Producers – other than small producers using the allocation system – must submit data manually using the data spreadsheet provided by the Agencies or online through the National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD).

Guidance is available on registration and on using NPWD.

The spreadsheet is made up of a number of tables for UK activity, exports, imports and a final Table 4 showing the obligation i.e. the tonnage that a producer must recover or recycle based on the packaging they placed on the market in the previous year.

The equation used to calculate this Table 4 obligation is fairly complex and we have therefore created an online calculator that will enable a business to check the obligation that arises from the amount of packaging they used.

DATA FORM/CALCULATOR – 2024

Click here for online obligation calculator (the targets for 2024 have changed slightly from 2023)

We have also produced a GUIDE for the completion of the data table that is taken from the Defra Guidance document.

Producers for whom selling is their main activity must also comply with the Consumer Information Obligations.

Small producers

For producers with a turnover between £2-5m who choose the ‘SMALL PRODUCER’ option, calculating the obligation is somewhat simpler. For 2024, you must multiply your turnover (in £millions) by 35 and use the predominant material. Therefore, a producer with a turnover in the last accounts of £4.25m and whose predominant packaging activity was in glass ( a wine merchant, for instance), would have an obligation of 149 tonnes of glass.