Topics:


	Duty of care

	Hazardous/Special Waste

	Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

	Landfill Directive (Pre-treatment regulations)

	Packaging Regulations

Packaging regulations

You must comply with packaging regulations if your business makes, fills, sells or handles packaging or packaging materials.
If your business produces or handles packaging and you fail to comply with the regulations you could be prosecuted and fined.
The packaging waste regulations ensure that businesses are responsible for recovering and recycling UK packaging waste.
There are two sets of regulations you may need to comply with:

The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations apply to you if your business produces packaged products, or places packaging or packaged goods on the market.

The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations apply to you if your business handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging in a year and has a turnover of more than £2 million.

What is packaging?

Essential Requirements - what you must do

Essential Requirements – exemptions from the regulations

How to comply with the Essential Requirements for packaging

Producer Responsibility Obligations - who they apply to

Producer Responsibility Obligations - what you must do

Producer Responsibility Obligations - how to comply

What is packaging?

Packaging is anything that is used to contain, protect, deliver or present goods. Goods could be raw materials or processed items. Packaging can be made out of paper, board, wood, glass, metals, plastics, cork, hessian, jute or ceramics. For example, packaging includes:

boxes
pallets
labels
containers
tubes
bags
sacks
tape
wrapping
binding and tying material.

If an item is integrated into the packaging and intended to be used and thrown away with the packaging, it is still considered as packaging. For example, a makeup mascara brush or a measuring cup provided with washing powder.

What is not packaging?

An item is not considered packaging if it is:

a part of a product and is necessary to preserve, contain or support the product during its lifespan and use, eg tea bags and plant pots for house plants
a disposable item designed to be used at the point of sale which does not fulfil a packaging function, eg drinks stirrers and plastic cutlery.

In England, Scotland and Wales, the Environment Agency and SEPA have published guidance to help businesses identify packaging.

Environment Agency and SEPA: Interpretation of packaging (Adobe Acrobat Reader® is required to view this document, click here to download it).

Essential requirements - what you must do

The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations aim to minimise the amount of waste packaging generated at source and ensure that packaging can be reused, recovered or recycled.

Who must comply?
Your business must comply with the Essential Requirements Regulations if you:

produce packaged products
design or specify packaging
import packaged goods or filled packaging into the UK
sell packaged goods or filled packaging
place packaging or packaged goods on the market.

If you pack products, fill packaging or import packed goods or packaging into the United Kingdom, you must ensure that the packaging meets the Essential Requirements.

Packaging includes all products that are used to contain, protect, handle, deliver and present goods. This includes non-returnable items.

The regulations apply regardless of your business turnover and the quantities of packaging produced, handled or filled.
If your business handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year and has a turnover of more than £2 million, you will also need to comply with the Producer Responsibility Obligations.

Exemptions from the Essential Requirements for packaging

The Essential Requirements apply to all packaging except:

packaging which was used prior to 31 December 1994
packaging manufactured on or before 31 December 1994 and placed on the market no later than 31 December 1999, and
packaging made entirely from lead crystal glass.

Partial exemptions are available in relation to the concentration of regulated heavy metals. Regulated metals are lead, cadmium, mercury or hexavalent chromium.
Until 4 March 2009, plastic pallets and crates with heavy metal concentrations greater than those allowed by the regulations may be placed on the market if certain criteria are met.
Glass packaging may contain up to 100ppm (parts per million), by weight, of regulated heavy metals. This level may be raised to 250ppm, if recycled materials have been added. This only applies if no regulated metals are introduced during manufacture.
For more information on these partial exemptions, please refer to the Department of Trade and Industry Guidance Notes for Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations.

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform: Packaging guidance (pdf) (Adobe Acrobat Reader® is required to view this document, click here to download it).

How to comply with the Essential Requirements for packaging?

To comply with the Essential Requirements, you must:

minimise packaging weight and volume (subject to safety, hygiene and consumer acceptance)
make sure packaging can be recovered, or produce packaging that is reusable
make sure packaging has a minimal impact on the environment after disposal
make sure packaging is manufactured to contain minimum levels of hazardous substances
make sure the amount of cadmium, mercury, lead and hexavalent chromium, or any combination of these heavy metals, does not exceed 100ppm (parts per million) by weight. These limits apply to packaging and any packaging components, and
keep evidence for at least four years from the date that the packaging was placed on the market that it complies with the Essential Requirements. You need to be able to supply these details to your enforcing organisation within 28 days, if requested.

