UK regulators have moved to limit enforcement action against packaging producers that fall short of some 2026 recycling obligations, after tighter accreditation and export rules reduced the supply of packaging recycling evidence.
Regulatory Position Statements issued on 9 October set reduced thresholds for three materials. Regulators will not normally pursue enforcement where businesses meet at least 83% of the plastic obligation, 92% of the steel obligation and 90% of the wood obligation. Full compliance is still required for all other packaging materials.
The Environment Agency’s Regulatory Position Statement 383 states that the statutory recycling obligations have not been changed. Businesses that meet the RPS conditions will normally avoid enforcement action for missing the original targets in plastic, steel and wood. However, Certificates of Compliance will still record non-compliance where the statutory obligation was not met, even if the reduced threshold was satisfied. Companies relying on the position statement must keep supporting records for five years, meet their full obligations for other materials and comply with all other requirements. The relief applies only to the 2026 compliance year.
The intervention follows changes introduced during 2026 to strengthen the PRN/PERN system. These include stricter accreditation requirements for reprocessors and exporters, a new fit-and-proper-person test, more enforcement activity and revised export rules under which PERNs can be issued only after packaging waste reaches an overseas reprocessing facility.
Defra said the measures had improved transparency and helped address fraud and error, but had also cut the number of accredited reprocessors and exporters and lengthened the time needed to issue PERNs. The result has been a tighter supply of recycling evidence.
The Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) said the need for regulatory relief raised “serious questions” about how the system is managed and how future targets are set. It supported stronger accreditation, verification and transparency, but argued that a shortfall exposed by integrity improvements should prompt a fundamental examination of the assumptions behind recycling targets.
The FPA also drew a distinction between relief from enforcement and solving the underlying compliance problem. It noted that statutory obligations remain unchanged and that producers meeting the reduced thresholds may still have non-compliance recorded against them.
Defra has described the circumstances as exceptional and has committed to reviewing recycling targets for 2027. Defra said the review would take account of the introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) and the delayed mandatory kerbside collection of plastic film in England.
The FPA said the DRS impact will be significant. From October 2027, in-scope PET plastic bottles and aluminium and steel drinks cans collected through the scheme will no longer generate PRNs or PERNs, removing relatively high-quality material from the existing evidence market even though it will continue to be recycled. The delayed kerbside collection for plastic film, now scheduled for April 2030, adds another factor when assessing available recycling volumes and PRN generation.
The association called for the 2027 review to go beyond adjusting percentages. It said the targets should be tested against demonstrable domestic and overseas recycling capacity and reliable evidence supply, with transparent assessments open to industry scrutiny. It also warned that producers already face financial and administrative pressure from the wider packaging reform programme and should not be exposed to unpredictable compliance costs caused by a mismatch between obligations and the evidence market.