Table of Contents
- Understanding the Fee Structure
- Step 1: Identify Your Packaging Categories
- Step 2: Weigh by Material Type
- Step 3: Apply the 2025-2026 Fee Rates
- Worked Example Calculations
- Fee Modulation for 2026-2027 (Year 2)
- How to Reduce Your EPR Costs
Key Takeaways
- EPR fees are charged per tonne of packaging, with different rates for each material.
- 2025-2026 fees range from £192/tonne (glass) to £461/tonne (fibre-based composite).
- From 2026-2027, fees will be modulated — less recyclable packaging will cost more.
- Fees are collected by PackUK, the scheme administrator.
- You can reduce costs by switching to recyclable, mono-material packaging.
One of the most common questions we hear from UK businesses is “how much will EPR cost me?” The answer depends on several factors — the types of packaging you use, the materials involved, and the quantities handled. This guide walks you through the exact calculation process using the confirmed 2025-2026 fee rates published by the UK Government.
Understanding the Fee Structure
EPR fees are calculated based on the principle that businesses should pay the full net cost of managing the packaging waste they place on the UK market. These fees fund:
- Collection costs — Funding local authority kerbside and bring-site collections of packaging waste from households
- Sorting and recycling costs — Processing packaging at materials recovery facilities and reprocessors
- Disposal costs — Managing packaging that cannot be recycled, including energy recovery and landfill
- Communication costs — Funding consumer-facing recycling campaigns and labelling guidance
The fees are collected by PackUK, the government-appointed scheme administrator, and distributed to local authorities and waste management organisations across the UK.
Step 1: Identify Your Packaging Categories
Before calculating fees, you need to catalogue every type of packaging your business handles. EPR requires you to classify packaging into four categories:
- Primary packaging — Consumer-facing packaging that directly contains or protects the product. Examples: a shampoo bottle, a cereal box, a polybag around a garment.
- Secondary packaging — Grouping or multipack packaging used to bundle products together. Examples: a cardboard tray holding 12 bottles, shrink wrap around a multipack.
- Tertiary packaging — Transit and distribution packaging used to transport goods through the supply chain. Examples: pallet wrap, corrugated shipping boxes, corner protectors.
- Shipment packaging — Packaging used to ship goods directly to consumers, typically in e-commerce. Examples: mailer bags, shipping boxes for online orders.
Each category must be reported separately in your RPD submission, though the fee rates apply based on material type rather than category.
Step 2: Weigh by Material Type
Every packaging item needs to be weighed and categorised by its primary material. The EPR scheme recognises eight material types:
| Material | Common Packaging Items |
|---|---|
| Aluminium | Drinks cans, foil trays, aerosol cans, foil wraps, blister pack bases |
| Fibre-based composite | Beverage cartons (Tetra Pak), paper cups with plastic lining, composite tubes |
| Glass | Bottles, jars, perfume bottles, cosmetics pots |
| Paper and card | Cardboard boxes, paper bags, corrugated cases, tissue paper, carton board, labels |
| Plastic | Bottles, trays, films, bags, polybags, bubble wrap, packing tape, tubes |
| Steel | Food tins, paint cans, steel caps, crown caps, aerosol cans |
| Wood | Pallets, crates, wooden boxes |
| Other | Any packaging material not covered above |
For multi-material packaging — such as a plastic bottle with a metal cap — each component should be weighed and reported under its respective material type. A pump dispenser on a shampoo bottle might contain both plastic and metal parts, each reported separately.
Tip: Request packaging specification sheets from your suppliers. These typically include component weights by material, making accurate reporting much easier than weighing items yourself.
Step 3: Apply the 2025-2026 Fee Rates
The confirmed base fees for 2025-2026 (Year 1) of the reformed EPR scheme are published on GOV.UK. Here are the rates per tonne for each material:
| Material | Fee per Tonne (£) |
|---|---|
| Aluminium | £266 |
| Fibre-based composite | £461 |
| Glass | £192 |
| Paper and card | £196 |
| Plastic | £423 |
| Steel | £259 |
| Wood | £280 |
| Other | £259 |
To calculate your total EPR fees, multiply the weight of each material (in tonnes) by the corresponding fee rate, then sum all materials.
Formula: Total fees = (Aluminium tonnes x £266) + (Fibre-based composite tonnes x £461) + (Glass tonnes x £192) + … and so on for each material.
