PackUK & Defra Release Crucial pEPR updates: Base Fees, Recyclability Assessment Obligations & Eco-Modulation
PackUK & Defra have released three major updates around Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging, on base fees, RAM requirements and common concerns from producers, and modulated fees from 2026.
Base Fees
The final base fees for 2025-2026, or Year 1 of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR), were published on 27 June 2025.
These figures are no longer illustrative and are based on actual data submitted by producers through the RPD portal for the 2024 calendar year.
The published base fees do not include:
- Registration charges payable to the EA, the SEPA, NIEA, or NRW
- Costs related to achieving packaging recycling targets e.g. through the purchase of PRNs. (This remains a obligation on producers as set out in the Producer Responsibility Obligations 2007)
Plastic has seen a notable drop from £485/tonne (as of the December 2024 release) to £423/tonne. At the same time, nearly all materials saw a drop, with fibre-based composites the exception, rising by £6/tonne.
The total combined rate across all materials has also declined, rather than cost reductions being offset by increases elsewhere. In December 2024, the total £/tonne rate across all materials stood at £2,735 – this has now dropped to £2,336 in the 2025–2026 figures, a reduction of £399/tonne.
DEFRA attributes these changes to several factors:
- Access to more accurate and complete data, now drawn from real producer submissions rather than estimates – combined with high levels of industry reporting compliance
- Extensive work between PackUK and regulators to ensure data is validated in a timely fashion
- Updates to how tonnage is calculated
- Revisions to the local authority cost model, following feedback from both councils and industry
- A reduction in the bad debt provision from 6% to 4%, likely reflecting improved data quality
Further details on how producers will be invoiced in October are expected shortly. In the meantime, producers should continue to submit their packaging data via the RPD online portal.
To access the guidance, click here.
PackUK is also holding a webinar on base fees on Thursday 10 July – you can register for this here.
Recyclability Assessment Obligations – Regulatory Position Update
In response to industry concerns about the time and resources needed to meet their 2025 recyclability assessment obligations, a Regulatory Position Statement (referred to as a Regulatory Decision in Wales) has been released by the four environmental regulators. The statement offers producers greater flexibility during the transition period by reducing the compliance burden.
Producers are still required to report tonnages for the first half of 2025, which includes a breakdown of flexible and rigid plastics, but recyclability assessments for this period can be inferred from data collected in the second half of the year.
You can view the statement here.