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

Packaging and packaging categories

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(1) 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.

(1)

S.I. 2015/1640.