1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024.
(2) These Regulations come into force on the 21st day after the day on which they are made, except as provided in paragraph (3).
(3) The following provisions come into force on the day after the day on which these Regulations are made—
(a)this regulation;
(b)regulations 2(1), 3, 7(1) to (4) and 57(1), for the purposes of interpretation of the provisions listed in sub-paragraphs (c), (d) and (e);
(c)Chapter 2 of Part 5;
(d)regulation 127;
(e)Schedule 7.
(4) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and apply to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the 1990 Act” means the Environmental Protection Act 1990(1);
“the 2007 Regulations” means the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007(2);
“the 2007 (NI) Regulations” means the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007(3);
“the 2023 Data Regulations” means—
the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023(4);
the Packaging Waste (Data Collection and Reporting) (Wales) Regulations 2023(5);
the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (Scotland) Regulations 2023(6); or
the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023(7);
“administration fee” has the meaning given in regulation 57(1);
“appropriate agency” has the meaning given in regulation 5;
“appropriate authority” means—
the Secretary of State in relation to England;
the Welsh Ministers in relation to Wales;
the Scottish Ministers in relation to Scotland;
DAERA in relation to Northern Ireland;
“approved person”, in relation to a producer, holding company, scheme operator, reprocessor or exporter, means a person notified by that producer, holding company, scheme operator, reprocessor or exporter to the appropriate agency under regulation 132 as an approved person for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations which requires something to be done by an approved person;
“assessment year” has the meaning given in regulation 57(1);
“binned packaging waste” means packaging which is collected from public bins by relevant authorities and which is—
“body corporate” includes an LLP;
“brand” means a brand name, trade mark or other distinctive mark;
“branded packaging” means packaging on which a brand owner’s brand appears;
“brand owner” has the meaning given in regulation 16(1);
“charging scheme” means a charging scheme referred to in paragraph 9 of Schedule 1;
“commonly binned or littered items” means items on the list of commonly binned or littered items of packaging compiled by the scheme administrator under paragraph 9 of Schedule 7;
“compliance scheme” means a scheme whose members for the time being are (or would be if the scheme were registered in accordance with these Regulations), by virtue of these Regulations and their membership of that scheme, exempt from certain producer responsibility obligations, and a “registered compliance scheme” is a compliance scheme which is registered in accordance with these Regulations;
“consumer” means an individual acting for purposes which are outside that individual’s trade, business, craft or profession;
“corporate group” means a holding company and its subsidiaries;
“DAERA” means the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland;
“deposit item” means a deposit item for the purposes of a relevant deposit scheme, and includes in relation to a relevant deposit scheme in Scotland—
“disposal” has the meaning given in Article 3(19) of the Waste Directive;
“disposal costs” has the meaning given in regulation 57(1);
“disposal fee” has the meaning given in regulation 57(1);
“distributor” has the meaning given in regulation 19(1);
“drink” has the meaning given in regulation 6;
“drink container” means a bottle or can which—
contains or used to contain drink;
is made wholly or mainly from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, glass, steel or aluminium;
has a capacity of at least 150 millilitres but no more than three litres of liquid;
is designed or intended to be sealed in an airtight and watertight state at the point of supply to a consumer in the United Kingdom; and
is not conceived, designed or marketed to be refilled or reused in any other way by any person,
together with any label applied to it and its lid or other closures;
“enforcement agency” has the meaning given in regulation 114;
“established in the United Kingdom” is to be interpreted in accordance with regulation 4;
“exempt packaging” means packaging which is exempt in relation to a producer in accordance with regulation 11;
“exporter” has the meaning given in regulation 84(1);
“fibre-based composite material” means packaging material which is made of paperboard or paper fibres, with a layer of plastic, and which may also have layers of other materials, to form a single unit that cannot be separated by hand;
“first UK owner” has the meaning given in regulation 18(1)(b);
“financial year”, in relation to the scheme administrator, a relevant authority or the appropriate agency, means a period from 1st April to the following 31st March;
“fit and proper person” means a person whom the appropriate agency has determined is a fit and proper person in accordance with regulation 131;
