The functionality to reapply for accreditation went live on the Record Reprocessed and Exported Packaging Waste service (RREPW) on Tuesday last week (1 September 2026).
However it is understood that no exporter has managed to complete the process due to continued error messages.
Defra said that it is currently working to fix the issue – which applies to all four administrations – and that it expects it to be amended by Wednesday this week (9 September 2026) “at the latest”.
In an email to stakeholders, Defra said: “Following the launch, we became aware of a bug preventing all exporters from starting accreditation applications.
“Our technical team identified the root cause: a failure in the service retrieving exporter postcode data, which is needed to assign the correct regulator to each application.”
Exporters that were affected by the bug would have seen a repeated error message which read:
There is a problem. We were unable to start your application. Please try again.
The spokesperson added: “Our teams are aware of this problem – if you are an exporter seeing this error message, then for now you do not need to message the EPR helpdesk to raise a ticket.”
Those who are encountering any other problems with the service can email eprcustomerservice@defra.gov.uk.
Record Reprocessed and Exported Packaging Waste service (RREPW)
The RREPW system was developed to replace the National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD) and sits within the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging framework.
Operators are required to use the system to submit data for packaging which has been reprocessed or exported for reprocessing.
The service was officially rolled out in February 2026, although it was originally meant to be online for January 2026.
This meant that for approximately the first six weeks of the year no one in the sector was able to issue PRNs.
Read the latest PRN market analysis here.
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