required to comply also depends on its annual turnover and the amount of packaging it supplies or imports.
For 2026 reporting, current government guidance sets out the following thresholds:
| Annual turnover | Packaging supplied/imported | EPR position |
| £1 million or less | Any amount | No obligation under these thresholds |
| £1 million–£2 million | Less than 25 tonnes | No obligation |
| £1 million–£2 million | 25 tonnes or more | Small producer |
| Over £2 million | Less than 25 tonnes | No obligation |
| Over £2 million | 25–50 tonnes | Small producer |
| Over £2 million | More than 50 tonnes | Large producer |
Corporate groups need particular care because group threshold rules may apply. The turnover and packaging supplied by relevant UK group companies can affect whether members of the group are treated as small or large producers.
Businesses should therefore assess their organisation or group against the applicable rules rather than looking only at the amount of packaging purchased from an individual supplier.
What does a small producer have to do?
Small producers have fewer obligations than large producers, but they are not necessarily outside the EPR reporting system.
A small producer generally needs to:
Small producers do not have the same recycling and waste-disposal fee obligations as large producers.
What does a large producer have to do?
Large producers have additional obligations.
These generally include:
This is why businesses should not confuse “we need to report this packaging” with “we have to pay a waste-disposal fee on this packaging.”
They are separate questions.
Who is responsible for the packaging?
This is one of the most important parts of EPR.
Responsibility follows the producer rules rather than simply following physical ownership of the packaging or who originally manufactured it.
Packaging supplied under your own brand
If you supply filled packaging carrying your brand, trademark or other identifying mark, you may be responsible as the brand owner.
Importantly, this can extend beyond the individual component carrying your logo.
For example, government guidance gives the example of a ready meal supplied in an unbranded plastic tray and film with a branded cardboard sleeve. The brand owner reports the cardboard sleeve, plastic tray and film as packaging supplied under its brand.
Businesses therefore need to consider the complete packaging system rather than looking only at which individual component carries their logo.
Unbranded packaging
Where packaging is unbranded, responsibility can instead fall to the organisation carrying out the packing or filling activity.
A large organisation that packs or fills unbranded packaging will therefore generally be responsible for reporting that packaging as packed or filled.
The rules can differ depending on the status of the packer/filler or brand owner, so the circumstances of each organisation in the supply chain need to be considered.
What if the packaging carries the manufacturer’s brand?
A packaging manufacturer’s name or mark appearing on packaging does not necessarily make that manufacturer the responsible brand owner.
Where a brand appearing on packaging relates only to the manufacturer of the packaging, rather than the product contained within it, the organisation packing or filling the packaging may still be responsible.
This distinction can be particularly relevant when purchasing components from packaging manufacturers.
What if more than one brand appears?
The presence of multiple brands does not mean that every brand owner separately reports the entire packaging system.
There are specific rules for packaging carrying more than one brand, including consideration of which producer first supplies the filled packaging and, in some circumstances, which brand occupies the largest area.
Where a finished packaging system contains a mixture of your own branding and suppliers’ branding, the particular arrangement should therefore be assessed rather than assuming that each supplier automatically reports its own component.
Consider the complete packaging system
A typical temperature-controlled shipment may contain:
EPR responsibility needs to be considered across that packaging system.
If you are a large producer supplying the finished packaged goods under your own brand, you may be responsible for reporting packaging components within that system even where those components were originally manufactured by another company.
However, the precise position depends on the branding and supply arrangements.
This is why neither “the supplier manufactured it, so they report it” nor “we bought it, so we report it” is a safe assumption.
What weight actually needs to be reported?
Businesses need to identify which components constitute packaging and determine the relevant packaging material and weight in accordance with the reporting rules.
EPR relates to packaging material rather than simply the gross weight of a packaged product.
For example, imagine a temperature-controlled shipment containing:
The gross weight of those items is 2,670g.
However, it would be incorrect simply to report 2,670g as packaging without first establishing the regulatory treatment of each component.
This distinction can make a significant difference where the contents of a product account for the majority of its overall weight.
What about gel products?
We have sought clarification directly from the Environment Agency regarding the treatment of predominantly water-based gel products.
The Environment Agency has confirmed that where a gel component is made from multiple materials, such as water and an additive, the gel component is assessed according to its predominant material by weight.