“ground litter” means litter collected by relevant authorities in discharge of their duties under section 89(1)(a), (c) or (f) of the 1990 Act, or under article 7(1)(a) or (e) of the Litter (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, but does not include in either case any binned packaging waste;
“group registration” means a registration of a holding company, and one or more subsidiaries which are producers, with the appropriate agency under paragraph 3(b) of Schedule 9;
“holding company” has the same meaning as in section 1159(1) of the Companies Act 2006(12), read with section 1159(4) of, and Schedule 6 to, that Act;
“household packaging” has the meaning given in regulation 8;
“household packaging waste” has the meaning given in regulation 9;
“importer” has the meaning given in regulation 18(1)(a);
“issue”, in relation to a PRN or PERN, has the meaning given in regulation 84(1);
“large producer” has the meaning given in regulation 23(a);
“liable producer”, in relation to an assessment year, has the meaning given in regulation 60(1);
“licensor” has the meaning given in paragraph 1 of Schedule 10;
“LLP” means a limited liability partnership registered under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000(13);
“medical packaging” has the meaning given in paragraph (2);
“NRW” means the Natural Resources Body for Wales;
“online marketplace” has the meaning given in paragraph (3);
“online marketplace operator” has the meaning given in regulation 20(1);
“overseas reprocessing site” has the meaning given in regulation 84(1);
“packaging” has the meaning given in regulation 7;
“packaging category”, in relation to packaging and packaging materials, means one of the categories referred to in regulation 7(5);
“packaging litter” means any packaging which has become litter;
“packaging materials” means materials used in the manufacture of packaging and includes raw materials and processed materials prior to their conversion into packaging;
“packaging sub-category” means a subdivision of a packaging category specified by the scheme administrator under regulation 7(11);
“packaging waste” means any packaging or packaging material which is waste, but does not include packaging which is discarded and becomes waste outside the United Kingdom;
“packer/filler” has the meaning given in regulation 17(1);
“partnership” means a partnership within the meaning of the Partnership Act 1890(14) or a limited partnership under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907(15), but does not include an LLP;
“PERN” has the meaning given in regulation 84(1);
“primary packaging” has the meaning given in regulation 7(1)(a);
“PRN” has the meaning given in regulation 84(1);
“producer” has the meaning given in regulation 15(1);
“producer responsibility obligations” means the obligations in paragraphs (1) to (3) of regulation 25;
“public bin” means a receptacle for waste material—
maintained by a relevant authority in a street or public place, and
designed to collect waste material to be sent for recovery or disposal;
“pub operating business” has the meaning given in paragraph 8 of Schedule 10;
“recovery”, except in regulation 6(3), has the meaning given in Article 3(15) of the Waste Directive;
“recyclable” in relation to packaging or packaging materials, means any packaging which is, or packaging materials which are, capable of being recycled;
“recyclability”, in relation to packaging, is the quality of being recyclable;
“recyclability assessment” means an assessment of the recyclability of packaging supplied by a producer;
“recycling” has the meaning given in Article 3(17) of the Waste Directive, and “recycle” is to be construed accordingly;
“recycling obligations” means the obligations in regulations 25(2)(a) and 40 and Schedule 5;
“relevant authority” means—
a waste collection authority;
a waste disposal authority;
a district council established under section 1 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(16);
the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
“relevant deposit scheme” means—
a deposit scheme established in regulations made under Schedule 8 to the Environment Act 2021; or
a deposit and return scheme established in the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 or in regulations made under section 84 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009,
which is in operation in any part of the United Kingdom;
“relevant group member” has the meaning given in paragraph 1 of Schedule 9;
“relevant year”, in relation to a person, means a calendar year in respect of the whole or any part of which that person is a producer;
“reporting period”, in relation to any information specified in regulation 35, 36 or 37 that is to be reported to the appropriate agency, or information specified in regulation 38 that is to be reported to the Environment Agency, means a period specified in that regulation for which that information is required to be reported by, or in relation to, a producer;
“reprocessing site” and “reprocessor” have the meanings given in regulation 84(1);
