The scheme administrator said the final payment was made today (31 March 2026), marking the completion of the first year of payments and delivering more than £1.4 billion to support household waste collection and recycling services.
Esther Carter, Chief Strategy Officer at PackUK, said: “I’m pleased to confirm that all Year 1 pEPR payments have now been completed, with every local authority across the four nations receiving their funding from PackUK.
“With the first year of payments now concluded, PackUK will continue to work closely with local authorities to strengthen performance, driving greater efficiency and environmental outcomes as pEPR delivery progresses.”
Local authority pEPR funding
Two payments had already been issued to local authorities earlier in the financial year, covering three quarters of the period. The final instalment completes the Year 1 allocation, with quarterly payments expected to become standard practice going forward.
The government has said the funding should be used specifically to improve recycling and waste services.
PackUK has also indicated it will be able to reduce future allocations where there is evidence that funding has been diverted to other purposes.
Initial examples of how authorities are using the funding have begun to emerge.
In Suffolk, the county council allocated £5.9 million of its £6.9 million pEPR funding towards upgrades at Masons Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). The remaining £1 million has been used to support improvements at two household waste recycling centres, including a replacement site in Ipswich and upgrades to the Stowmarket facility.
Looking into Year 2 of pEPR
In its first year, the scheme anticipated distributing £1.44 billion to local authorities. Producers were invoiced a total of £1.46 billion – below the £1.52 billion required – reflecting expectations that additional obligated producers would register later.
However, PackUK said subsequent producer resubmissions and significant shifts in obligated tonnages exposed financial risks and highlighted the need for stronger data controls and more structured recalculation processes.
The UK government confirmed that it would step in to cover the resulting shortfall.
Looking ahead, PackUK has said that £1.56 billion is expected to be recovered from producers in the second year of the scheme.
UK Packaging PRO has also recently been appointed as the scheme’s Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO).
The body is expected to take on delegated functions including the development of modulation and recycling assessment methodologies (RAM), communications and public information campaigns, and operational support.
Core administrative responsibilities, such as final decisions on local authority payments and producer fees, will remain with PackUK as the scheme continues to develop.
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