Register for EPR for packaging: create your registration file
How to submit registration details to your environmental regulator if you have obligations under extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging – use the templates to help you create your file.
For an overview of the registration process, refer to the following guidance:
- how to register for EPR for packaging as a large producer
- how to comply with EPR for packaging as a small producer
If you’re a holding company that’s registering multiple subsidiaries directly with the environmental regulators, find out how to create your registration file as a holding company.
Overview of registration details
To register directly with your environmental regulator, you must submit details about your organisation through the ‘Report packaging data’ (RPD) service.
If you’re using a compliance scheme, they can register you on your behalf.
The registration details include:
- address
- annual turnover
- packaging activities
- contact details
- the approved person or delegated person within your organisation who submits your data
You may also need to submit your organisation’s:
- brand details – if you supply goods in the UK in packaging under your own brand
- partner details – if you’re registered as a partnership with Companies House
If you’re registering for closed loop packaging waste, enter ‘Yes’ in column 79 (closed_loop_registration) in your organisation details file. This column is optional – if you do not include it, or you leave it blank, the system will default to ‘No’.
Templates for registration details
You need to submit your details in one or more comma-separated values (CSV) files. You can open and complete CSV files in any spreadsheet program.
The following templates can help you structure your details correctly:
- – you need this if you enter a packaging activity as ‘supplied under your brand’ in your registration file
- – you need this if you enter an organisation type of ‘partnership’ in your registration file
Do not remove any columns from the CSV files, even if you do not have to fill them in.
Details you must submit
General information
There are some fields that you only need to complete if your organisation is a:
- limited liability partnership
- limited liability company
- public limited company
- limited partnership
These are marked in the ‘Description’ column with ‘Limited orgs only’.
You can report as a corporate group, but you must provide general information for each organisation and subsidiary in the group.
Where we’ve specified ‘allowed values’, follow these exactly, including capitalisation. For example, enter ‘Secondary’ not ‘secondary’, and ‘EN’ not ‘En’.
Do not use the following characters because they cause validation errors:
- superscript characters, including copyright or trademark symbols
- abbreviations such as ‘N/A’ instead of ‘not applicable’
Table 1: File structure for general information
| Order (column letter) | Column header | Description | Allowed values | Mandatory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (A) | organisation_id | The identification number assigned to an organisation when they create an account. This is 6 figures long. Do not include any spaces. This will be the same for all organisations and subsidiaries when reporting as a corporate group. |
Any | Yes |
| 2 (B) | subsidiary_id | An identification number assigned to a subsidiary via subsidiary module. Use the same unique ID for a subsidiary across all packaging and organisation data submissions. |
Any | This field must be used by holding companies when reporting on behalf of subsidiaries. Otherwise, leave blank. |
| 3 (C) | organisation _name |
Organisation name. Where applicable, this must exactly match your Companies House listing – for example if your listing says ‘limited’ do not use ‘Ltd’. If reporting as a corporate group, you need to provide names for the main organisation and any subsidiaries. For subsidiaries, this will be different from the holding company. |
Any | Yes |
| 4 (D) | trading_name | Trading name. The trading name for your organisation, or for each organisation and subsidiary, when reporting as a corporate group. Only include if different from organisation name. |
Any | Yes |
| 5 (E) | companies_house _number |
Companies House registration number for your organisation, or for each organisation or subsidiary when reporting as a corporate group. Give the full 8 digits. If there are leading zeroes, include them and add ‘ at the start, for example ‘00123456. Limited orgs only. |
Any | Yes |
| 6 (F) | home_nation _code |
Home nation code: the UK nation where an organisation is registered. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales. |
EN, NI, SC, WS | Yes |