“reuse” means any operation by which products or components that are not waste are used again for the same purpose for which they were conceived;
“reusable packaging” means packaging which has been designed to be used multiple times by being refilled or reused for the same purpose for which it was conceived;
“scheme administrator” means the person appointed pursuant to regulation 58;
“scheme operator” means the operator of a compliance scheme;
“secondary packaging” has the meaning given in regulation 7(1)(b);
“seller” has the meaning given in regulation 22(1);
“SEPA” means the Scottish Environment Protection Agency;
“service provider” has the meaning given in regulation 21(1);
“shipment packaging” has the meaning given in regulation 7(4);
“SIC code” means a code included in “Indexes to the UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities 2007” published by the Office for National Statistics in 2009, as those indexes are amended from time to time(17);
“small producer” has the meaning given in regulation 23(b);
“subsidiary” has the same meaning as in section 1159(1) of the Companies Act 2006, read with section 1159(4) of, and Schedule 6 to, that Act;
“supply”, in relation to packaging, has the meaning given in regulation 10;
“tertiary packaging” has the meaning given in regulation 7(1)(c);
“trade mark” has the same meaning as in the Trade Marks Act 1994(18) (see section 1 of that Act);
“turnover” means, in relation to a person, that person’s turnover as defined in section 539 of the Companies Act 2006(19) but as if the references to a company were references to that person;
“waste” has the meaning given in Article 3(1) of the Waste Directive, read with Articles 5 and 6 of that Directive;
“waste collection authority” has the meaning given in section 30(3) of the 1990 Act(20);
“the Waste Directive” means Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste(21), as last amended before IP completion day by Directive (EU) 2018/851(22), and as read in accordance with regulation 3;
“waste disposal authority” has the meaning given in section 30(2) of the 1990 Act;
“waste income” means the income earned by a relevant authority through the sale of household packaging waste for recycling, other recovery operations or disposal.
(2) In these Regulations, “medical packaging” means immediate packaging or outer packaging on a medicinal product, a veterinary medicinal product or a medical device, and for the purposes of this definition—
(a)“immediate packaging”, “outer packaging” and “medicinal product” have the meanings given in regulations 2 and 8 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012(23);
(b)“medical device” has the meaning given in regulation 2(1) of the Medical Devices Regulations 2002(24); and
(c)“veterinary medicinal product” has the meaning given—
(i)in England, Wales and Scotland, in regulation 2(1) of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013(25); and
(ii)in Northern Ireland, in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/6 of the European Union and of the Council on veterinary medicinal products(26).
(3) In these Regulations, “online marketplace” means a website or mobile application which facilitates the sale or other supply of goods through the website or mobile application by persons other than the operator, whether or not the operator also supplies goods through the online marketplace, and for the purposes of this definition—
(a)references to a “website or mobile application” include any means by which information is made available on the internet;
(b)an online marketplace facilitates the sale or other supply of goods if it allows a person to—
(i)offer goods for sale or offer to supply goods otherwise than by sale; and
(ii)enter into a contract for the sale or other supply of those goods;
(c)“the operator” means the online marketplace operator.
(4) In these Regulations, a reference to any EU regulation or EU tertiary legislation is a reference to that regulation or legislation as it is amended by domestic law in any part of the United Kingdom from time to time.
3.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, the Waste Directive is to be read in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).
(2) A reference to one or more member States in a provision of the Waste Directive imposing an obligation or conferring a discretion on a member State or member States is to be read as a reference to the authority, agency or local authority which, immediately before IP completion day, was responsible for the United Kingdom’s compliance with that obligation or able to exercise that discretion.
(3) Article 5 is to be read as if—
(a)in paragraph 1, “Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that” were omitted;
(b)after paragraph 1 there were inserted—
“1A. Any decision as to whether a substance or object is a by-product must be made—
(a)in accordance with any regulations setting out detailed criteria on the application of the conditions in paragraph 1 to specific substances or objects; and
(b)having regard to any guidance published by the appropriate authority or the appropriate agency for the purposes of this Article.”;
(c)paragraphs 2 and 3 were omitted.
