UK producers face a tougher packaging regime from 1 January 2026. New regulations made on 17 December 2025 amend the 2024 Producer Responsibility Obligations, with UK‑wide consent, and were signed by DEFRA minister Mary Creagh. The instrument tightens who is liable, raises several charges, formalises brand transfer and M&A duties, and introduces late assessments and closed‑loop provisions (source: legislation.gov.uk).

Charges move higher across producers, schemes and reprocessors. Illustratively, a £2,620 line rises to £2,842 (about 8%), a £558 charge becomes £690 (around 24%), and a £216 accreditation fee increases to £328 (about 52%). Reprocessor registration climbs from £2,921 to £3,228 (roughly 10%), while a £428 item moves to £574 (about 34%). These uplifts apply alongside the new £2,548 add‑on for reporting closed‑loop packaging waste. Budget lines that looked manageable in 2025 will need revisiting for 2026.

Closed‑loop credits are now formalised but tightly defined. To offset disposal fees, producers must pay the £2,548 annual add‑on and hold evidence from an accredited reprocessor or exporter that the waste was recycled into food‑grade plastic. Only packaging supplied on or after 1 January 2024 qualifies; it must be collected directly from the producer’s own consumers, not mixed with other sources, and sent to a single reprocessor (you can aggregate if you changed reprocessor mid‑period). Keep all data and evidence for seven years.

Late assessments are coming. If the scheme administrator later concludes a company was liable in a past assessment year, it can issue a notice and calculate disposal and administration fees using best‑available estimates, including the share of commonly binned or littered items. There is a four‑year window to assess, extended to 10 years where non‑compliance prevented earlier calculation. Interest can be charged from the date those fees would originally have fallen due.

Mergers get bespoke treatment. After a corporate merger, the combined body is treated as large if any merged entity was large in the merger year, must register by the earlier of the legacy deadlines or within 28 days, and inherits continuing obligations. PRNs/PERNs obtained pre‑merger can transfer to the combined entity. If the merger straddles an assessment year, disposal and administration fees for that year are the sum of what the individual entities owed or would have owed.

Brand or business transfers carry three years of consequences. A transferee must notify the agency within 28 days and register or re‑register; for the transfer year and the next two, it will be treated as large if adjusted turnover exceeds £2m and adjusted packaging supplied exceeds 50 tonnes. Where the transferor was large, both parties must submit or resubmit data for the current and previous year, with the packaging originally supplied by the transferor treated as if supplied by the transferee. Recycling obligations and relevant fees shift to the transferee.

Producer roles are clarified down the chain. Once the first producer supplies packaging, no one else becomes a producer by further supply except a seller. Adding a new component, such as a label, creates producer obligations only for that new component. For online marketplace operators, distributor roles and service providers, liability is explicit where thresholds and household packaging criteria are met.

Material categories are tightened. Fibre‑based composites are defined, and paper or board can include a composite where plastic layers are 5% or less by mass. Deposit‑return items, including low‑volume lines where exemptions apply, are confirmed as exempt packaging for EPR purposes. The definition of household packaging is tidied to reduce ambiguity for reporters.

Reporting discipline steps up. Producers must keep data required under the Regulations and specified evidence for at least seven years, and inform the agency within 28 days if they cease to be a producer. Reporting closed‑loop tonnages without paying the add‑on is an offence. Evidence for relevant and closed‑loop tonnages must come from accredited reprocessors or exporters; sellers’ data duties are adjusted accordingly.

Fee modulation gets a new test: whether the amount of packaging used is no more than reasonably necessary for its purpose. Right‑sizing packs and removing unnecessary components now have a clearer route to lower fees, alongside existing recyclability and litter‑propensity signals. This is where marginal design choices can translate into cash savings in 2026.

Market hygiene improves for PRNs/PERNs. Reprocessors and exporters must not issue certificates where one has already been issued for the same waste, closing off double‑counting risk. Appeals are extended to late assessments. Information sharing is widened between agencies, the scheme administrator and any appointed Producer Responsibility Organisation to support enforcement and recalculation.

A new governance option appears. The scheme administrator can appoint a not‑for‑profit Producer Responsibility Organisation, subject to ministerial consent and suitability tests. Appointments can be revoked for cause, and core assets-data, contracts, systems and staff-can transfer to ensure continuity if a PRO exits or is replaced. Complaints routes are extended to cover the actions of any appointed PRO.

Charities are now more precisely carved out. They are excluded from producer obligations and annual fees, but where a charity operates as a reprocessor or exporter, registration will be enforced from 1 January 2027 (applications from 1 October 2026). Related offences and civil sanctions are paused for charities until that date, creating a defined transition.

There is a short, busy transition window. Large producers may amend 2024 and H1‑2025 reports to include eligible material as relevant packaging waste where evidence exists, with submissions due by 28 January 2026 for 2024 and by 1 April 2026 for H1‑2025. Paying the £2,548 charge by 28 January 2026 is required if you amend historic data as allowed, or if you want to report closed‑loop in 2026. The scheme administrator must recalculate 2025 fees where amended 2024 data is accepted, without re‑allocating increases to others.

What this means in practice. Case study 1: a mid‑market drinks brand buys a rival in February 2026. It is treated as large for three years if thresholds are met, must resubmit data for the current and previous year, and inherits the seller’s recycling obligations and any unpaid 2025 fees. If it invests in food‑grade closed‑loop PET and pays the add‑on, it can offset those tonnages against disposal fees-provided collections are from its own customers and not commingled. Case study 2: a UK online marketplace that supplies household packaging at scale but failed to register in 2025 could face a late assessment, estimated tonnages and interest back‑dated to the original due date. The cleanest mitigation route is registration, data reconstruction, and a 2026 packaging reduction plan to benefit from the “reasonably necessary” modulation.

DEFRA’s note says no significant impact is foreseen. The line‑item shifts tell a different story for budgeting: multiple charges rise by high single to low double digits, with some accreditation items up by roughly a third to a half. Finance and sustainability teams should lock in January actions: confirm producer status in live M&A or brand deals, decide on paying the closed‑loop add‑on, verify evidence trails with accredited reprocessors, and prepare amended submissions ahead of the 28 January and 1 April 2026 cut‑offs. From 1 January 2026, the cost of non‑compliance becomes more explicit-and potentially more expensive.