| 7 (G) | main_activity_sic | Main activity SIC: enter the SIC code for your main packaging activity by tonnage. | Any | Yes |
| 8 (H) | organisation_type _code |
Organisation type code, as listed in Companies House. Sole trader (SOL), Partnership (PAR), Regulator (REG), Public limited company (PLC), Limited Liability partnership (LLP), Limited Liability company (LTD), Limited partnership (LPA), Co-operative (COP), Community interest Company (CIC), Outside UK (OUT), Others (OTH). |
SOL, PAR, REG, PLC, LLP, LTD, LPA, COP, CIC, OUT, OTH | Yes |
| 9 (I) | organisation_sub _>type_code |
Organisation sub-type: Licensor (LIC), Pub operating business (POB), Franchisor (FRA), Non-associated organisation (NAO), Holding company (HCY), Subsidiary (SUB), Licensee/Franchisee (LFR), Tenant (TEN), Others (OTH). | LIC, POB, FRA, NAO, HCY, SUB, LFR, TEN, OTH | Mandatory if any of the codes apply. Otherwise leave blank. |
| 10 (J) | packaging_activity _so |
Supplied under your brand: does the organisation supply goods to the UK market in primary, secondary or shipment packaging under its own brand? Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. |
Primary, Secondary, No | Yes |
| 11 (K) | packaging_activity _pf |
Packed or filled as unbranded: does the organisation place goods into packaging that’s unbranded when it’s sold? Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. |
Primary, Secondary, No | Yes |
| 12 (L) | packaging_activity _im |
Imported: does the organisation import packaging that contains goods into the UK to sell? Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. |
Primary, Secondary, No | Yes |
| 13 (M) | packaging_activity _se |
Supplied as empty: does the organisation sell empty packaging to businesses that have an annual turnover of less than £2 million and supply less than 50 tonnes of packaging a year? Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. |
Primary, Secondary, No | Yes |
| 14 (N) | packaging_activity _hl |
Hired or loaned: does the organisation hire or loan out reusable packaging to UK organisations? Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. |
Primary, Secondary, No | Yes |
| 15 (O) | packaging_activity _om |
Supplied through an online marketplace that you own: does the organisation own an online marketplace that allows non-UK organisations to sell packaged products in the UK? Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. |
Primary, Secondary, No | Yes |
| 16 (P) | packaging_activity _sl |
Selling: does the organisation sell empty or filled packaging directly to end consumers? Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. |
Primary, Secondary, No | Yes |
| 17 (Q) | registration_type _code |
Registration type code: whether you are registering as a group (GR) or an individual (IN). | GR, IN | Yes |
| 18 (R) | turnover | The organisation’s most recent annual turnover, based on the last audited accounts that were available before 7 April in the obligation year. Give this in millions to 2 decimal places – for example if your turnover was £24,500,000, enter 24.50 |
Do not include ‘£’ | Yes |
| 19 (S) | total_tonnage | Total weight of all packaging activities in the calculation year combined, in tonnes. For example, for 2023 data this is packaging handled in 2022. Organisations must assess the packaging they handled in the calculation year to determine if they meet the small or large packaging thresholds. |
Use digits only, in whole numbers. | Yes |
| 20 (T) | produce_blank _packaging_flag |
Does the organisation put packaging on the market which has no brand names, identifying marks or trademarks? | Yes, No | Yes |
| 21 (U) | liable_for_disposal _costs_flag |
Does the organisation place household packaging on the market? If your organisation is a subsidiary, enter ‘No’. Only holding companies and individual organisations are liable for disposal costs. |
Yes, No | Yes |
| 22 (V) | meet_reporting_ requirements_flag |
Reporting requirements: confirm that you are able to oversee the process for this organisation to report its packaging activities. This includes keeping account information up to date, making sure all data gets submitted and communicating about fees. |
Yes, No | No |
Addresses
In the same CSV file as the other organisation details, you must include addresses for the organisation:
- registered address on Companies House, if it’s a limited liability partnership (LLP), limited liability company (LTD) or limited partnership (LP)
- head office or principal place of business, unless it’s a limited liability partnership (LLP), limited liability company (LTD) or limited partnership (LP)
- audit address – this is a place the environmental regulator can start an audit of submitted information
You must submit the first two addresses by the registration deadline.