(4) Article 6 is to be read as if—
(a)in paragraph 1, “Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure that” were omitted;
(b)after paragraph 1 there were inserted—
“1A. Any decision as to whether a substance or object has ceased to be waste must be made—
(a)in accordance with any regulations or retained direct EU legislation setting out detailed criteria on the application of the conditions in paragraph 1 to specific types of waste; and
(b)having regard to any guidance published by the appropriate authority or the appropriate agency for the purposes of this Article.”;
(c)in paragraph 2—
(i)the first subparagraph were omitted;
(ii)in the second subparagraph, for “Those detailed criteria” there were substituted “Any detailed criteria set out in guidance as referred to in paragraph 1A”;
(iii)the third and fourth subparagraphs were omitted;
(d)paragraph 3 were omitted;
(e)in paragraph 4—
(i)in the first subparagraph—
(aa)in the first sentence, for the words from the beginning to “Member State”, there were substituted “Where criteria have not been set out as referred to in paragraph 1A(a), the appropriate agency”;
(bb)the second sentence were omitted;
(ii)in the second subparagraph—
(aa)for “Member States” there were substituted “The appropriate agency”;
(bb)“by competent authorities” were omitted.
4.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, a person is established in the United Kingdom if—
(a)that person is habitually resident in the United Kingdom;
(b)the registered office of that person, or if the person does not have a registered office, their head office or principal place of business, is in the United Kingdom; or
(c)subject to paragraph (2), the person has a branch or postal address in the United Kingdom.
(2) Paragraph (1) applies as if sub-paragraph (c) were omitted for the purposes of Part 6 (reprocessors and exporters).
5.—(1) In these Regulations, “appropriate agency” means—
(a)for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations relating to the exercise of the functions of the appropriate agency in England, the Environment Agency;
(b)for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations relating to the exercise of the functions of the appropriate agency in Scotland, SEPA;
(c)for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations relating to the exercise of the functions of the appropriate agency in Wales, NRW;
(d)for the purposes of any provision of these Regulations relating to the exercise of the functions of the appropriate agency in Northern Ireland, DAERA.
(2) For the purposes of any provision of these Regulations relating to the obligations of a producer, a scheme operator or an exporter, “appropriate agency” means—
(a)the agency specified in paragraph (1) in relation to the nation of the United Kingdom where, on the registration date, that person’s registered office, or if that person is not a body corporate registered in the United Kingdom, its head office or principal place of business in the United Kingdom, is located; or
(b)where, on the registration date, the person does not have a registered office, head office or principal place of business in the United Kingdom—
(i)if the person gave a notice under regulation 3(3) of the 2023 Data Regulations specifying the nation of the United Kingdom in which the person wished to be treated as established for the purposes of those Regulations, the agency specified in paragraph (1) in relation to that nation;
(ii)otherwise, the Environment Agency, SEPA, NRW or DAERA at the election of that person.
(3) For the purposes of any provision of these Regulations relating to the obligations of a reprocessor, “appropriate agency” means, in relation to each reprocessing site operated by the reprocessor, the agency specified in paragraph (1) in relation to the nation of the United Kingdom in which that reprocessing site is located.
(4) A person to whom paragraph (2)(b)(ii) applies must make one election for the purposes of that paragraph by giving notice in writing to the appropriate agency concerned, and that election may not be changed.
(5) When an appropriate agency receives notice of an election under paragraph (4), that agency must notify each other appropriate agency in the United Kingdom.
(6) For the purpose of paragraph (2), the “registration date” is the date by which the producer, scheme operator or exporter concerned is required to submit an application for registration under regulation 28, 51 or 86, as applicable.
6.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, “drink” means—
(a)water suitable for human consumption;
(b)a beverage suitable for human consumption;
(c)a sports drink suitable for human consumption; or
(d)a liquid which constitutes a beverage or sports drink suitable for human consumption if it is—
(i)diluted;
(ii)combined with crushed ice, or processed so as to create crushed ice;
(iii)combined with carbon dioxide; or
(iv)prepared by way of a process that involves any combination of the processes mentioned in paragraphs (i) to (iii),
such as fruit squash or fruit cordial.
(2) Paragraph (1)(d) does not include any liquid which is used only—
(a)to add flavour to, or enhance the flavour of, a beverage or sports drink suitable for human consumption; or
(b)to sweeten a beverage or sports drink suitable for human consumption,
such as coffee flavouring syrup, sugar syrup or hot sauce.
