Sustainability and packaging design are now central priorities for the luxury sector, with growing pressure to demonstrate authenticity, responsibility, and transparency. As pEPR increases both financial and environmental expectations, luxury brands must balance aesthetics with circularity, creating packaging that is not only a beautiful extension of the product, but also recyclable, lightweight, and materially efficient. These choices can reduce modulated fee liabilities, strengthen brand reputation, and future-proof product lines in a market where sustainability is becoming a defining marker of luxury.
2024 ushered in changes to the reporting and financial obligations of producers who handle packaging in the UK. The new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system passes the full financial costs associated with the collection, sortation and recycling of packaging on to the companies who are responsible for putting that packaging on the market. The new regulations also create a comprehensive and adaptable framework that incentivises recyclable packaging, waste reduction, future labelling requirements, and improved data gathering up and down the supply chain.
Affecting businesses with a minimum turnover of £1m and responsible for more than 25 tonnes of packaging in a calendar year, pEPR has brought a large number of businesses into the legislation; some for the first time.
The past couple of years have brought huge upheaval to the packaging sector with a vast increase in the amount and granularity of data required by producers from across the supply chain, increased bi-annual reporting, introduction of the RAM (Recycling Assessment Methodology) and increased costs. But the dust is finally settling, with two full years of reporting complete.
That is not to say that the next couple of years aren’t full of changes and challenges for producers. Development of the RAM and the effect of modulated fees based on those recyclability assessments will be one of the big levers for change. The key milestones and upcoming changes are outlined in the RAM Roadmap to 2026.
Below, is a timeline of major events for the coming year under some key headings starting with pEPR, fees, and the related Deposit Return System (DRS) regulations. This is followed by a general overview of the wider circular economy and waste collection reforms.
