Export guide
UK Packaging EPR for Importers — What Changes When You Buy from India
Who carries UK packaging EPR when packaging is imported, the thresholds that decide it, and the data an overseas supplier has to give you so you can report.
Updated · By Ranjeet Kumar, Proprietor, Solution Enterprises
What UK packaging EPR is
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging makes UK businesses that supply packaging pay towards collecting and recycling it, and report how much they place on the market. It replaced the older packaging waste regime and is administered through the government’s packaging data service, with PackUK as the scheme administrator.
Who has obligations
According to the GOV.UK guidance, a business has obligations if it carries out a packaging activity and all of the following apply: it is established in the UK, its annual turnover is £1 million or more, and it supplied or imported more than 25 tonnes of packaging in the UK in the previous year. The rules then split producers into small and large, with large producers — turnover of £2 million or more and over 50 tonnes of packaging — paying waste management fees as well as reporting.
The activities that count include importing products in packaging and supplying empty packaging. An edge protector sold to a UK business is empty packaging, so a UK distributor that imports ours and sells them on is carrying out a packaging activity.
Why the obligation is not ours
UK EPR applies to businesses established in the UK. An Indian manufacturer selling to a UK importer is outside it; the UK business that brings the packaging into the country, or supplies it on, is inside it if it meets the thresholds. That is the reason UK buyers sometimes hesitate over an overseas packaging supplier: the reporting lands on them.
What you need from us to report
- Material — paper and board for edge protectors, paper pallets and core tubes; plastic for PET strap.
- Weight per piece for each size, so your own records can be built from unit counts.
- Weight per shipment, broken down by material, on every packing list.
We put all three on the packing list for every UK order. Because paper edge protection is a single material, the reporting is simpler than for mixed-material corner pieces or plastic-and-timber combinations.
What this page does not do
We do not publish the fee rates. They are set by the scheme administrator, they vary by material, and they have already changed since the scheme started. Check the current figures on GOV.UK, and confirm your own position with your compliance scheme or adviser.
Last verified: 27 September 2026 · Official source: GOV.UK: check if you must comply with EPR for packaging
02Questions buyers ask
Questions on this
No. It applies to businesses established in the UK. The UK business that imports or supplies the packaging carries the obligation if it meets the thresholds.
Annual turnover of GBP 1 million or more and more than 25 tonnes of packaging supplied or imported in the UK in the previous year, per the GOV.UK guidance. Larger producers also pay waste management fees.
Yes. It is sold as empty packaging, and supplying empty packaging is one of the activities that count.
Material, weight per piece and weight per shipment by material. We put all three on the packing list for every UK order.
Send us your load, not just your enquiry
Pallet size, stack height, monthly quantity and where it ships. That is enough for us to specify the board and quote it — usually the same working day.