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Packaging EPR data pack for small producers

If you are a small producer under packaging EPR, you report one file of packaging weights by 1 April 2027. The free generator formats the file but does not work out the weights. This is a planned workbook that does, and a free guide to the file today.

Status at 27 October 2026

The workbook is not built yet. You can pre-order it at a discount, or register interest and hear when it is ready. The size checker and the guide to the file below are finished and free. Everything on this page about the duty comes from GOV.UK, last checked 27 October 2026.

Under extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging, an organisation that supplies packaging in the UK and is over certain turnover and weight limits is a “producer”. Producers are either large or small. Small producers register once a year and report packaging data once a year. Use the questions below to see which side of the line you are on, using GOV.UK’s own grid.

Do you carry out a packaging activity in the UK?

That means supplying filled packaging under your own brand, packing or filling packaging, importing goods in packaging, supplying unfilled packaging you make or import, hiring or loaning out reusable packaging, owning an online marketplace, or selling filled packaging to an end user. You also need to be established in the UK. Owning an online marketplace counts where packaging is supplied in the UK from outside the UK.

What was your organisation’s worldwide annual turnover?

Use the whole organisation, not only UK sales. GOV.UK explains which year’s turnover to use for each reporting period, so check its page if you are unsure.

How much packaging did you supply or import in the UK last year?

Count all of it by weight: the packaging on your products, boxes and mailers you ship in, and any packaging you import or fill. 1 tonne is 1,000 kg. GOV.UK’s wording differs at exactly 25 tonnes (“more than 25” in one place, “from 25” in its grid), so if you are exactly on a line, ask your regulator.

Your result

Answer the three questions above to see your result.

Your browser is not showing a single result, so every possible result is listed below. Find the one that matches your answers.

No packaging activity: probably not a producer

The duty applies to organisations that carry out one of the packaging activities in the GOV.UK list. If none fits, you are probably not a producer. Check again if your business changes, and read the GOV.UK page if you are not sure an activity applies.

Turnover of £1 million or less: no obligation on GOV.UK’s grid

GOV.UK’s grid shows no obligation at a turnover of £1 million or less, whatever the packaging weight. GOV.UK also says obligated producers have a turnover of £1 million or more, so if your turnover is almost exactly £1 million, ask your environmental regulator. Check again each year.

Under 25 tonnes: no obligation on these figures

GOV.UK’s grid shows no obligation if you supplied or imported under 25 tonnes of packaging in the previous year, whatever your turnover. Check again each year, because the tonnage is for the previous year.

You are likely to be a small producer

On GOV.UK’s grid, 25 to 50 tonnes at a turnover over £1 million, or any weight over 25 tonnes at a turnover of £1 million to £2 million, makes you a small producer. Small producers must register with their environmental regulator, pay a fee, report packaging data once a year, and keep the data for 7 years. The next report is for 1 January to 31 December 2026, due by 1 April 2027.

Start collecting the data now. See the data pack below, and the GOV.UK page for what to do as a small producer.

You are likely to be a large producer

Over 50 tonnes at a turnover over £2 million makes you a large producer on GOV.UK’s grid. Large producers have different duties: they report every 6 months and pay waste disposal fees. This pack is written for small producers, so follow the large producer guidance on GOV.UK instead.

Work out your tonnage first

The size test needs the weight of the packaging you supplied or imported last year. Add up units sold times packaging weight per unit for every product, then add shipping cartons and fillers. Answer again when you have a figure. If you are close to a threshold, ask your environmental regulator.

What a small producer has to do

According to GOV.UK, a small producer must register with its environmental regulator, pay a registration fee, report packaging data every year, and keep the data it needs for 7 years. The deadlines on GOV.UK’s pages are:

Small producer deadlines on GOV.UK (checked 27 October 2026)
WhatDeadline
Register and pay the registration feeBy 1 April each year (for 2026 that date was 1 April 2026)
Report packaging data for 1 January to 31 December 2026By 1 April 2027

For the 2027 reporting year (registering by 1 April 2027), GOV.UK’s small producer page lists a registration fee of £1,303 if you register directly with your environmental regulator and £696 if you register through a compliance scheme. It gives a £386 late fee, and says you may face enforcement action, if you miss the registration deadline. Check that page for the amounts before you pay. If you have not registered yet or miss a deadline, GOV.UK says you should contact your environmental regulator.

