Packaging Waste Regulations

In January 1998 the UK Government implemented the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997. The law was extended to Northern Ireland with effect from October 1999. This legislation has been amended from time to time, most recently in 2005.

The regulations require that ALL businesses in UK that have a turnover of more than £2 million and that handle more than 50 tonnes packaging per year must comply.

Compliance imposes three specific requirements on companies that pass the two thresholds:
They must register, pay a fee and supply data
They must take steps to recover and recycle that which is assessed to be obligated tonnage and provide evidence- the PRN
They must officially certify that they have complied


A company that fails to carry out each and every one of these can be prosecuted. However, any company can choose to be exempt from the three requirements by joining a compliance scheme. The scheme then performs the various functions on behalf of the obligated company.

Recovery and recycling evidence is provided in the form of a tradable permit called a Packaging Waste Recovery Note (PRN) issued by accredited reprocessors. It is the case that some packaging waste collected in UK cannot be recycled here and is exported for recycling overseas. Evidence of this traffic is provided by a Packaging Waste Export Recovery Note (PERN) issued by accredited exporters.





Recovery & Recycling Targets in 2007

Overall Recovery 67%
Paper 67%
Glass 69.5%
Aluminium 31%
Steel 57.5%
Plastic 24%
Wood 20%
Minimum Recycling 92%