The amendments were laid before Parliament in early November and have already been debated and approved in the House of Commons.
pEPR in the House of Commons
The House of Commons considered the draft regulations on 9 December 2025.
Opening the debate, the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Angela Eagle, said the amendments represented “a significant milestone in our journey towards a more circular, resource-resilient economy in which producers take greater responsibility for the packaging they place on the market, and in which waste is designed out from the beginning”.
She told MPs that the changes were intended to improve how the scheme operates in practice, adding: “The amendments before us today are designed to improve the fairness, clarity and operational efficiency of the scheme.
“They respond directly to feedback from producers, local authorities and other stakeholders, and they reflect our commitment to international best practice.”
During the debate, Eagle highlighted three main areas of reform: enabling the appointment of a producer responsibility organisation (PRO), expanding the scheme’s offsetting provisions, and introducing a series of technical amendments to improve clarity and operability.
‘Concerns about steel and glass’
Some concerns were raised about the wider impact of the scheme on food, drink and hospitality businesses, the risk of double charging and the way fees are calculated for heavier but highly recyclable materials such as glass and steel.
Dame Nia Grittith, MP for Llanelli, commented: “I reiterate my concerns about steel and glass, which are perversely affected because the current EPR fee methodology prioritises material weight, meaning that heavier materials such as steel and glass face higher fees even though they are very easily recyclable, while lighter, less recyclable plastics gain a competitive edge.”
Responding to those points, Eagle said the Government was taking an “iterative” approach to the scheme, refining it over time rather than “ripping the whole thing up and starting again”.
Following the debate, the Committee approved the regulations, allowing them to progress to the House of Lords.
pEPR amendments 2026
The amendments introduce a series of technical and operational changes to the pEPR framework, which came into force in January 2025.
Expected to come into force from January 2026, the amendments addressed issues identified during pEPR’s first year of operation, including material classifications, corporate restructuring and the administration of producer obligations.
PackUK set out its expected pEPR timeline through to 2030 in its Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) Roadmap 2025–2030 in October 2025.
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