Packaging recovery methods
All packaging must be recoverable by one of the following methods and you must comply with the associated targets:

material recycling – the packaging must be manufactured so that a certain percentage (by weight) of the material can be recycled.
energy recovery – the packaging waste must be processed to allow for maximum energy recovery. This means that any packaging waste burned must produce more energy than is used by the incineration process.
composting – the packaging waste processed must be biodegradable and not hinder the collection or composting process.
biodegradation – packaging must ultimately decompose into carbon dioxide, biomass and water.

Reusable packaging must be capable of being used several times. Once at the end of its useful life, it must also meet the requirements for recovery listed above.

Producer Responsibility Obligations - who they apply to?

You must comply with the Producer Responsibility Obligations if your business:

handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging in a year
has a turnover of more than £2 million (based on the previous financial year).

If your business belongs to a group of companies these requirements apply to the total amount of packaging handled by the group and the group’s total annual turnover.
The obligations apply to the total amount of packaging that your business handles, not the amount of packaging waste that your business produces.
Do you handle packaging?
Your business handles packaging if you, or someone acting on your behalf:

manufacture the raw materials used to make packaging
convert raw materials into packaging
fill packaging (putting goods or products into packaging)
sell packaged goods to the end user
lease or hire out packaging, such as pallets
operate a franchise or other licensed business, including pubs
import packaging, packaging materials or packaged goods into the UK
bring transit packaging into the UK that will end up as waste in the UK.

If your business provides licences to other businesses, such as franchises or pub leases, then you may be responsible for their packaging obligations. You will need to include them when you calculate the size of your business.

Reusable packaging
If your business reuses packaging that is already in circulation, you do not need to count this towards the total amount of packaging you handle. This only applies if it is in its original form and it is being used for the same purpose that it was made for.
If you produce reusable packaging you must ensure that your product complies with the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations. These regulations apply to all businesses that design, produce and place packaging on the market.

If your business reconditions or otherwise alters old packaging for a different use you must still comply with the Producer Responsibility Obligations as the packaging is considered new to the market.

Producer Responsibility Obligations - what you must do?

If the Producer Responsibility Obligations apply to your business you must:

register with your environmental regulator, either directly or through a producer compliance scheme
pay for the recovery and recycling of certain amounts of packaging waste
provide evidence to your environmental regulator, using electronic packaging recovery notes (ePRNs) and packaging export recovery notes (ePERNs).

ePRNs are issued electronically by accredited reprocessors who accept packaging waste and issue a note stating how much packaging waste they have recovered or recycled.
ePERNs are issued electronically by accredited exporters when packaging waste is exported to approved reprocessors outside of the UK.
If your main packaging activity is selling packaging or packaged goods you must provide information to your customers about:

reusing, recovering and recycling packaging
the collection facilities available to them.

Producer Responsibility Obligations - how to comply?

There are three ways to comply with the Producer Responsibility Obligations. Whichever method you choose, you must keep records for at least four years.

Join a packaging compliance scheme
Most businesses join a packaging compliance scheme (PCS). The scheme will take on your recovery and recycling obligations.

If you choose to join a registered packaging compliance scheme you do not have to meet your obligations yourself. The scheme takes on your business recovery and recycling obligations by:

registering your business with your environmental regulator
providing electronic packaging waste recovery notes (ePRNs) or packaging waste export recovery notes (ePERNs)
reporting on compliance to your environmental regulator

What you must do
You can find a compliance scheme through the National Packaging Waste Database. This database is UK-wide.
Once you have registered, you must:

supply the scheme with relevant information, for example the amount of packaging you handle
pay a fee (this normally includes a reduced registration fee that the scheme pays to your environmental regulator on your behalf).

Individual route
You can calculate your own recycling and recovery requirements and register yourself with your environmental regulator. This is called the 'individual route'.

What you must do If you choose the individual route to meet your packaging waste obligations you must:

Assess how much packaging your business handles
Register with your environmental regulator
Submit an operational plan
Recycle and recover packaging waste
Confirm you have met your recovery and recycling obligations
Provide information to customers

1. Assess how much packaging your business handles

To calculate your recovery and recycling obligations for the coming year you need to assess:

the amount and type of packaging your business handled or sold in the last calendar year
how you handled it, eg manufacturing, filling, etc.

