Average plastic PRN price at highest ever annual level

The 2026 midpoint is now trending at approximately £378.13 per tonne, according to the letsrecycle.com index.

The highest prior recorded annual average on letsrecycle.com was in 2023, where the plastic PRN had an average mid-point of £272.91. 2026 is currently set to average at £100 higher.

letsrecycle.com plastic PRN average midpoints (2019-2026):

Due to differing methodologies, this is is a slightly higher average midpoint than that listed on The Environment Exchange (t2e), which comes in at about £355.95 for 2026 to date and £290 for 2023. The below data, showing the highest plastic PRN midpoints in t2e’s records, was shared with letsrecycle.com.

Four highest t2e plastic PRN midpoints since 1998: 

The record-breaking figures follow a tumultuous year for PRNs.

At the start of 2026, Defra launched a new service for issuing the recycling notes, which was meant to be live in January but was delayed until late February. This meant that no PRNs were issued for at least the first six weeks of the year.

New rules were also brought into effect which meant that Packaging Export Recycling Notes (PERNs) can now only be issued at the point of reprocessing, not at the point of export. This means that there may be a delay of many (up to 12) weeks before PERNs can actually be issued.

A similar trend was seen at the end of 2022 and into 2023, with global and data uncertainty – and limited or late data – leading prices to rapidly rise in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Compliance for plastic was achieved in 2022, but likely only due to the carry-forward from the previous year (2021). Although there was a large carry-forward into 2026 from 2025, it looks uncertain that this mitigating factor alone will be sufficient to overcome the slow start in 2026, and prices look set to continue to rise towards the end of the year.

Carry-back to ease burden on producers

Experts have called for Defra to consider allowing carry-back of January tonnage to be eligible for compliance in both 2026 and 2027.

This refers to tonnage which is accepted into reprocessors in January, and exported and receipted in January, which traditionally would not be included.

Angus Macpherson, Managing Director of t2e, said: “As t2e has advocated for many years, DEFRA should be considering a carry-back of January 2027 tonnage into the 2026 compliance year.

“This would partially compensate for the delays of up to 12 weeks between date of export and date of proof of receipt and consequent issuing point for PERNs prior to the 31 January deadline.

“Not only would this relieve a potential bottleneck whereby tonnage from December could be all carried forward into next year leaving insufficient for compliance for this year, but would also ensure that reprocessors and exporters would continue to benefit from PRN income, which is vital for maintaining the sustainability of the sector.”