Packaging data: check reporting periods and submission deadlines
Find out when large and small organisations affected by Extended producer responsibility (EPR) packaging must collect and submit packaging data.
Reporting periods (when you must collect packaging data) and deadlines for submitting your data depend on:
- whether you’re considered a large or small organisation
- the year you’re reporting on
Large and small organisations are also referred to as large and small producers under Extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging regulations. Check if you’re a large or small producer.
You must collect and submit packaging data:
- every 6 months, if you’re a large producer
- yearly, as a small producer
You must also register by the registration deadline every year.
You should submit your data through the ‘report packaging data’ service.
The next deadline for submitting data is 1 April 2026 for large and small producers.
If you miss a submission deadline, you should contact your environmental regulator. This is:
- the Environment Agency (EA) in England
- Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
- Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
Large producers: when to collect and submit data
You must collect and submit your packaging data on a 6-monthly basis. Deadlines for reporting the data you’ve collected are:
- 1 April - for data covering 1 July to 31 December of the previous year
- 1 October - for data covering 1 January to 30 June of the same year
If applicable, you must also collect and report data about the following on a yearly basis, by 1 April:
- plastic or paper bags you supply in England
- nation of sale
Check data you must collect and report as a large producer.
2024 data
The deadline for submitting data collected from 1 January to 30 June 2024 was 1 October 2024.
The deadline for submitting data collected from 1 July to 31 December 2024 was 1 April 2025. Contact your environmental regulator if you missed the submission deadline.
The data you collect and submit for 2024 will be used to calculate your recycling obligations and any waste management fees you must pay in 2025.
2025 data
The deadline for submitting data collected from 1 January to 30 June 2025 was 1 October 2025.
You will need to submit data you collect for the second half of 2025 (1 July to 31 December) by 1 April 2026.
Small producers: when to collect and submit data
You must collect and submit your packaging data yearly, by 1 April.
Check data you must collect and report as a small producer.
2024 data
The deadline for submitting your 2024 packaging data was 1 April 2025. Contact your environmental regulator if you missed the submission deadline.
When creating your data file, you’ll need to select the reporting period from January to December 2024, even if you did not start to collect data until April.
You can submit all the data you’ve collected under this reporting period.
2025 data
The deadline for submitting data you’re collecting for 2025 (1 January to 31 December) is 1 April 2026.
Collecting and reporting nation of sale, self-managed organisation waste and plastic and paper bag data
The environmental regulators have issued Regulatory position statements (RPS) (Regulatory statement in Wales) about when you should collect and report data on:
- nation of sale
- self-managed organisation waste
The RPS issued by the EA also includes plastic and paper bags supplied in England.
Find out how the RPS or Regulatory statement affects your data submission in:
Read the regulatory position statement to understand how this affects your data submission.
Registration deadlines
Large producers must register each year by 1 October. This is to ensure you pay the correct fees and meet your recycling obligations for packaging you supplied for the previous year (1 January to 31 December).
Small producers must register each year by 1 April to ensure you pay the correct fees for packaging you supplied for the previous year (1 January and 31 December).
Updates to this page
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Information updated throughout to clarify reporting dates and include links to updated regulatory position statements for all 4 nations. The EA statement now includes information about collecting and reporting data about paper and plastic bags supplied in England.
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Updating deadline information for the next reporting period, including information about registration deadlines.
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The 1 April reporting deadline has passed. This edition updates tenses accordingly.
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First published.