The Regulations state that obligated companies must recover and recycle a proportion of the packaging handled in a full year. This means that evidence is acquired to show that an equivalent amount has been recovered somewhere. This evidence takes the form of a simple certificate called a Packaging Recovery Note, or PRN.

Reprocessors, that is to say businesses that recycle packaging waste, issue PRNs, which have a value set by the reprocessor, but usually determined by market conditions. This value varies by material and can change from month to month during the year in accordance with supply and demand.

Some packaging waste is exported for recycling overseas and exporters of such material can become accredited to issue Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs). These have exactly the same purpose and value as PRNs, so the two are interchangable.

Paperpak contracts with reprocessors to purchase, on behalf of members, the PRNs necessary to satisfy the aggregate obligations of the membership. The funds arising from these transactions are used to:

• Encourage collection of more waste
• Fund capital expenditure in new recycling plant
• Subsidise pricing of new product made from recycled waste

In order to participate, a reprocessor must be accredited by the Environment Agency and will be subject to a rigorous annual audit.