Where water is the predominant material by weight, the gel component does not need to be reported as packaging weight.
For the predominantly water-based gel ice packs described by Thergis to the Environment Agency, the Environment Agency specifically confirmed that only the weight of the outer film needs to be reported.
This clarification was provided directly to Thergis by the Environment Agency under reference PEPR5337.
In practical terms, this means the weight of predominantly water-based gel should not simply be added to the EPR packaging weight because it forms part of the finished product.
The plastic outer film remains packaging and should be treated accordingly where your organisation is responsible for it.
What about water ice packs?
Water itself is not included as reportable packaging weight.
Where a water ice pack consists of water contained within a plastic pouch, the relevant packaging weight is therefore the plastic packaging component rather than the gross filled weight of the ice pack.
Again, which organisation is responsible for reporting that plastic depends on the applicable producer rules.
What about PCM products?
Phase Change Materials (PCMs) can have different compositions and constructions.
Businesses should therefore not assume that the treatment of a predominantly water-based gel pack automatically applies to every PCM product.
Where you purchase PCM products from Thergis, please request the relevant EPR packaging information for the specific product.
Different packaging materials need to be identified separately
EPR does not treat all packaging as one material.
Relevant material categories include:
Where separate packaging components are made from different materials, their weights generally need to be recorded separately.
For example, a cardboard box, plastic liner and wooden pallet should not simply be reported as one combined packaging weight.
Primary, secondary and tertiary packaging
Packaging also needs to be classified according to its function.
Primary packaging generally contains an individual sales unit.
Secondary packaging groups together one or more sales units.
Tertiary packaging facilitates the handling and transport of sales units or grouped sales units supplied to businesses.
Shipment packaging is also relevant under the EPR reporting framework.
These classifications can affect the information that needs to be reported and whether packaging is treated as household or non-household.
Household and non-household packaging
This distinction is particularly important because waste-disposal fees apply to relevant household packaging rather than all packaging placed on the market.
Secondary and tertiary packaging is generally classed as non-household.
Primary and shipment packaging is generally presumed to be household packaging unless the relevant conditions for classifying it as non-household are met.
For businesses operating in pharmaceutical, laboratory, food distribution and other B2B supply chains, this distinction can be particularly important.
Businesses should not assume that packaging is automatically non-household simply because it is supplied to another business. The applicable rules and evidence requirements for classifying primary and shipment packaging as non-household should be followed.
Does recyclability affect EPR?
Yes.
Large producers responsible for relevant household packaging must assess its recyclability using the government’s Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM).
RAM assigns packaging a rating:
Green – widely recyclable in current UK infrastructure.
Amber – recyclable but subject to collection, sorting, infrastructure or reprocessing limitations.
Red – difficult to recycle at scale or failing specified RAM criteria.
These ratings can affect the waste-disposal fee payable for the packaging.
This means that two packaging products made from the same material and having the same weight do not necessarily have the same EPR cost.
Are all plastics treated the same?
No.
For reporting purposes, plastic is a material category, but relevant plastic packaging may also need to be distinguished between rigid and flexible plastic.
Ice-pack pouches, plastic liners, sachets and films would normally fall within the flexible-plastic category.
Bottles, tubs, trays and similar products generally fall within rigid plastic.
The detailed construction of plastic packaging can also affect its RAM recyclability rating.
For flexible plastics, factors such as:
can affect the assessment.
The RAM can, for example, consider whether flexible plastic is predominantly based on polyethylene (PE) and/or polypropylene (PP) and whether incompatible materials are present.
Knowing that something is simply “plastic” may therefore not provide enough information to complete an EPR assessment.
Flexible plastic and recyclability
Flexible plastic currently presents particular challenges under RAM because UK kerbside collection coverage remains below the threshold required for a green collection rating.
Some flexible plastic may qualify through an eligible take-back route, subject to the applicable RAM rules, but otherwise flexible packaging may receive a red rating at the collection stage even where the polymer itself is technically recyclable.
Businesses should therefore distinguish between:
These are not necessarily the same thing.
What information can Thergis provide?
Customers should not need to weigh or dismantle Thergis products themselves simply to establish their material composition.
