Excluding the well documented Alcohol Duty Changes there have been three areas of government legislation change this year affecting cost prices. These are EPR, PRN and SDIL. The government have not communicated these particularly well, so we wanted to explain them in more detail to our customers. Please read below for an explanation of these changes and if they are already included in your pricing or are still to be implemented.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
From 1^st April 2025 brand owners will incur a new liability in relation to EPR legislation aimed at promoting greater responsibility for the entire lifecycle of packaging, including end-of-life disposal.
Because this increase is from 1^st April, brand owners have NOT included it so far in 2025 and hence are now putting it through as a further price increase.
You will see these increases added to your pricing from 1^st April

Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs)
From 1^st January 2025 the full liability for PRNs transferred to the producer.
The majority of brand owners have included this increase within their 2025 price increases, so you will not receive a separate increase.

The majority of brand owners have included this increase within their 2025 price increases, so you will not receive a separate increase.

PRN started in the late 1990’s and SDIL was introduced in 2018 but EPR is new, so we have given a more detailed explanation of this.

What is EPR?

• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is legislation that aims to make producers responsible for the cost of the collection, management, and recycling of packaging.
• It also incentivizes producers to make their products more recyclable by adding modulation fees, which are based on the recyclability of products.
• This essentially means the government will adjust the price of the fees, encouraging businesses to decrease their impact on the environment — the more recyclable the material, the lower the price.
• Ultimately, the key goal of EPR is to reduce unnecessary packaging, improve the quality of materials, and reduce litter across the country. The scheme makes this possible by channelling the money from the fees into the collection, management, recycling, and disposal of household waste and street bins.

Key Points

• Dates – EPR becomes an obligation to producers from 1^st April 2025.
• Material – EPR is levied on glass containers and tetra/ tetra equivalents. It is not levied on aluminium cans and plastic bottles which will come under the Deposit Return Scheme scheduled for October 2027. It is also levied on all other types of household packaging from shoe boxes to white goods packaging and everything in between.
• Fees – Fees vary according to the weight of the material and also to its volume. EPR affects glass producers the most, because of the relative weight of the material.

Further Information

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging-who-is-affected-and-what-to-do