Worked Example Calculations
Example 1: Mid-Sized E-commerce Retailer
A clothing retailer shipping 500 orders per day uses the following packaging:
| Packaging Item | Material | Annual Weight | Fee Rate | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardboard shipping boxes | Paper and card | 40 tonnes | £196 | £7,840 |
| Plastic mailer bags | Plastic | 8 tonnes | £423 | £3,384 |
| Tissue paper wrapping | Paper and card | 3 tonnes | £196 | £588 |
| Plastic polybags | Plastic | 2 tonnes | £423 | £846 |
| Packing tape | Plastic | 0.5 tonnes | £423 | £212 |
| Total | 53.5 tonnes | £12,870 |
This business qualifies as a large producer (assuming turnover above £2 million and tonnage above 50 tonnes), so they must submit data every 6 months via the RPD portal.
Example 2: Small Food Producer
A small food manufacturer with turnover of £1.5 million:
| Packaging Item | Material | Annual Weight | Fee Rate | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glass jars | Glass | 15 tonnes | £192 | £2,880 |
| Cardboard outer cases | Paper and card | 8 tonnes | £196 | £1,568 |
| Paper labels | Paper and card | 0.5 tonnes | £196 | £98 |
| Steel lids | Steel | 3 tonnes | £259 | £777 |
| Shrink wrap | Plastic | 1 tonne | £423 | £423 |
| Total | 27.5 tonnes | £5,746 |
This business qualifies as a small producer (turnover between £1-2 million, tonnage above 25 tonnes), so they report annually with data due by 1 April.
Example 3: Beauty Brand
A beauty brand importing products from overseas:
| Packaging Item | Material | Annual Weight | Fee Rate | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glass bottles/jars | Glass | 20 tonnes | £192 | £3,840 |
| Plastic tubes | Plastic | 5 tonnes | £423 | £2,115 |
| Outer cartons (card) | Paper and card | 6 tonnes | £196 | £1,176 |
| Cellophane wrap | Plastic | 1 tonne | £423 | £423 |
| Aluminium caps/pumps | Aluminium | 1.5 tonnes | £266 | £399 |
| Cardboard shipping boxes | Paper and card | 4 tonnes | £196 | £784 |
| Total | 37.5 tonnes | £8,737 |
Fee Modulation for 2026-2027 (Year 2)
From the second year of the scheme (2026-2027), EPR fees will be modulated based on the recyclability of each packaging item. This is a significant change that will reward businesses using recyclable packaging and penalise those using hard-to-recycle formats.
DEFRA’s Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) will assess packaging against criteria including (see DEFRA’s reporting guidance for updates):
- Is the packaging collected for recycling? — Materials collected at kerbside attract lower fees
- Is the packaging sortable? — Can materials recovery facilities effectively sort it?
- Is the packaging recyclable at scale? — Is there established recycling infrastructure for this material and format?
- Does the packaging contain contaminants? — Inks, adhesives, and coatings that hinder recycling may increase fees
The exact modulated fee rates for 2026-2027 have not yet been confirmed. However, DEFRA has indicated that:
- Easily recyclable packaging (e.g., clear PET bottles, standard cardboard) will see fees at or below the base rates
- Hard-to-recycle packaging (e.g., multi-material laminates, black plastic, composite materials) will see fees significantly above the base rates
- Non-recyclable packaging will attract the highest fees, creating a strong financial incentive to redesign
This means businesses that act now to switch to recyclable packaging formats can reduce their future EPR costs while also meeting growing consumer demand for sustainable packaging.
How to Reduce Your EPR Costs
Based on the fee structure, there are several practical steps businesses can take to reduce their EPR obligations:
-
Switch to mono-material packaging — Multi-material packaging (like a cardboard sleeve bonded to a plastic tray) is harder to recycle and will attract higher modulated fees from 2026-2027. Switching to single-material alternatives reduces both your current and future costs.
-
Reduce packaging weight — Less material means lower fees. Review your packaging specifications to identify opportunities for lightweighting. Can your shipping box use single-wall instead of double-wall corrugated? Can your polybags be thinner while still protecting the product?
-
Eliminate unnecessary packaging — Do your products really need cellophane overwrap? Is the tissue paper essential? Removing packaging that does not serve a functional purpose reduces weight, fees, and waste.
-
Choose widely recyclable formats — Standard formats like PET bottles, aluminium cans, and corrugated cardboard are collected and recycled at high rates. Switching from hard-to-recycle formats to these alternatives can reduce your fees.
-
Optimise your material mix — Glass (£192/tonne) and paper/card (£196/tonne) attract significantly lower fees than plastic (£423/tonne) or fibre-based composite (£461/tonne). Where functionally appropriate, consider whether lower-fee materials could work for your products.
