UK regulators have introduced limited enforcement tolerance for 2026 packaging recycling obligations covering plastic, steel and wood, after tighter accreditation and enforcement rules reduced the availability of packaging waste recycling notes (PRNs) and export recycling notes (PERNs).
Regulatory Position Statements were issued on 9 October. They followed concerns that some producers and compliance schemes might otherwise struggle to demonstrate compliance with their 2026 recycling obligations.
Reduced enforcement thresholds
For plastic, steel and wood, regulators will not normally take enforcement action where businesses meet at least 83% of the statutory plastic recycling obligation, 92% of the steel recycling obligation and 90% of the wood recycling obligation. Full compliance remains required for all other packaging materials.
The Environment Agency’s Regulatory Position Statement 383 states that statutory recycling obligations have not been amended. Businesses that satisfy the RPS conditions will normally avoid enforcement action for falling short of the original targets for the three materials. Certificates of Compliance will still record non-compliance where statutory obligations have not been met, even if the reduced thresholds are satisfied.
Businesses 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 intervention applies only to the 2026 compliance year.
Evidence supply constraints
The Foodservice Packaging Association said the intervention followed changes introduced during 2026 to strengthen the integrity of the PRN/PERN system. These included 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 be issued only once packaging waste reaches the overseas reprocessing facility.
Defra said those measures had improved transparency and helped tackle fraud and error, but had also reduced the number of accredited reprocessors and exporters and increased the time taken to issue PERNs, constraining the supply of recycling evidence.
2027 review and DRS impact
Defra described the circumstances as exceptional and committed to reviewing recycling targets for 2027. It said the review would take account of factors including the introduction of deposit return schemes (DRS) and the delayed mandatory kerbside collection of plastic film in England, now scheduled for April 2030.
The FPA said the DRS impact would 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. That will remove valuable, relatively high-quality material from the existing recycling evidence market even though it will continue to be recycled through the new scheme. Unless recycling targets and obligations reflect the change, producers could face further difficulty securing sufficient evidence.
The association added that the delayed kerbside collection of plastic film would also affect assessments of material likely to be available for recycling and PRN generation. Longer-term reform of the PRN/PERN system remains under consideration after a consultation on measures intended to improve transparency, reduce fraud and create a more level playing field between UK reprocessors and exporters.
FPA seeks broader review
The FPA said regulators having to intervene to prevent enforcement action raised serious questions about how the system is managed and how future targets are set. It supported efforts to eliminate fraud and error and said stronger accreditation, verification and transparency were essential to confidence. But it argued that if improving integrity exposed a substantial shortfall in evidence availability, the assumptions behind recycling targets should be fundamentally examined.
The association also drew a distinction between relief from enforcement and resolution of the underlying compliance problem. It noted that statutory obligations remain unchanged and that producers meeting the reduced thresholds may still have non-compliance recorded against them, adding that businesses need clarity on the practical implications.
The FPA said the review of 2027 targets must go beyond adjusting percentages. It should establish whether targets are supported by demonstrable domestic and overseas recycling capacity and reliable evidence supply, account for DRS starting in October 2027 and reflect the delayed kerbside collection of plastic film. The association said those assessments should be transparent and open to industry scrutiny, and warned that producers already face financial and administrative pressure from the wider packaging reform programme.