You must also include a service of notice address if this is different from the registered address. This is where we’ll send legal notices if the organisation is non-compliant.
Do not include a service of notice address if it’s the same as the registered address.
If you’re reporting as a corporate group, you must include the addresses for each organisation and subsidiary within the group.
For all addresses, you must include:
- first line of address
- city
- county
- postcode
- country
For all addresses apart from the audit address, you must also include a phone number.
For country, do not enter ‘United Kingdom’ or ‘UK’. Instead, enter either:
- England
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
Each piece of information must go in a separate column in the file. Check the following table and refer to the organisation details template provided in this guide.
Table 2: File structure for addresses
| Order (spreadsheet column) | Column header | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 23 (W) | registered_addr_line1 | Registered address line 1 |
| 24 (X) | registered_addr_line2 | Registered address line 2 |
| 25 (Y) | registered_city | registered address city |
| 26 (Z) | registered_addr_county | Registered address county |
| 27 (AA) | registered_addr_postcode | Registered address postcode |
| 28 (AB) | registered_addr_country | Registered address country |
| 29 (AC) | registered_addr_phone_number | Registered address phone number |
| 30 (AD) | audit_addr_line1 | Audit address line 1 |
| 31 (AE) | audit_addr_line2 | Audit address line 2 |
| 32 (AF) | audit_addr_city | Audit address city |
| 33 (AG) | audit_addr_county | Audit address county |
| 34 (AH) | audit_addr_postcode | Audit address postcode |
| 35 (AI) | audit_addr_country | Audit address country |
| 36 (AJ) | service_of_notice_addr_line1 | Service of notice address line 1 |
| 37 (AK) | service_of_notice_addr_line2 | Service of notice address line 2 |
| 38 (AL) | service_of_notice_addr_city | Service of notice address city |
| 39 (AM) | service_of_notice_addr_county | Service of notice address county |
| 40 (AN) | service_of_notice_addr_postcode | Service of notice address postcode |
| 41 (AO) | service_of_notice_addr_country | Service of notice address country |
| 42 (AP) | service_of_notice_addr_phone_number | Service of notice address phone number |
| 43 (AQ) | principal_addr_line1 | Principal place of business address line 1 |
| 44 (AR) | principal_addr_line2 | Principal place of business address line 2 |
| 45 (AS) | principal_addr_city | Principal place of business address city |
| 46 (AT) | principal_addr_county | Principal place of business address county |
| 47 (AU) | principal_addr_postcode | Principal place of business address postcode |
| 48 (AV) | principal_addr_country | Principal place of business address country |
| 49 (AW) | principal_addr_phone_number | Principal place of business address phone number |
Sole traders
If your organisation is a sole trader, you must enter the sole trader’s:
- first name
- last name
- phone number
- email address
Each piece of information must go in a separate column in the file. Check the following table and refer to the organisation details template provided in this guide.
Include these empty columns even if they do not apply to you.
Table 3: File structure for sole traders
| Order (spreadsheet column) | Column header | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 50 (AX) | sole_trader_first_name | Sole trader first name |
| 51 (AY) | sole_trader_last_name | Sole trader last name |
| 52 (AZ) | sole_trader_phone_number | Sole trader phone number |
| 53 (BA) | sole_trader_email | Sole trader email |
If you are not a sole trader, include the columns but leave them blank.
People
You must include your organisation’s primary contact. This is the first person we should contact if we have questions about your organisation’s data reporting.
If you’re a corporate group with subsidiaries, you only need to include the primary contact for the holding company.
You must also provide details of either the approved person or delegated person within your organisation. This is the person who has verified and submitted your data. The approved person is usually the person who created the ‘Report packaging data’ account for your organisation.
If you’re a compliance scheme, you must provide details of either the approved person or delegated person who verified the data within the organisation you’re registering.
