Is your company compliant with the UK Packaging Waste Regulations?
It is important that checks are made and expert advice is sought in order to establish what, if any, obligations a business may have, as non-compliance may result in hefty fines and/ or damage to business reputation.
IMPORTANT – Please note that changes to the UK Packaging Waste Regulations are coming in the form of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. This legislation reform, which will likely be in place by 2023, will introduce unprecedented financial and administrative reporting burdens for packaging producers, as changes are set to increase the amount contributed by obligated producers into the UK’s producer responsibility system for packaging waste. We urge affected businesses to prepare now!
If you require further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are also hosting several EPR Update webinars for customers and have also produced a white paper and PackFlow EPR report.
Your business has a packaging waste obligation if ALL of the following points apply:
Please note that under forthcoming changes to the Packaging Waste Regulations, businesses that fall under the thresholds outlined above may still be required to play a part in the reformed system. Further information can be found in our FAQs listed below.
Valpak helps to alleviate the burden of what can be a complex and onerous task, as well as take on a business’s legal responsibility. We were the first ever packaging compliance scheme and have over 25 years’ experience, which, alongside our 100% compliance success rate, makes us best placed to look after your business’s packaging compliance.
If your business is obligated and you are looking to outsource compliance to a scheme, our blog contains a list of questions to ask yourself and the scheme you are looking to join, which should help with the decision-making process.
Packaging compliance is where businesses, that meet criteria set by the Packaging Waste Regulations, have taken steps to comply with the requirements of this piece of legislation.
Take our quick obligation test to find out if your business needs to comply.
In 1997, when the Packaging Waste Regulations first came into force, a group of obligated businesses collaborated to create the UK’s first ever packaging compliance scheme (Valpak) as a means to outsource legal compliance to a third party.
Valpak has a 100% compliance record and over 25 years’ experience. Our compliance scheme members can outsource a number of activities. We will:
Valpak help to alleviate the burden of what can be a complex and onerous task, as well as take on a business’s legal responsibility.
If your business is obligated and you are looking to outsource compliance to a scheme, our blog contains a list of questions to ask yourself and the scheme you are looking to join, which should help with the decision-making process.
Your business will need to pay three sets of fees in order to become compliant with the Regulations:
Use our free, online tool to find out your packaging obligation for the current year.
Gathering and submitting packaging data can be a demanding and time-consuming process. Businesses have the option to fully outsource data collection and submission to our Data Management Team.
We can offer support and help to collect packaging weights information, or the entire data submission process can be outsourced to us. Our service can be tailored to suit your business’s needs.
Visit our Data Management web page for further information, or contact us today for a free quote or to discuss your business’s requirements.
A business will be considered as partially obligated under the reformed system if its annual turnover is £1 million or more and it handled over 25 tonnes of packaging in the previous calendar year.
To comply with the reformed regulations, partially obligated businesses will need to:
A businesses will be considered as fully obligated if its annual turnover is £2 million or more and it handled over 50 tonnes of packaging in the previous calendar year.
To comply with the reformed regulations, fully obligated businesses will need to:
Sellers of packaged goods or empty packaging in the UK that have an annual turnover of £1 million or more, will need to submit ‘sales by nation’ data.
The reporting of this information will help the government to understand which country in the UK packaging has been sold, hired, or loaned in, which will provide a better view of packaging circulation in the UK.
Once a year, Sellers will have to submit ‘sales by nation’ data. For the 2023 calendar year, ‘sales by nation’ data must be submitted by 1 December 2024. For each year thereafter, the submission deadline for the previous year’s ‘sales by nation’ data will be 1 July.
If your business is obligated to comply with the Packaging Waste Regulations it may also be obligated to comply with the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations.
If you wish to discuss your obligations, please contact us today. We have been dealing with the Regulations since they came into force in 1997, which means we're best placed to advise on how different types of companies may be obligated.
The area that stands out for me is the support and guidance that we receive from Valpak during the waste packaging submission process. Our packaging data submission includes a number of business sites; therefore, we appreciate Valpak's help to coordinate this. It gives me more time to concentrate on core business activities.
We were completely new to the Packaging Waste Regulations and decided to obtain professional advice. Working with Valpak made a complex subject a straightforward one, allowing us to focus staff attention on other matters. Entrusting the relevant data to Valpak has meant an increase in the accuracy of our calculations and I am confident that all aspects of compliance are being diligently managed to high standards.
Valpak has been the chosen compliance partner of Samsung for many years, taking care of our obligations in WEEE, Battery and Packaging Regulations, whilst keeping us informed of policy changes. I have been very satisfied with the service we receive from Valpak.
We've been working with Valpak for over 10 years and the account management support offered has helped us to build a strong partnership, which ensures we meet the benchmarks of each environmental compliance successfully.