Guidance

Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR): appeal against a decision issued by PackUK

Updated 14 July 2025

An appeal can be brought to a First Tier Tribunal (England and Wales), the Planning Appeals Commission (Northern Ireland), the Scottish Ministers or the sheriff (Scotland) if there is a disagreement as to certain decisions or notices made by PackUK.

What you can appeal against

Producer appeal: Fee related decisions

A producer or holding company ^{[footnote 1]} can appeal the following decisions under regulation 105(1)(a) and (b) and regulation 105(2):

• a decision of PackUK to serve a notice of liability to pay a disposal fee or administration fee on the producer or holding company (in relation to relevant group members within a group registration) under regulation 67
• a decision of PackUK to serve a notice of a revised fee on the producer or holding company (in relation to such relevant group members) under regulation 82

The grounds of an appeal in relation to these decisions are:

• the producer or holding company is not in fact liable to pay a disposal fee or administration fee
• the amount which the producer or holding company has been assessed as being liable to pay has been miscalculated

Producer appeal: Variable Monetary penalty

A producer or holding company can appeal a final notice variable monetary penalty under regulation 104(6)(a), it being a civil sanction issued under regulation 121(1)(a)(ii).

The grounds of appeal are:

• the decision to issue the notice is based on an error of fact
• the decision to issue the notice is wrong in law
• the amount of the penalty imposed is unreasonable
• the decision to issue the notice is unreasonable for any other reason

Producer appeal: Enforcement cost recovery notice

A producer or holding company can appeal under regulation 104(6)(b) an enforcement cost recovery notice issued under regulation 123.

This cost recovery is linked to a variable monetary penalty notice that has been served which requires costs incurred by PackUK to be paid. The costs include the following:

• investigation costs
• administration costs
• costs of obtaining expert advice (including legal advice)

The grounds of appeal are based on a disagreement with the decision to:

• impose the requirement to pay costs
• the amount of those costs

Local Authority appeal: Disposal cost related decisions

A local authority can appeal against a decision made by PackUK related to the following under regulation 105(4):

• Regulation 105(4)(a)(i): a decision assessing its chargeable disposal costs under Chapter 4 of Part 5
• Regulation 105(4)(a)(ii): a decision as to the amount to be distributed to the relevant authority under Chapter 4 of Part 5
• Regulation 105(4)(a)(iii): a decision recalculating its chargeable disposal costs under Chapter 5 of Part 5
• Regulation 105(4)(b): a notice by PackUK under regulation 76(6) that it intends to reduce a payment to the relevant authority
• Regulation 105(4)(c): a decision by PackUK under regulation 77(5) where it has determined a complaint by the relevant authority and that paragraph applies, that information provided by the relevant authority in support of the complaint was not relevant to its decision

The grounds of appeal in relation to the decision referred to in regulation 105(4)(a) are:

• that the chargeable disposal costs of the relevant authority have been miscalculated
• PackUK has reduced the disposal costs of the relevant authority when it was not entitled to do so under regulation 71(3) or regulation 72(8)
• PackUK has failed to comply with a procedural requirement in Chapter 4 of Part 5 or Chapter 5 of Part 5 which applies in relation to the decision in question
• PackUK has failed to pay the correct amount to the relevant authority under regulation 76

The ground of appeal in relation to the decision referred to in regulation 105(4)(b) is as follows:

• PackUK’s determination of how to apportion the total amount available to be divided between relevant authorities is wrong

The ground of appeal in relation to the decision referred to in regulation 105(4)(c) are:

• that the information provided by the relevant authority in support of the complaint was relevant to the decision to uphold the complaint

Rights of appeal

An appeal of a decision or notice made by PackUK can be brought under paragraph (1), (2) or (4)(a) or (b) of Regulation 105^{[footnote 2]} only once the PackUK’s complaints procedure in relation to the relevant decision or notice appealed against has been followed and a decision from PackUK has been received regarding the complaint made.

If new information or data becomes available relevant to the original complaint made, a reconsideration of that complaint can be requested.

An appeal under Regulation 104 may only be brought after the notice of the decision to which the appeal relates has been sent by PackUK.

When to appeal

An appeal must be lodged within the following timeframes:

• if the appeal is made under regulation 104, it must be made within 2 months of the date on which notice of the decision was sent by PackUK (unless an appeal is made to the Scottish Ministers who may at any time allow a notice of appeal to be given after the 2 month expiry date)
• if the appeal is made under regulation 105, it must be made within 2 months of the date on which any decision under PackUK’s complaints procedure has been exhausted

Where to lodge your appeal

Depending on an appellant’s location in the UK, an appeal should be lodged with the appropriate appeal body as follows (see regulation 103):

• if in England and Wales, appeals will be dealt with by a tribunal in the General Regulatory Chamber, use the Find a court or tribunal service and refer to The First Tier Tribunal
• in Scotland, an appeal under regulation 104 will be dealt with by the Scottish Ministers. An appeal under regulation 105 will be dealt with by the sheriff
• if in Northern Ireland, appeals will be dealt with by The Planning Appeals Commission

What happens next

The appropriate appeal body will be in contact as to the next steps after an appeal has been lodged.

For more information on the appeals process, refer to the following regulations:

• Regulation 106: Procedure on appeals
• Regulation 107: Status pending appeal
• Regulation 108: Determination of appeals

Legislation and rules

You can find the regulations in The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.

You can read the rules as to how your case will be handled in the UK:

• First Tier tribunal: General Regulatory Chamber procedure rules 2009
• Scottish Courts & Tribunal Service: Summary Applications, Statutory Applications and Appeals etc Rules 1999
• Northern Ireland Courts & Tribunal Service: Planning Appeals Commission (Decisions on Appeals and Making of Reports) (No. 2) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2006

1. Holding company is where there is a group registration. ↩

2. No appeal may be brought under paragraph (1), (2) or (4)(a) or (b) of this regulation unless the appellant has first brought a complaint under the PackUK’s complaints procedure about the decision or notice appealed against. ↩