(3) “Sports drink” means a liquid which is advertised or marketed as a product to enhance physical performance, accelerate recovery after exercise or increase muscle mass, or other similar liquid.
7.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, “packaging” means all products made of any materials of any nature to be used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery or presentation of goods, from raw materials to processed goods, from the producer to the user or the consumer, including non-returnable items used for those purposes, but only where the products are—
(a)primary packaging, which is packaging conceived so as to constitute a sales unit to the final user or consumer at the point of purchase;
(b)secondary packaging, which is packaging that—
(i)is conceived so as to constitute at the point of purchase a grouping of a certain number of sales units, whether that grouping is supplied as such to the final user or consumer or whether it serves only as a means to replenish the shelves at the point of sale; and
(ii)can be removed from the product without affecting the product’s characteristics; or
(c)tertiary packaging, which is packaging that—
(i)is conceived so as to facilitate the handling and transport of one or more sales units, or secondary packaging, for example by preventing damage from physical handling and transport damage; and
(ii)is not a road, rail, ship or air container.
(2) The following items are also to be treated as packaging on the basis of the criteria set out below—
(a)items that are within the definition in paragraph (1), without prejudice to other functions which the item in question may perform, unless the item is an integral part of a product and it is necessary to contain, support or preserve that product throughout its lifetime and all elements are intended to be used, consumed or disposed of together;
(b)items designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale and disposable items supplied, filled or designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale, provided they fulfil a packaging function described in paragraph (1);
(c)packaging components and ancillary elements integrated into packaging are considered to be part of the packaging into which they are integrated, and ancillary elements hung directly on, or attached to, a product which performs a packaging function are considered to be packaging unless (in either case) they are an integral part of the product and all elements are intended to be used, consumed or disposed of together.
(3) Schedule 5 to the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2015(27) contains illustrative examples of the application of the criteria set out in paragraph (2).
(4) For the purposes of these Regulations, “shipment packaging” means tertiary packaging on, or that is used to contain, items which are supplied or are intended to be supplied to a consumer.
(5) For the purposes of these Regulations, packaging and packaging waste is to be treated, subject to paragraphs (6) to (10), as falling into one of the following packaging categories, depending on the material from which the packaging is made—
(a)aluminium;
(b)fibre-based composite materials;
(c)glass;
(d)paper or board;
(e)plastic;
(f)steel;
(g)wood; or
(h)other materials.
(6) Paragraphs (7) to (15) apply for the purposes of any—
(a)calculations, assessments or modulations to be made under Part 5; and
(b)descriptions in Schedule 4 of information to be collected and reported by or on behalf of producers.
(7) Where an item of packaging consists of two or more components (for example, a jar, its lid and its label) which are made of different materials referred to in paragraph (5) (“paragraph (5) materials”), each component is to be treated separately, unless paragraph (8) applies.
(8) Where an item of packaging referred to in paragraph (7) is a drink container and the component which is predominant by weight (“the predominant component”) is made of any paragraph (5) material other than glass, the whole of the drink container is to be treated as made of the same material as the predominant component.
(9) Where an individual component of an item of packaging, or the whole item of packaging if it does not consist of different components, is composed of a combination of paragraph (5) materials, that component or item is to be treated as made of the material which is predominant by weight, unless paragraph (10) applies.
(10) Where a component or item of packaging referred to in paragraph (9) is composed of a combination of paragraph (5) materials in equal proportions by weight, each of those materials is to be treated separately.
(11) The scheme administrator may specify packaging sub-categories by sub-dividing the packaging categories listed in paragraph (5).
(12) The scheme administrator may exercise the power in paragraph (11) by—
(a)specifying different packaging sub-categories for the purposes of different provisions; and
(b)specifying, for the purposes of any of those provisions—
(i)packaging sub-categories which are to apply only in relation to one or more specified classes of producers; or
(ii)different packaging sub-categories in relation to different classes of producers.
(13) The scheme administrator must consult the appropriate agencies before exercising the power in paragraph (11).
