Extended producer responsibility for packaging: notice of liability

Liable producers affected by extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging must pay waste disposal fees as set out in their notice of liability.

For registration fees paid to your environmental regulator, see register and pay the fee.

What a notice of liability is

PackUK will send you a notice of liability for each assessment year, based on the packaging you supplied for the previous calendar year. This should be treated as your invoice, though as a notification of a statutory liability it does not have the same standing as a commercial invoice.

Who must pay a notice of liability

You must pay your notice of liability if you are a producer during the current assessment year (1 April to 31 March), and you supplied household packaging as a large producer in the previous calendar year.

If you are registered as part of a group, the holding company is responsible for paying. The notice of liability is sent to the holding company and shows a breakdown for each subsidiary.

A compliance scheme cannot pay the notice of liability on your behalf.

How to find your notice of liability

Your notice of liability is sent through the report packaging data (RPD) portal.

The primary contact (the person you nominated as the main point of contact) on your RPD account will receive an email notification when the notice is available. To update your primary contact, log into your RPD account and resubmit your registration data.

What your notice of liability includes

Your notice of liability includes:

• your disposal fee based on the weight and type of household packaging you reported and how it was calculated, including any packaging waste off-set, and any change in the producers per tonne fee, based on the packaging’s environmental impact (called modulation)
• public information costs – the costs of campaigns run by PackUK to encourage the reuse of packaging, communicate how packaging waste is managed and how to prevent litter (where appropriate, these costs may be broken down to reflect which area they relate to)
• scheme administration costs – dividing the total amount for the assessment year across all liable producers
• impairment fees – fees that PackUK is unable to collect from other producers, due to insolvency or for any other reason
• the dates your instalments are due and the amount of each instalment
• whether interest applies to late payments and the rate
• a statement that your fee may change following a recalculation
• how to make a complaint
• your right to appeal
• your unique virtual bank account number (VBAN) into which you should pay your fees

Find out more about how your fees are calculated in PackUK’s operational plan.

When to pay your notice of liability

You must pay by the dates shown on your notice of liability. Payment is usually in quarterly instalments, but your full payment details and ways you can pay are outlined in your notice.

If you do not pay an instalment within 50 days of the due date, PackUK can:

• charge interest on the unpaid amount
• take enforcement action, including issuing a variable monetary penalty

How to pay your notice of liability

Your finance team should treat the notice of liability as the invoice. You can pay your notice of liability by:

• direct debit (paid quarterly) which can be set up through a Stripe link on your notice
• bank transfer using your VBAN shown on the information page of your notice
• credit or debit card
• standing order

If you are not paying by direct debit, you will need to contact the customer support desk to set up a payment plan. If you do not do so, you may receive automated payment reminders.

You cannot make a payment through SWIFT. As your notice of liability is not a commercial invoice, PackUK will not provide a purchase order, VAT number, or supplier portal registration to make the payment.

Protect yourself from scams

PackUK will never send you a payment link by email. If you receive an email with a link asking you to pay your notice of liability, do not click the link. Report any suspicious emails to PackUK on 0300 060 0002.

If your fee changes

PackUK can recalculate your notice of liability during or after the assessment year. This is called a recalculation. Recalculations can happen because:

• PackUK receives updated information about the packaging you supplied
• PackUK discovers an error in the original calculation
• total fees collected are more or less than total disposal costs
• there is any other reason for a material difference

After a recalculation, PackUK will send you a revised notice of liability. It will show the revised fee and either the amount still owed or the amount to be refunded.

You must continue to pay the amounts shown on your current notice, even if you expect a recalculation.

Paying a decrease in your liability

If your fee has decreased, PackUK will:

• update your notice of liability
• let you know if you are eligible for a refund, which you can request on the RPD portal

Your payment dates will not change from your original notice of liability.

If you already have a direct debit in place, PackUK will:

• update your direct debit to reflect the new amount shown on your new notice of liability
• email you 10 days before they collect the new payment to confirm the collection amount and date of collection

If you do not have a direct debit in place, PackUK will set up a new payment plan for your remaining quarterly payments left in that billing year.