If you have one, you can also include your organisation’s:
- secondary contact – the next person we should contact if we have questions about your data reporting
For each person, you must include:
- first name
- last name
- phone number
- email address
You can also include their job title.
Each piece of information must go in a separate column in the file. Check the following table and refer to the organisation details template provided in this guide.
Table 4: File structure for people
| Order (spreadsheet column) | Column header | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 54 (BB) | approved_person_first_name | Approved person first name |
| 55 (BC) | approved_person_last_name | Approved person last name |
| 56 (BD) | approved_person_phone_number | Approved person phone number |
| 57 (BE) | approved_person_email | Approved person email |
| 58 (BF) | approved_person_job_title | Approved person job title |
| 59 (BG) | delegated_person_first_name | Delegated person first name |
| 60 (BH) | delegated_person_last_name | Delegated person last name |
| 61 (BI) | delegated_person_phone_number | Delegated person phone number |
| 62 (BJ) | delegated_person_email | Delegated person email |
| 63 (BK) | delegated_person_job_title | Delegated person job title |
| 64 (BL) | primary_contact_person_first_name | Primary contact first name |
| 65 (BM) | primary_contact_person_last_name | Primary contact last name |
| 66 (BN) | primary_contact_person_phone_number | Primary contact phone number |
| 67 (BO) | primary_contact_person_email | Primary contact email |
| 68 (BP) | primary_contact_person_job_title | Primary contact job title |
| 69 (BQ) | secondary_contact_person_first_name | Secondary contact first name |
| 70 (BR) | secondary_contact_person_last_name | Secondary contact last name |
| 71 (BS) | secondary_contact_person_phone_number | Secondary contact phone number |
| 72 (BT) | secondary_contact_person_email | Secondary contact email |
| 73 (BU) | secondary_contact_person_job_title | Secondary contact job title |
Organisation size
You must say whether you’re a large or small producer. Check if you’re a large or small producer under EPR for packaging.
| Order (column letter) | Column header | Description | Allowed values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 73 (BV) | organisation_size | Large or small producer | S, L |
Changes to organisation details
Report any changes
You must keep any information you’ve submitted up to date. You must report any changes within 28 days of them happening. Do this by submitting a new registration details file to your environmental regulator.
This includes changes such as adding or removing subsidiaries from your group registration, or changes to your contact details or registered office address.
Compliance schemes must report members leaving and joining using an updated registration details file.
Do not remove rows containing subsidiaries that are leaving – just fill in the leaver information for them, including the mandatory ‘leaver code’.
If your organisation becomes insolvent and is no longer trading, contact your environmental regulator immediately.
Use the following columns to report changes.
Table 5: File structure for reporting changes
| Order (spreadsheet column) | Column header | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 75 (BW) | registration_change_code | Enter joiner codes and leaver codes in this column. |
| 76 (BX) | leaver_date | Leaver date. Use the format DD/MM/YYYY. |
| 77 (BY) | organisation_change_reason | Reason for the change to the organisation. Use 250 characters maximum. |
| 78 (BZ) | joiner_date | Joiner date. Use the format DD/MM/YYYY. |
Codes and formats for reporting changes
You must enter the correct joiner or leaver code for the specific change that has happened.
As a producer, you only need to enter a joiner or leaver code when there is a mid-year change.
If you are unsure which joiner code or leaver code to use, you must contact your environmental regulator.
Joiner codes
If you enter a joiner code in the ‘registration_change_code’ column, you must also enter a ‘joiner_date’ in the format DD/MM/YYYY.
In the following table, ‘obligated producer’ refers to an organisation that has obligations under EPR for packaging.