Where available and applicable, we can provide information including:
We recommend requesting EPR packaging data using the specific Thergis product code or SKU wherever possible.
The customer remains responsible for determining how that information should be reported within its own EPR submission because this depends on the customer’s position in the supply chain and the way the product is ultimately supplied.
Reporting packaging doesn’t necessarily mean paying the same fees
One of the most important distinctions under EPR is that reporting, recycling obligations and waste-disposal fees are not the same thing.
Large producers can have recycling obligations based on the packaging they report. Waste-disposal fees apply to relevant categories of packaging, including relevant household packaging.
Recyclability can also affect applicable waste-disposal fees through RAM.
Small and large producers have different requirements and businesses should therefore consider separately:
Answering those questions can prevent a business from incorrectly assuming that the total weight of every product it buys or sells needs to be declared and charged.
A practical EPR process
For businesses trying to determine their position, a practical process is:
1. Establish whether you carry out a producer activity.
Consider branding, packing/filling, importing, supplying empty packaging, reusable packaging and other relevant activities.
2. Calculate your turnover and packaging tonnage.
Use the applicable calculation year and current EPR threshold rules.
3. Establish whether you are not obligated, a small producer or a large producer.
Your classification determines your reporting and compliance requirements.
4. Identify the packaging for which you are responsible.
Consider branding, packing/filling, importing arrangements and the status of other organisations in the supply chain.
5. Break the packaging down into individual components.
Identify the material and weight of each relevant component rather than relying on gross product weight.
6. Obtain missing information from suppliers.
For Thergis products, request available product-specific packaging information using the relevant SKU or product code.
7. Determine packaging class and type.
Establish whether packaging is primary, secondary, tertiary or shipment packaging and, where required, whether it is household or non-household.
8. Carry out RAM assessments where required.
Large producers should assess relevant packaging under the applicable Recyclability Assessment Methodology.
9. Register and submit packaging data.
Obligated producers use the government’s Report Packaging Data service, either directly or through an appropriate compliance scheme.
10. Meet any additional obligations.
For large producers this may include PRN/PERN recycling obligations, certificates of compliance and applicable waste-disposal fees.
11. Keep the required records.
Businesses should retain the records required under the regulations, including evidence supporting relevant packaging classifications and assessments.
Can I use a compliance scheme?
Yes.
Obligated producers can manage EPR compliance themselves or use a registered compliance scheme or specialist adviser.
A compliance scheme can assist with registration, data submissions and other compliance requirements.
However, using a compliance scheme does not change the underlying question of which organisation is the producer for a particular piece of packaging.
Check the official guidance
The Environment Agency publishes supporting information for EPR, including the regulators’ Agreed Positions and Technical Interpretations.
The guidance can be found here:
Businesses should also refer to current GOV.UK resources, including:
What should customers do?
If you purchase packaged products from us, do not automatically assume that the total product weight is an EPR-reportable weight.
First, establish whether your organisation is an obligated producer.
Second, establish which packaging components are your responsibility based on your branding, packing/filling, importing and supply arrangements.
Third, identify the products for which you require packaging information.
Fourth, request the available EPR packaging information for the relevant product codes or SKUs.
Fifth, use that information as part of your organisation’s packaging-data assessment and reporting process.
Where a product contains gel that is predominantly water by weight, our confirmation from the Environment Agency is that the gel component does not need to be included as reportable packaging weight. For the predominantly water-based gel packs described to the Environment Agency by Thergis, only the relevant outer film needs to be considered as packaging.
This does not remove any obligation relating to the packaging materials themselves.
Most importantly, do not assume either that “Thergis manufactured it, so Thergis reports it” or that “we bought it, so we report it.”
EPR responsibility can vary according to the structure of the supply chain, branding, packing/filling, importing arrangements, corporate structure and the size and status of the organisations involved.
Thergis can provide product-specific material, composition and weight information to assist customers with their assessments, but each organisation remains responsible for determining its own EPR obligations and making accurate submissions.
This article is intended to provide general information and should not be treated as legal, regulatory or compliance advice. EPR requirements and regulatory interpretations can change, and businesses should refer to the latest GOV.UK guidance, the relevant environmental regulator and, where appropriate, a registered compliance scheme or professional adviser.
To find out more call our expert team on 0115 931 6969 or contact us for more details.
