Payments to local authorities under extended producer responsibility for packaging
Information for local authorities who will receive payments under the extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging scheme.
As a local authority you’ll receive payments to cover your net efficient costs of collecting, managing, recycling and disposing of household packaging waste.
The money will come from PackUK, the scheme administrator. This money is sourced from the fees paid by producers who supply or import packaging to the UK market under extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging regulations.
How much money you’ll receive
Your payments will be based on your authority’s net efficient costs of managing household packaging waste. These costs have been calculated using the local authority packaging cost and performance (LAPCAP) model developed by PackUK on behalf of the 4 UK nations.
Read more information about how your payments are calculated.
Confirming your final payment amount
You’ll receive a notice of assessment the year before your assessment year. This will be sent by the 1 November. For example, if your assessment year is 2027 to 2028, you’d receive your notice of assessment in November 2026. This notice sets out your total anticipated payment amount for the year.
The total amount will be paid quarterly. You’ll receive a grant determination letter before each quarterly payment confirming the payment amount and payment date.
A remittance advice will be sent after each quarterly payment to confirm receipt and completion of the payment.
Changes to your payment amount
This amount may change in some limited circumstances, including if:
- your costs get recalculated following a successful complaint or appeal from producers or local authorities
- PackUK does not receive enough money from producers to cover local authority costs
- PackUK receives evidence that this funding has been allocated for other purposes
If your total anticipated payment amount changes, you’ll receive a recalculation notice which will set out the:
- revised anticipated payment amount
- difference between the revised amount and the original amount
- date when any additional money will be paid
Recalculation notices can be sent up to 4 years after the end of the assessment year. If chargeable disposal costs are recalculated as being lower than previously calculated, this may result in a reduction in funding in a future year.
When you’ll be paid
You’ll receive 4 separate quarterly payments per year. PackUK intends to make payments to local authorities according to the following schedule:
- July (quarter 1)
- October (quarter 2)
- January (quarter 3)
- March (quarter 4)
What you should use payments for
Payments should be used to cover the net efficient costs your local authority incurs in the efficient management of household packaging waste.
These costs cover:
- recovery operations (including recycling) and disposal operations
- managing waste through household waste recycling centres
- providing public information about the management of household packaging waste, including costs associated with information campaigns
- marketing household packaging waste recovered for recycling
Using payments for other purposes
PackUK may recalculate chargeable disposal costs if they receive evidence that this funding has been allocated for other purposes. Recalculation notices can be sent up to 4 years after the end of the assessment year. Where chargeable disposal costs are recalculated as being lower than previously calculated, this may result in a reduction in funding in a future year.
Submitting packaging waste data
Payment calculations are reliant on information given by local authorities. To make sure that payment calculations are accurate, all local authorities must submit up to date packaging waste data.
You may already be submitting this data through services such as:
- the waste and resources action programme (WRAP)
- WasteDataFlow
PackUK will contact you directly, or provide an introductory letter through a contractor, if you need to submit further data.
Future data requirements
PackUK and Defra are analysing data submitted from representative local authorities to confirm what data you will need to collect and report in future years.
PackUK will communicate the timeframe for collecting any additional data and deadlines for submitting it, as soon as possible.
Contact PackUK
Contact PackUK for questions about EPR for packaging payments.
Updates to this page
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Guidance has been updated to reflect set payment dates, include a Welsh translation, and to make the content easier to understand.
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Timeline information amended to show when local authorities will receive assessment notices and grant determination letters. Link added to PackUK as the scheme administrator.
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First published.