Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change & Rural Affairs
I have given consent to the UK Government to make and lay the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 ("the Regulations”). The Regulations intersect with devolved policy and will apply in relation to Wales. The Regulations are UK-wide and therefore apply in relation to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The Regulations have been made by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in exercise of powers conferred by the Environment Act 2021.
The Regulations amend the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 (“the 2024 Regulations”) which introduced an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging and packaging waste on a UK basis from 1 January 2025. The packaging EPR scheme seeks to ensure that the efficient cost incurred by local authorities in managing packaging waste is met by the producers who use and supply packaging, applying the “polluter pays” principle.
In particular, the Regulations will make further changes to the existing 2024 Regulations, refining the EPR scheme to deliver quality outcomes for the people of Wales. Key changes include the following:
- Amending the definition of “efficient waste management service” to ensure the environmental effects of the service are taken into account alongside the disposal costs, providing the Scheme Administrator with further flexibility to compare service types when making assessments in relation to local authority payments.
- Extending the provisions around commonly collected food grade plastic packaging to enable producers who collect food grade plastic directly from households to recycle the material back into food grade plastic – known as closed loop recycling - to offset their fees with the tonnages recycled.
- Enabling the establishment of a Producer Responsibility Organisation and a series of provisions designed to resolve technical issues, as to improve the administrative and operational efficiency of pEPR.
- A range of changes including changes corresponding to the above amendments, changes to enforcement provisions and transitional provisions.
Whilst it is normally the policy of the Welsh Government to legislate for Wales in matters of devolved competence, in certain circumstances there are benefits to Wales in doing so collaboratively with the UK Government where there is a clear rationale. In this case, the UK-wide Regulations will enable consistency across the UK while enabling Wales to sustain and build on its performance as second in the world for recycling. In turn, this will facilitate delivery of positive outcomes for Wales by allowing a uniform approach among commercial organisations as they invest, often in operations across the UK market. It is therefore appropriate that the Regulations are made on a UK-wide basis in this instance.
The Regulations were laid before Parliament on 3 November 2025 and subject to approval, will come into force on 1 January 2026.