Fiber-based packaging hit hardest by new UK pEPR base fees

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published its packaging EPR (pEPR) base fees for 2025 and 2026. Out of all packaging materials, fiber-based composite faces the highest fee per metric ton at £461 (US$624), followed by plastic at £423 (US$573) per metric ton.

In response, Talia Goldman, ESG director at Colpac, and co-chair and co-founder of the Alliance for Fibre-Based Packaging, tells Packaging Insights: “The newly released pEPR fees risk undermining UK sustainability goals by prioritizing cost over environmental benefit.”

The scheme administrator, PackUK, will charge the fees to liable packaging producers. According to Defra, the fees paid by producers will cover PackUK’s costs and provide local authorities with additional income to cover the cost of recycling and disposal of waste materials.

However, Goldman argues that the revised structure could penalize fiber-based composites (FBCs), which she says are key to transitioning toward renewable material sources. 

Paul Synnott, co-chair of the Alliance for Fibre-Based Packaging and managing director at Seda UK, adds: “In its current form, the EPR will mean there is more plastic in the UK.”

“We urge the government to rethink this policy so that British manufacturing is given the chance to succeed, instead of rewarding organizations for using fossil-fuel-based materials.”

Fee calculations

Defra says it will “soon” announce the next steps for how fees will be used to invoice producers starting this October. 

The base fees per metric ton for the current period are:

• Aluminium — £266 (US$360) 
• Fiber-based composite — £461 (US$624) 
• Glass — £192 (US$260) 
• Paper and card — £196 (US$266) 
• Plastic    — £423 (US$573) 
• Steel    — £259 (US$351) 
• Wood — £280 (US$379) 
• Other — £259 (US$351).

“Other” includes any materials not listed, such as bamboo, ceramic, copper, cork, hemp, and rubber.

Talia Goldman, ESG director at Colpac, and co-chair and co-founder of the Alliance for Fibre-Based Packaging.Defra obliges packaging producers to continue reporting their packaging data through the RPD (Report Packaging Data) online portal, while large producers are reminded to report data for January 1 to June 31 2025 by October 1 this year.

PackUK will use this data and the listed costs to calculate and release base fees for 2026 to 2027.

Modulated fees from 2026

Defra says it will introduce modulated fees in 2026 to “drive a shift to more environmentally sustainable packaging design, using recyclability as the indicator.”

The types of packaging subject to higher or lower modulated fees will be determined based on recyclability assessments in accordance with the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM). All in-scope packaging materials will be assigned a red, amber, or green rating under the RAM, with red indicating the least recyclable and green the most recyclable.

Nonetheless, Colpac’s Goldman fears that “the scheme ignores innovations in recyclable materials and fails to account for future recycling capabilities, incentivizing brands back toward full plastic packs or cheaper, lower-quality solutions.”

“This threatens UK manufacturers who invest in sustainability and contradicts government support for circular economy initiatives. Without reforms to reflect the true carbon impact of packaging and reinvestment in waste management infrastructure, pEPR risks undoing years of environmental progress.”

Paul Synnott, managing director at Seda UK and co-chair of the Alliance for Fibre-Based Packaging.Synnott adds that the decision to raise base fees for fiber lowers fees for plastic, which will incentivize producers to use more of it or to import cheaper, less sustainably sourced fiber from overseas — “this is a misfire and a backfire.”

“It is likely to force retailers back toward plastic, which is recycled at lower rates compared to paper, running contrary to the Labour Government’s commitment to a more circular economy in which plastic waste is reduced.”

He explains that fiber-based composites have been developed to reduce plastic use while maintaining functionality for products that demand durability and barrier protection. “Yet, this fee structure penalizes brands investing in fiber-based alternatives to plastic.”

On the opposite end of the material spectrum, Nick Kirk, director at British Glass, told us that the pEPR unfairly penalizes glass because of the material’s inherent weight. 

The Alliance for Fibre-Based Packaging urges the UK Government to rethink this policy so that “sustainable British manufacturing is given the chance to succeed, instead of rewarding organizations for using fossil-fuel based materials.”