Packaging data: how to create your file for extended producer responsibility

Details

If you’re an organisation that supplies packaging to consumers and businesses in the UK, you may have to take action to comply with extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging.

You may need to collect and submit data about packaging you’ve supplied through the UK market, or any filled packaging you have imported and discarded in the UK.

Find out if you need to collect and report your packaging data.

You may also have to report data about which country in the UK packaging is supplied in and which country in the UK packaging is discarded in. This is called nation data.

Find out if you need to submit nation data.

Guidance on how to submit nation data will be published separately.

When you need to take action

ForLarge organisations inneed England,to Northernsubmit Irelanddata every 6 months. Small organisations submit data once a year.

Small and Scotlandlarge –organisations ifare youalso haveknown toas takesmall action,and yoularge mustproducers. startFind collectingout thewhether correctyour packagingorganisation datacounts fromas 1small Marchor 2023.

Forlarge organisationsfor inEPR Walesfor –packaging.

Deadlines therefor willreporting bepackaging andata

By additional1 optionApril to2025:

• small startorganisations collectingshould report their data fromfor 17all Julyof 2023,2024
• large theorganisations dateshould thereport regulationstheir camedata intofor forceJuly into Wales.
  December 2024 

FindIf outyou howhave tonot collectreported your packaging data forby EPR.the appropriate deadline, contact the environmental regulator.

Large organisations needshould toreport submitmaterial dataalready everyreported 6under months.the Small2007 organisationsregulations submitfor datathe oncewhole aof year.2024. They will only report this once.

FindIf outyou ifhave younot arereported ayour smalldata orby largethe organisationappropriate fordeadline, EPRcontact forthe packaging.environmental regulator.

Deadlines

Provisional for reporting packaging data

Small organisationsstructure: should: 

• collectRecyclability yourassessment 2023methodology packaging(RAM) data

From -January you1 do2025 notyou’ll have to reportrecord it

Large organisations inwill England,submit Scotlandthis anddata Northernfrom Ireland shouldJuly submit2025 by: onwards.

• 1

  Small Octoberorganisations 2023will tosubmit reporttheir forRAM Januarydata tofrom JuneJanuary 2023  

• 12026 Aprilonwards.

  It 2024will torequire reporta forfinal Julycolumn toon Decemberthe 2023  

• 1CSV Octoberfile 2024you tosubmit. reportThis forwill Januarybe tocalled June‘ram_rag_rating’ 2024
• 1and Apriluse 2025the tofollowing reportcodes.

  Code	Name
  R	Red
  A	Amber
  G	Green
  R-M	Red for- Julymedical
  A-M	Amber to- Decembermedical
  G-M	Green 2024 - medical

  IfThis youis havelikely notto reportedbe yourcolumn dataN, byreplacing the appropriatecurrent deadline,‘Weight contactadjusted thefor environmentaltransitional regulator.packaging (transitional_packaging_units)’.

  InLarge Wales,organisations youwill shouldalso have submittedto datasplit fortheir Julyplastics into flexible and rigid, and report these as submaterials of plastic. Small organisations will continue to Decemberreport 2023‘plastic’ byas 1a Aprilsingle 2024.material, Youwithout candivision includeinto submaterials.

  Do not report this for your data from January2024.

  This tois Juneprovisional 2023information.

  Find ifout youmore haveabout it.the recyclability assessment methodology.

  What this guidance covers

  This guidance is for:

  • organisations that need to collect and submit data about packaging they’ve supplied or imported through the UK market
  • compliance schemes who report packaging data for their member organisations

  It explains:

  • the different types of data you’ll need to submit about packaging you’ve supplied
  • how to structure your data submission file
  • the codes you should use in your data file

  Help making your file

  If you need help creating a packaging data CSV, you can use the ‘generate a packaging data file’ tool to:

  • generate a valid packaging data file
  • check how your file should be structured before creating one yourself

  Example of a packaging data file

  You can also use the example packaging data file to see how you should structure your data submission.

   How to submit your data

  Submit your data using the ‘report packaging data’ service.

  Get help and give feedback

  If you have any questions, email the packaging team at packaging@defra.gov.uk.

   Tell us what you think

  You can give feedback about this guidance and the rest of the EPR guidance - let us know if anything is unclear or incorrect.