The free guide: what the file contains

You report through the Report packaging data service, as a CSV file. GOV.UK provides a free Excel “Packaging data file generator 2026” (version 5.2) that formats and checks the file. For a small producer the file has 15 columns and one row for each packaging activity, packaging type, class and material. The rules that matter most are these:

  • One submission period. For 2026 it is 2026-P0, covering January to December 2026.
  • Organisation size. S for small producer.
  • Two packaging types. SP is the combined total of all your packaging except drink containers. HDC is single-use drink containers.
  • Weights are whole kilograms. Digits only: no commas, no “kg”, no decimals.
  • Drink containers (HDC). For small producers they must be one of four materials: aluminium (AL), glass (GL), plastic (PL, PET only) or steel (ST), and hold between 150 ml and 3 litres. You give a count of units for HDC. For SP the units column is left blank.
  • Packaging activity. Each row says which activity the packaging comes from: for example supplied under your brand, packed or filled, imported, or supplied through an online marketplace you own.
  • Packaging class. P1 primary, P2 secondary, P3 shipment and P4 tertiary. P6, the online marketplace total, is used only for the online marketplace activity.
  • Material. AL aluminium, FC fibre composite, GL glass, PC paper or card, PL plastic, ST steel, WD wood and OT other. The OT code needs a short description of the material.
  • Fields small producers leave blank. The recyclability rating and the from and to country columns are for large producers only.
  • File hygiene. Start data on the row under the header, with no blank rows. Use the codes, not the field names. To correct a file, upload a new version.

The gap this pack aims at is the step before all of that. The generator needs kilograms by class and material. Nobody holds those: they sit across product lists, supplier specifications, shipping cartons and mailers. Working them out is hours of spreadsheet work, and that is the part the workbook is for.

The planned workbook

Planned contents. None of this exists as a finished file yet.

  • Size test. The same grid as the checker above, with your own turnover and tonnage.
  • Product and packaging sheet. One row per product and packaging component: the unit weight, material, class, and units sold, for your own brand, packing or filling, importing and selling online.
  • Roll-up to kilograms. Totals by packaging activity, type, class and material in whole kilograms, and a drink-container count.
  • Upload file. The rows in the 15-column layout, ready to paste into GOV.UK’s generator or save as CSV, with checks for the published rules (whole numbers, allowed materials, no blank rows).
  • 7-year evidence log. Where each number came from, so you can show your working.
  • Supplier request email. A short email asking suppliers for packaging weights and materials.

It does not register you, does not file for you, and is not advice. You upload the file yourself, and the numbers are your responsibility. The pack is drafted with AI tools and every rule it relies on is checked against GOV.UK before release.

Pre-order, or hear when it is ready

Pre-order price £59 (the planned price after launch is £79). Delivery by email by 15 December 2026. You can cancel for a full refund at any time before delivery, and if it is late by more than 14 days you can ask for your money back; the pre-order terms say exactly how. It is for buyers in the UK.

Pre-order for £59 (secure checkout by Stripe)

Not ready to pay? Register your interest instead. We will email you once when the workbook is ready, and may ask you a short question first.

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What this page does not do

  • It does not know your figures. The checker only applies GOV.UK’s grid to your answers. If you are near a threshold, ask your environmental regulator.
  • It does not cover large producers, who report every 6 months and have other duties.
  • It is not about the waste your own workplace puts out for collection. Those rules are separate: try our simpler recycling checker for England.
  • It is not legal advice. The regulations are technical and change. Read GOV.UK’s pages and ask your regulator when in doubt.

Sources

Last checked 27 October 2026.

Changes to this page

  • 27 October 2026: Published as a pre-order test with a free checker and file guide.