The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024

Interpretation

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—

(a)

the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023(4);

(b)

the Packaging Waste (Data Collection and Reporting) (Wales) Regulations 2023(5);

(c)

the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (Scotland) Regulations 2023(6); or

(d)

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—

(a)

the Secretary of State in relation to England;

(b)

the Welsh Ministers in relation to Wales;

(c)

the Scottish Ministers in relation to Scotland;

(d)

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—

(a)

in England, Wales or Scotland, any litter or refuse collected under section 89(1)(a), (c) or (f) of the 1990 Act(8);

(b)

in Northern Ireland, litter collected under article 7(1)(a) or (5), 12(10) or 12C(3) of the Litter (Northern Ireland) Order 1994(9);

“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—

(a)

packaging which is scheme packaging under the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020(10); or

(b)

returnable packaging as provided for in regulations made under section 84 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009(11);

“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—

(a)

contains or used to contain drink;

(b)

is made wholly or mainly from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, glass, steel or aluminium;

(c)

has a capacity of at least 150 millilitres but no more than three litres of liquid;

(d)

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

(e)

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—

(a)

maintained by a relevant authority in a street or public place, and

(b)

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)

a waste collection authority;

(b)

a waste disposal authority;

(c)

a district council established under section 1 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972(16);

(d)

the Council of the Isles of Scilly;

“relevant deposit scheme” means—

(a)

a deposit scheme established in regulations made under Schedule 8 to the Environment Act 2021; or

(b)

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.

(1)

1990 c. 43.

(2)

S.I. 2007/871.

(3)

S.R. 2007 No. 198.

(4)

S.I. 2023/219, amended by S.I. 2023/721 and 2024/359.

(5)

S.I. 2023/798 (W. 127), amended by S.I. 2024/400 (W. 72).

(6)

S.S.I. 2023/7, amended by S.S.I. 2023/160 and 2024/42.

(7)

S.R. 2023 No. 25, amended by S.R. 2023 No. 106 and 2024 No. 80.

(8)

There are amendments to section 89 which are not relevant to these Regulations.

(9)

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).

(10)

S.S.I. 2020/154, amended by S.S.I. 2022/76 and 2023/201 and 334.

(11)

2009 asp 12.

(12)

2006 c. 46. Section 1159(4) provides that in that section and Schedule 6 “company” includes any body corporate.

(13)

2000 c .12.

(14)

1890 c. 39.

(15)

1907 c. 24.

(16)

1972 c. 9 (N.I.).

(17)

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: [phone] email: [e-mail]).

(18)

1994 c. 26.

(19)

2006 c. 46. There are amendments to section 539 which are not relevant to these Regulations.

(20)

1990 c. 43. There are amendments to section 30 which are not relevant to these Regulations.

(21)

OJ L312, 22.11.2008, p. 3.

(22)

OJ L150, 14.6.2018, p. 109.

(23)

S.I. 2012/1916, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.

(24)

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.

(25)

S.I. 2013/2033.

(26)

OJ L4, 7.1.2019, p. 43.