If you’re a holding company and a producer has joined your corporate group as a subsidiary, enter the date that the producer joined your group.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Obligated producer has joined your group – as part of your registration. Producer was registered independently before. |
| 2 | Producer who was not obligated before has joined a group – registering independently. Percentage obligation based on number of days in the year they were part of the group. |
| 3 | Producer who was not obligated before has joined your group – as part of your registration. Percentage obligation based on number of days in the year they were part of your group. |
| 7 | Obligated producer has joined your group but holding company is not responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of a different group registration before and is now part of your group registration. |
| 9 | Producer has joined a group but is not responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of a different group registration but has now registered individually. |
| 15 | Organisation has become an obligated producer due to a mid-year change. |
| 17 | Producer has become obligated due to carrying on the activities of an incapacitated producer. |
| 19 | Producer registered after the registration deadline. |
| 20 | Any other reason. You must also complete the ‘organisation_change_reason’ column to explain why the producer joined, using 250 characters maximum. |
Leaver codes
If you enter a leaver code in the ‘registration_change_code’ column, you must also enter a ‘leaver_date’ in the format DD/MM/YYYY.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 4 | Producer that is not obligated independently has left your group. Holding company is responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was registered independently before. |
| 5 | Producer that is not obligated independently has left your group. Holding company is responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration. |
| 6 | Producer that is obligated independently has left your group. Holding company remains responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration. |
| 8 | Producer has left your group. Holding company remains responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration and is now part of a different group registration. |
| 10 | Producer has left your group. Holding company remains responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration and is now registered independently. |
| 11 | Producer has become insolvent and stopped trading, so is no longer obligated. |
| 12 | Organisation has stopped being a producer – no longer performing a producer function. |
| 13 | Producer has resigned from compliance scheme. |
| 14 | Compliance scheme has terminated producer’s membership. |
| 16 | Producer has merged with another organisation – not incapacity related. |
| 21 | Any other reason. You must also complete the ‘organisation_change_reason’ column to explain why the producer left, using 250 characters maximum. |
Brand information
If you enter a packaging activity as ‘supplied under your brand’ in the organisation details file, you need to submit a separate CSV file with information about the brand.
Use the brand details template provided in this guide, or create a CSV file with the same headers.
Table 6: File structure for the brand information CSV file
| Name | Column header | Description | Allowed values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organisation ID | organisation_id | The brand owner’s organisation ID. This is 6 figures long. Do not include any spaces. | Any |
| Subsidiary ID | subsidiary_id | An identification number assigned to a subsidiary via subsidiary module. | Any |
| Brand name | brand_name | The word or phrase used to identify the brand. | Any |
| Brand type code | brand_type_code | Whether the brand identifier is a brand name (BN), trademark (TM) or other (OT). | BN, TM, OT |
Partner information
If you enter an organisation type of ‘partnership’ in the organisation details file, you will need to submit a separate CSV file about your organisation’s partners.
Use the partner details template provided in this guide, or create a CSV file with the same headers.
Table 7: File structure for the partner information CSV file
| Name | Column header | Description | Allowed values |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organisation ID | organisation_id | The ID of the organisation that the partner belongs to. This is 6 figures long. Do not include any spaces. | Any |
| Subsidiary ID | subsidiary_id | An identification number assigned to a subsidiary via subsidiary module. | Any |
| First name | partner_first_name | Any | |
| Last name | partner_last_name | Any | |
| Phone number | partner_phone_number | Any | |
| partner_email | Any |
Compliance schemes
If you’re a compliance scheme, you must:
- submit one set of files for all your large producers
- submit another set of files for all your small producers
‘Set of files’ means the CSVs for organisation, brand and partner details. This means you may have to submit up to six files.
Do not submit separate files for each producer.
Get help or give feedback
If you have any questions, contact your environmental regulator or the EPR for packaging customer service team.
Check the contact details for regulators and administrators.
You can also give feedback about this guidance.
User panel
Defra is looking for waste and packaging professionals to join a user panel to help improve our services. Find out how to take part in resources and waste research sessions.
Updates to this page
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Guidance updated to improve clarity and usability. Added the templates for registration details, which were previously in a separate guide. Also added more information about which details to enter for addresses, people within your organisation, joiner codes and leaver codes.
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First published.