EPR Payment Estimates Announced Nov 2024

November 28, 2024 – Local authorities across the UK will today receive their first-year income estimates from the newly implemented Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme.

This scheme, a key component of the Environment Act, aims to utilise packaging tax income to bolster municipal waste management services.

The Assessment Notification, which local authorities will receive today, includes several critical pieces of information:

• Indicative Payment Estimates: Authorities will be informed of the estimated payments they should expect to receive in the first year of the scheme.
• Payment Schedule and Coverage: Details on when the payments will be made and what specific costs these payments are intended to cover.
• Calculation Methodology: An explanation of the method used to calculate the payment estimates, ensuring transparency and understanding of the financial allocations.

The EPR scheme is designed to shift and rebalance the costs along the supply chain by making producers more accountable for the end-of-life management of their products.

This means that instead of local governments or consumers bearing the full cost of waste management, producers are required to take on a larger share of these costs.

This can include designing products for easier recycling or disposal, funding recycling programmes, and take-back schemes (including deposit and return schemes).

Though making local authorities remain responsible for the costs associated with the collection and management of packaging, the scheme brings producers into the commercial dimension of recycling services and incentivises the creation of more sustainable packaging solutions.

This approach is expected to reduce unnecessary packaging, improve recycling rates, and decrease litter.

WRM expresses support for the additional funding source provided by the EPR scheme and acknowledges the potential benefits for local authority recycling services.

We do however emphasise the need to closely examine whether the announced payments will sufficiently cover the costs associated with the required expansion of these services.

The introduction of the EPR scheme marks a significant step towards more sustainable waste management practices in the UK.

By ensuring that producers and the product supply chain have a stake in the cost of packaging waste, the scheme aims to promote more responsible production and consumption patterns.

As local authorities begin to receive their income estimates, the focus will be on how effectively these funds can be utilised to enhance waste management services and meet the ambitious targets set out by the Environment Act.