Paying an increase in your liability

If there is an increase in your fee, then PackUK will issue a second notice of liability which will cover the increased additional amount. Payment terms for the second notice will be detailed within it.  

This second notice of liability will set out: 

• the overall payment that is due for the relevant assessment year
• what additional payments you need to make under the second notice of liability

The payment schedule in the second notice of liability will reflect the additional amount, not the total amount. Your original notice of liability will remain active until fully paid.

If you already pay by direct debit, PackUK will set up a second one to make it easier to collect the extra amount you owe. As you will have 2 direct debits set up, you can expect to receive:

• an email 10 days before they collect the new extra payment to confirm the collection amount and date of collection
• an additional confirmation of payment for the collection amount and date of collection

Time limits for recalculations

PackUK can carry out a year-end recalculation up to 4 years after the end of the assessment year. This extends to 10 years if PackUK did not obtain the information they needed sooner because of something you did or failed to do. For example, if you did not submit your packaging data.

If PackUK discovers you are liable after the initial round

If PackUK did not originally treat you as a liable producer but later obtains information suggesting you are, PackUK must follow these steps.

1. Send you a notification explaining why PackUK believe you are liable. You will have a reasonable period to respond.
2. After that period, if PackUK is still satisfied you are liable, they will calculate your fees and send you a notice of liability.

If PackUK could not identify you as liable because you did not comply with the regulations, they can charge interest. Interest is charged from the date the original payment was due. The same 4-year and 10-year time limits apply.

If you think your fee is wrong

Contact customer support

First, you must contact PackUK’s customer support desk to discuss the issue.

Telephone: 0300 060 0002 – Monday to Friday, 8am to 4:30pm

Email: EPRCustomerService@defra.gov.uk

Make a complaint

You must raise a complaint with PackUK through the RPD portal before you can appeal. You cannot go directly to a tribunal.

Appeal to a tribunal

After you have been through PackUK’s complaints process, you can appeal to a tribunal if you believe:

• you are not liable to pay a disposal or administration fee
• the per tonne fee or total amount has been miscalculated

Where to appeal depends on where your organisation is based.

Table: the appeal body your organisation will need to contact based on location

Location	Appeal body
England or Wales	First-tier Tribunal
Scotland	The sheriff
Northern Ireland	Planning Appeals Commission

You must lodge your appeal within 2 months of the date your complaint with PackUK is resolved.

Penalties if you do not pay

If you do not pay within 50 days of the due date, PackUK can issue a variable monetary penalty (VMP). This is a fine on top of the fees you owe.

How PackUK calculates the penalty

For an individual producer, the penalty is the higher of:  

• 20% of the unpaid waste disposal fees and administration fees
• 5% of your UK turnover if registered as a single organisation or 2% of your UK group turnover if registered as a group

For a holding company with a group registration, the penalty is the higher of:

• 20% of the unpaid fees
• 2% of the collective turnover of the group members in the registration

The penalty process

PackUK will use the following process.

1. PackUK sends you a notice of intent. This explains the grounds for the penalty, the amount, and your right to respond. You have 28 days to make written representations or objections.
2. After the 28-day period, PackUK considers any representations and decides whether to impose the penalty. They can change the amount.
3. If PackUK decides to impose the penalty, they send a final notice stating the amount, how to pay, and the payment deadline. This needs to be paid within 28 days.

Appealing a penalty

You can appeal a VMP to a tribunal. You do not need to go through PackUK’s complaints process first.

Grounds for appeal can include:

• an error of fact
• the decision was wrong in law
• the amount of the penalty is unreasonable
• the decision was unreasonable for any other reason

The penalty is suspended while your appeal is being decided. You do not have to pay until the appeal is resolved.

Get help

Contact the Defra EPR customer service team:

Telephone: 0300 060 0002 – Monday to Friday, 8am to 4:30pm

Email: EPRCustomerService@defra.gov.uk