Companies could be charged more than £650 per tonne of packaging they place on the market under incoming waste laws, the government has indicated.
A document published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs listed the ‘illustrative base fees’ for 2025/26 under extended producer responsibility rules.
This paper said aluminium packaging producers could face bills of up to £655 per tonne of such material sold plus extra charges to regulators. The cost of packaging waste recovery notes was also not included in this estimate.
Fibre-based composites could be charged at between £410 and £655 per tonne, according to the illustrative fees, which are subject to change before coming into force.
Plastic packaging will be subject to base fees of up to £610 under the plans, while steel is listed at up to £420, paper or board packaging up to £350, and wood and glass are given estimated highs of £330.
The government said the illustrative base fees were calculated by dividing anticipated council packaging-waste management costs by the total estimated amount of household packaging placed on the market. Different resale values and disposal methods are taken into account to form the figures, which will be adjusted when more data is collected, the paper added.
“The government recognises that obligated producers may wish to use the higher or lower estimates to assess worst and best case scenarios,” it added. “This is not recommended. While these illustrative base fees can help industry with early preparedness, these figures are still subject to significant uncertainty and will change in future.
“Government will not be liable for any financial loss should producers use these illustrative base fees in this document for planning or other purposes.”