(14) A specification made under paragraph (11) must—
(a)subject to paragraph (15), be published at least 12 months before it applies; and
(b)apply for one or more full calendar years.
(15) Paragraph (14)(a) does not apply in relation to specifications applying to the calendar years 2025 and 2026, which must be published as soon as possible after this regulation comes into force.
(16) The scheme administrator must publish each year a list of any packaging sub-categories specified under paragraph (11), including for each packaging sub-category—
(a)the packaging category of which it is a sub-division;
(b)the provisions to which that packaging sub-category is relevant;
(c)where applicable, the classes of producer to which that packaging sub-category applies;
(d)the calendar years for which that packaging sub-category applies;
and any amendments to that list, in the way appearing to the scheme administrator to be most appropriate for the purpose of bringing it to the attention of producers and other persons appearing to the scheme administrator to have an interest.
8.—(1) In these Regulations, “household packaging”, except in the expression “household packaging waste”, means any primary packaging or shipment packaging other than—
(a)primary packaging supplied by a producer in relation to which the conditions in paragraph (2) or the conditions in paragraph (3) are satisfied;
(b)shipment packaging supplied by a producer in relation to which the conditions in paragraph (3) are satisfied; and
(c)packaging imported by an importer and discarded in the United Kingdom by that importer.
(2) The conditions in this paragraph are that—
(a)the packaging has been supplied directly by a producer to a business or a public institution; and
(b)that business or public institution does not supply to any other person—
(i)the packaging; or
(ii)the product which the packaging contains in its packaged form.
(3) The conditions in this paragraph are that the packaging—
(a)is for a business product; and
(b)is not reasonably likely to be disposed of in a household bin or public bin.
(4) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(b)(ii), a product which is supplied to another person is to be treated as being supplied in its packaged form unless all packaging is removed from the product before it is supplied.
(5) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(a), packaging is for a business product if it is—
(a)supplied with a business product; or
(b)unfilled packaging which—
(i)is made for use with a business product; and
(ii)the supplier of the packaging has evidence will be used with a business product.
(6) In this regulation—
“business product” means a product which is designed only for use by a business or a public institution;
“household bin” means a receptacle designed to collect waste material from a household which is not a business or a public institution;
“public institution” means—
a school, university or other educational establishment;
a hospital or the practice of a general medical practitioner or dentist;
a nursing home or other residential home;
a government department;
a relevant authority;
a court or tribunal;
a person who discharges public functions under any enactment;
a charity or not for profit body; or
a penal institution.
(7) For the purposes of the definition of “public institution” in paragraph (6)—
“charity” has the same meaning as in regulation 12;
“dentist” means a person registered in the dentists register kept under section 14(1) of the Dentists Act 1984(28);
“general medical practitioner” means a person registered in the General Practitioner Register kept by the General Medical Council under section 34C of the Medical Act 1983(29);
“government department” includes—
any part of the Scottish Administration;
a Northern Ireland department;
the Welsh Government;
“not for profit body” means a body which, by virtue of its constitution or any enactment—
is required, after payment of outgoings, to apply for charitable or public purposes the whole of its income and any capital which it expends; and
is prohibited from directly or indirectly distributing among its members any part of its assets otherwise than for charitable or public purposes.
9.—(1) In these Regulations, “household packaging waste” means packaging waste which is household waste, but does not include—
(a)any waste for which a collection charge may be made by a relevant authority under regulations made under section 45(3) of the 1990 Act or article 20(3) of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997(30);
(b)any waste from a place of worship;
(c)any ground litter or binned packaging waste; or
(d)any packaging waste which is discarded together with food waste in a receptacle for food waste where the food waste in that receptacle is collected separately from other household waste by the relevant authority collecting that waste.
