UK environmental regulators have moved to soften enforcement of 2026 packaging recycling obligations after tighter accreditation and verification rules cut the supply of packaging waste recycling notes (PRNs) and packaging waste export recycling notes (PERNs).
Regulatory Position Statements were issued on 9 October after concerns that some producers and compliance schemes might otherwise struggle to demonstrate compliance with their 2026 recycling obligations.
Reduced thresholds for three materials
Under the statements, regulators will not normally take enforcement action where businesses meet at least 83% of the statutory plastic recycling obligation, 92% of the steel obligation and 90% of the wood obligation. Full compliance is still required for all other packaging materials.
The Environment Agency's Regulatory Position Statement 383 makes clear that statutory recycling obligations have not been amended. Businesses satisfying its conditions will instead normally avoid enforcement action for falling short of the original targets in the three affected materials. Certificates of Compliance will still record non-compliance where obligations were not met, even if the reduced thresholds have been satisfied.
Companies relying on the position statement must retain supporting records for five years, meet their full obligations for other packaging materials and continue to comply with all other applicable requirements. The relief applies to the 2026 compliance year only.
Integrity drive constrains evidence supply
The Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) said the intervention followed a series of changes introduced during 2026 to strengthen the integrity of the PRN/PERN system: tighter accreditation requirements for reprocessors and exporters, a new fit-and-proper-person test, increased enforcement activity, and revised export rules under which PERNs can only be issued once packaging waste reaches the overseas reprocessing facility.
Defra says those measures have improved transparency and helped tackle fraud and error. They have also reduced the number of accredited reprocessors and exporters and increased the time taken for PERNs to be issued, constraining the supply of recycling evidence.
2027 targets under review
Defra has described the circumstances as exceptional and committed to reviewing recycling targets for 2027, taking account of factors including the introduction of deposit return schemes (DRS) and the delayed mandatory kerbside collection of plastic film in England.
The FPA said the DRS effect will be particularly significant. Under current arrangements, in-scope PET plastic bottles and aluminium and steel drinks cans collected through DRS will no longer generate PRNs or PERNs, removing valuable, relatively high-quality material from the existing evidence market even though it will continue to be recycled through the new scheme. The delayed introduction of mandatory kerbside collections for plastic film in England, now scheduled for April 2030, adds another consideration when assessing the volume of material likely to be available for recycling.
Longer-term reform of the PRN/PERN system also remains under consideration, following consultation on measures intended to improve transparency, reduce fraud and create a more level playing field between UK reprocessors and exporters.
The FPA said regulators having to intervene to prevent enforcement action raises "serious questions" about how the system is being managed and how future targets are set. The association said it fully supports the drive to eliminate fraud and error, and that stronger accreditation, more rigorous verification and greater transparency are essential to confidence in the system. But it argued that if improving the integrity of recycling evidence exposes a substantial shortfall in its availability, that should prompt a fundamental examination of the assumptions on which recycling targets are based.
It also drew a distinction between relief from enforcement and resolving the underlying compliance problem, noting that statutory obligations remain unchanged and that producers meeting the reduced thresholds may still have non-compliance recorded against them. Businesses need clarity on what this means in practice, it said.
On the 2027 review, the FPA said adjusting percentages would not be enough: the review must establish whether targets are supported by demonstrable domestic and overseas recycling capacity and reliable evidence supply, account for DRS from October 2027 when in-scope PET, aluminium and steel drinks containers will cease to generate PRNs or PERNs, and reflect the delayed kerbside collections. Those assessments should be transparent and open to industry scrutiny.
The association added that producers already face significant financial and administrative pressure from the wider packaging reform programme and should not also be exposed to unpredictable compliance costs arising from a mismatch between obligations and the evidence market. "The test of the government's response will be whether it delivers a more stable, credible and achievable system for 2027 and beyond," it said.