-
Consolidate shipments — Using fewer, larger shipping boxes instead of many small ones can reduce your total transit packaging weight. Right-sizing your packaging to the product also reduces void fill requirements. For online sellers, this is often the most impactful change.
Let Us Calculate It For You
Manually calculating EPR fees across dozens of packaging types is tedious and error-prone. EPR Compliance automates the entire calculation — enter your packaging data and we show you exactly what you owe, broken down by material type and packaging category.
Our calculator uses the confirmed 2025-2026 fee rates and will be updated with modulated rates for 2026-2027 as soon as they are published. We also help you identify which of your packaging items are likely to attract higher modulated fees, so you can make informed decisions about packaging redesign.
Understanding What the Fees Cover
Knowing what your EPR fees fund helps explain why different materials attract different rates and why fees are higher than many businesses initially expect.
The Full Net Cost Principle
Under the reformed scheme, EPR fees are designed to cover the full net cost of managing packaging waste across the entire waste system. This includes costs that were previously borne by local authorities and ultimately by council taxpayers. The fees cover four main cost components:
-
Collection costs — funding local authority kerbside collection and bring-site infrastructure for household packaging waste. This includes the cost of vehicles, staff, bins, and collection rounds. Collection is the largest single cost component, particularly for materials that require separate collection streams.
-
Sorting and processing costs — funding materials recovery facilities (MRFs) to sort mixed recycling into individual material streams. MRF processing costs vary by material — glass is heavy and abrasive (causing equipment wear), while plastic requires sophisticated NIR sorting technology to separate different polymer types.
-
Recycling and reprocessing costs — net of the value of recycled materials. Recycled aluminium and steel have significant market value, which offsets some processing costs and contributes to their lower fee rates. Recycled plastic has lower market value, and some plastic types have no recycling market at all, which drives plastic’s higher fee rate.
-
Residual waste management — the cost of dealing with packaging that cannot be recycled, including energy-from-waste incineration and landfill. Materials with lower recycling rates generate more residual waste, which increases their overall management cost.
Why Glass Is Cheapest and Fibre Composite Is Most Expensive
The fee differential between materials directly reflects their waste management costs:
| Material | Fee | Why This Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Glass (£192/t) | Lowest | Infinitely recyclable, high collection rates, strong markets for cullet |
| Paper/card (£196/t) | Low | Widely collected, established recycling infrastructure, good end markets |
| Steel (£259/t) | Medium | Easily separated magnetically, high recycled value, but heavier to collect |
| Aluminium (£266/t) | Medium | High recycled value, but smaller items can evade sorting equipment |
| Wood (£280/t) | Medium | Limited household collection, mainly commercial waste stream |
| Plastic (£423/t) | High | Diverse polymers, sorting challenges, lower recycled value, lower recycling rates |
| Fibre composite (£461/t) | Highest | Requires specialist recycling, very limited collection, low recycling rates |
Understanding this breakdown helps when evaluating packaging alternatives. Switching from a high-fee material to a lower-fee alternative reduces costs, but only if the new material provides adequate product protection.
Comparing EPR Costs Across the UK and EU
UK businesses that also sell into EU markets may be subject to EPR schemes in multiple jurisdictions. While this guide focuses on UK EPR, it is useful to understand how UK fees compare.
The UK’s EPR fees are among the highest in Europe, reflecting the reformed scheme’s full-cost-recovery approach. For comparison:
- France (Citeo): Fees range from approximately EUR 40-400 per tonne depending on material and recyclability
- Germany (Duales System): Fees range from approximately EUR 100-900 per tonne with significant modulation already in effect
- Netherlands (Afvalfonds): Fees range from approximately EUR 10-500 per tonne
The UK’s Year 1 rates (£192-461/tonne) fall in the middle-to-upper range of European schemes. However, when fee modulation takes effect in 2026-2027, UK fees for hard-to-recycle packaging could rise significantly, potentially making the UK one of the most expensive EPR jurisdictions for non-recyclable packaging.
For importers and businesses selling across borders, understanding these cost differences is important for supply chain planning and pricing strategy. The DEFRA EPR guidance covers UK-specific obligations, while businesses operating in the EU should consult the relevant national scheme administrators.
Learn more about who needs to comply, read our EPR compliance checklist, or check the key deadlines to ensure you submit on time. For details on how modulated fees work, see our modulated fees guide. For a complete list of EPR terms and definitions, see our glossary. And if you are not yet sure whether your business is obligated, use our free compliance checker. You can also explore our sector-specific guides for food and drink, fashion, and e-commerce businesses.
Start your free trial and see your fee estimate in minutes.