Remember, this is all the packaging that your business handles, not just packaging waste that you produce.
You will also need to know the UK business recovery and recycling targets for each category of packaging material for that year to calculate your obligation.

2. Register with your environmental regulator

You should register with your environmental regulator by 7 April each year.
If you carry out activities in more than one part of the UK, you must register with each of the relevant environmental regulators.

You will need to pay an annual registration fee to cover administration and monitoring costs.
You can register with your environmental regulator online through the National Packaging Waste Database. This database is UK-wide. You must first apply for a login on the database’s homepage.

3. Submit an operational plan

If your recovery and recycling obligation is more than 500 tonnes, you must submit an operational plan. Your operational plan shows how you intend to comply with the regulations.
You must submit an operational plan with your first registration application. In subsequent years you must submit the operational plan by 31 January.
You have to submit your operational plan to:

Environment Agency and Defra in England and Wales
SEPA and the Scottish Government in Scotland
Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) in Northern Ireland.

If you do not submit your operational plan by 31 January, your application may be refused. You can submit an operational plan using the UK-wide National Packaging Waste Database.

4. Recycle and recover packaging waste

Once you have calculated your obligation, you need to recover or recycle an amount of packaging waste equivalent to your obligation.
You do not have to recover or recycle packaging waste yourself nor do you have to recover or recycle the actual packaging that you handled.
However, you do need to get evidence that you have arranged and paid for recycling and recovery of packaging waste. This evidence is in the form of electronic packaging waste recovery notes (ePRNs) and electronic packaging waste export recovery notes (ePERNs).
You can recycle packaging waste by using:

local council recycling collections
local community recycling organisations
commercial recycling contractors.

5. Confirm you have met your recovery and recycling obligations

You must submit a certificate of compliance, signed by a partner, director, company secretary or other senior member of staff, by 31 January each year to your environmental regulator. You must provide copies of evidence of compliance to support your certificate. You can do this online using the National Packaging Waste Database.
The evidence you will need to provide must either be:

electronic packaging waste recovery notes (ePRNs), if they are issued by a UK reprocessor of packaging wastes
electronic packaging waste export recovery notes (ePERNs), if they are issued by a UK exporter of packaging wastes.

There are separate ePRNs and ePERNs for each type of packaging waste.
You can sell surplus ePRNs and ePERNs if you recycle or recover more packaging waste than you have to under your obligation. You can also buy ePRNs and ePERNs to make up your obligation.
A number of brokers operate trading services for ePRNs and ePERNs. The price of ePRNS and ePERNs depends on market conditions.
Reprocessors and exporters of UK packaging waste can issue evidence of recovery and recycling to producers.
Reprocessors and exporters will normally charge a fee for ePRNs and ePERNs. The cost of ePRNs and ePERNs is not set at a fixed rate, but depends on market conditions.

6. Provide information to customers

If your main packaging activity is selling packaging or finished goods in packaging to the final user or consumer, you must tell your customers about:

return, recovery and collection facilities available to them
how they can help to reuse, recover and recycle packaging, for example how to correctly sort waste or encouraging the reuse of packaging.

Allocation method
If you have a turnover of between £2 million and £5 million each year you can comply with the Producer Responsibility Obligations by following the allocation method.
Through the allocation method, instead of having to collect information about the amount of packaging you handle, your recycling and recovery obligations are based on your turnover alone.
This is a voluntary method. If you choose to use the allocation method, you must follow it for at least three years. If your turnover exceeds £5 million a year in this period you must join a compliance scheme or follow the individual route.
What you must do

Order a registration pack from your environmental regulator.
Show evidence of your turnover to your environmental regulator.
Register with your environmental regulator or join a compliance scheme. You will pay a reduced registration fee.
Calculate your recycling obligation from your turnover. Use the table in the registration pack.
Recover and recycle the main packaging material that you handle.
Provide evidence that you have met the recovery and recycling targets set out in the table through either packaging waste recovery notes (ePRNs) or packaging waste export recovery notes (ePERNs).

ePRNs and ePERNs are obtained from accredited exporters and reprocessors and can also be issued through the UK-wide National Packaging Waste Database.