(2) In this regulation—
“food waste”—
in relation to England, means waste that—
at any time before becoming waste, was food; or
is biodegradable waste arising from the processing or preparation of food,
and for these purposes “food” means food intended for human consumption but does not include drink;
in relation to Wales, has the meaning given in section 34D(5) of the 1990 Act as it applies in Wales(31);
in relation to Scotland, has the meaning given in section 75(7B) of the 1990 Act as it applies in Scotland(32);
in relation to Northern Ireland, has the meaning given in article 2(2) of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997(33);
“household waste” has the meaning given by—
in Scotland, section 75 of the 1990 Act(34), read with the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992(35);
in England and Wales, section 75 of the 1990 Act(36), read with the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012(37);
in Northern Ireland, article 2(1) of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, read with the Controlled Waste and Duty of Care Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013(38);
“place of worship” means—
in England and Wales, a hereditament or premises exempted from local non-domestic rating by virtue of paragraph 11 of Schedule 5 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (places of worship etc.)(39);
in Scotland, a hereditament or premises exempted from local non-domestic rating by virtue of section 22 of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956 (churches etc.)(40);
in Northern Ireland, any hereditament which is distinguished as exempt from rates by virtue of article 41(2)(b) of the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order 1977(41) in so far as it relates to purposes connected with public religious worship.
10.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations—
(a)a supply of packaging is made where the owner of the packaging does any of the following, either themselves or through an agent acting on their behalf—
(i)sells, hires or lends the packaging;
(ii)provides the packaging in exchange for any consideration other than money;
(iii)provides the packaging in, or in connection with, the performance of any statutory function; or
(iv)gives the packaging as a prize or otherwise makes a gift of it;
(b)a supply of packaging is also to be treated as being made where the packaging is discarded in the cases referred to in paragraph (6).
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, where a supply of packaging is made as described in paragraph (1)(a), the person who “supplies” the packaging is the person referred to in paragraph (1)(a), except where a different person is treated as supplying the packaging under paragraph (3) or (5).
(3) Where a supply of branded packaging is made as described in paragraph (1)(a), the brand owner is to be treated, subject to paragraph (4), as supplying that packaging even if the person referred to in paragraph (1)(a) is not the brand owner.
(4) Paragraph (3) does not apply—
(a)where the brand owner for the packaging is the brand owner by virtue of regulation 16(1)(b);
(b)in relation to any packaging which is imported into the United Kingdom by—
(i)an importer, unless the importer is acting as an agent for the brand owner; or
(ii)an online marketplace operator; or
(c)in relation to any reusable packaging supplied by a service provider.
(5) Where a supply of packaging is made on an online marketplace, and the person referred to in paragraph (1)(a) is not established in the United Kingdom, the online marketplace operator is to be treated as supplying that packaging.
(6) Where a brand owner, importer or first UK owner discards in the United Kingdom any packaging which is specified in paragraph (7) in relation to that class of producer, that producer is to be treated as supplying that packaging.
(7) The packaging referred to in paragraph (6) is—
(a)in relation to a brand owner, branded packaging which—
(i)is imported into the United Kingdom by the brand owner or by another person on behalf of the brand owner; and
(ii)is not supplied to any person before being discarded;
(b)in relation to an importer, packaging which is imported into the United Kingdom by the importer;
(c)in relation to a first UK owner, packaging which—
(i)has not been supplied before coming into the ownership of the first UK owner; and
(ii)is not supplied to any person by the first UK owner before being discarded.
11.—(1) Packaging is exempt packaging in relation to a producer (“P”), for the purposes of these Regulations, where the packaging is—
(a)reused packaging, other than reused packaging imported into the United Kingdom;
(b)any packaging exported from the United Kingdom by P including packaging exported through an agent acting on P’s behalf or which to P’s reasonable knowledge is otherwise exported from the United Kingdom, other than any packaging exported from the United Kingdom to a marine installation;
(c)packaging which is a deposit item for the purposes of a relevant deposit scheme.
(2) In paragraph (1)(b), “marine installation” means any artificial island, installation or structure at sea, other than a vessel.
12. These Regulations do not apply to a charity, and for these purposes, “charity” means—
(a)anything which is a charity—
(i)within the meaning of section 1(1) of the Charities Act 2011(42) or section 1(1) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008(43); or
(ii)for the purposes of section 202 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010(44); and
(b)any body entered in the Scottish Charity Register under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005(45).
13.—(1) The charges specified in paragraphs 2 to 6 of Schedule 1 apply for the matters set out there, subject to the provisions in paragraphs 7 to 9 of Schedule 1.
(2) Any reference in these Regulations to a charge in a paragraph of Schedule 1 means the charge specified in that paragraph (“the specified charge”), except that—
(a)where the specified charge is abated under paragraph 7 of Schedule 1, the reference means the amount, if any, that is payable after such abatement;
(b)where the specified charge has been increased for inflation under paragraph 8 of Schedule 1, the reference means the charge as so increased;
(c)where the specified charge has been superseded by a charge specified in a charging scheme as referred to in paragraph 9 of Schedule 1, the reference means the charge payable under that charging scheme.
14. In these Regulations—
(a)any document which is to be provided or given to any person may be provided or given to that person by electronic means if the document is capable of being reproduced by that person in legible form;
(b)any requirement to make, keep or retain a record or to maintain a register may be satisfied in electronic form if the text is capable of being produced by the person subject to the requirement in a legible documentary form;
(c)any requirement for a signature may be satisfied by an electronic signature incorporated into the document and, for these purposes, “electronic signature” means data in electronic form which is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form and which is used by the signatory to sign.
S.I. 2023/219, amended by S.I. 2023/721 and 2024/359.
S.I. 2023/798 (W. 127), amended by S.I. 2024/400 (W. 72).
S.S.I. 2023/7, amended by S.S.I. 2023/160 and 2024/42.
S.R. 2023 No. 25, amended by S.R. 2023 No. 106 and 2024 No. 80.
There are amendments to section 89 which are not relevant to these Regulations.
S.I. 1994/1896 (N.I. 10). Article 12C was inserted by section 17(2) of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (c. 23).
S.S.I. 2020/154, amended by S.S.I. 2022/76 and 2023/201 and 334.
2006 c. 46. Section 1159(4) provides that in that section and Schedule 6 “company” includes any body corporate.
The Indexes are published online by the Office for National Statistics at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/classificationsandstandards/ukstandardindustrialclassificationofeconomicactivities/uksic2007 and information on how to obtain a hard copy may be obtained by contacting the Office for National Statistics, Classifications and Harmonisation Unit, Government Buildings, Cardiff Road, Newport, South Wales NP10 8XG (tel: +44(0)1329 444970 email: classifications.helpdesk@ons.gsi.gov.uk).
2006 c. 46. There are amendments to section 539 which are not relevant to these Regulations.
1990 c. 43. There are amendments to section 30 which are not relevant to these Regulations.
OJ L312, 22.11.2008, p. 3.
OJ L150, 14.6.2018, p. 109.
S.I. 2012/1916, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.
S.I. 2002/618; amended by S.I. 2008/2936 and 2019/791 and, in relation to Northern Ireland, by S.I. 2021/905. There are other amending instruments but none is relevant.
OJ L4, 7.1.2019, p. 43.
1984 c. 24; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2005/2011, 2007/3101 and 2019/593.
1983 c. 54. Section 34C was inserted by S.I. 2010/234.
Section 34D was inserted into the 1990 Act, in relation to Wales, by section 66(1) of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 (anaw 3).
Subsection (7B) was inserted into the 1990 Act, in relation to Scotland, by S.S.I. 2012/148.
The definition of “food waste” was inserted into article 2(2) by S.R. 2015 No. 14.
Relevant amendments to section 75 in relation to Scotland have been made by paragraph 88(3) of Schedule 22 to the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25), paragraph 17 of Schedule 3 to the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 8) and S.S.I. 2005/22.
Relevant amentments to section 75 in relation to England and Wales have been made by paragraph 88(3) of Schedule 22 to the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25) and S.I. 2006/937 and 2019/620.
S.R. 2013 No. 255, amended by S.R. 2014 No. 117, S.R. 2018 No. 200, S.I. 2019/289 and S.R. 2020 No. 285.
1998 c. 41. Paragraph 11 was amended by paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 10 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (c. 14).
1956 c. 60. Section 22 was substituted by paragraph 10 of Schedule 13 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (c. 14).
2010 c. 4. Section 202 has been amended by paragraph 27(2) of Schedule 6 to the Finance Act 2010 (c. 13), section 35(5) of the Finance Act 2014 (c. 26) and S.I. 2012/964.