Why EPR matters for businesses

This blog makes the case for why Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) matters in the business world. For too many organisations, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) still gets filed under 'cost of doing business'. It’s often seen as a hefty admin task or another deadline to worry about. That's a shame, because it misses the point entirely.

EPR is one of the most significant pieces of environmental policy of our generation. Done well, it rewires how products are made, used and recovered. It funds the infrastructure we've spent decades saying we need. And it shifts the conversation from 'what do we do with this waste?' to 'how do we reduce waste in the first place?'

So, before we get into the detail of what's changing in the UK and beyond, it's worth pausing on the bigger question. Why EPR matters, and why the businesses treating it as a tick-box exercise are missing a genuine commercial opportunity.

EPR systems are a global movement, not a UK quirk

EPR isn't a Defra invention. An estimated 63 jurisdictions worldwide have either legislated or are currently legislating for packaging EPR alone, spanning developed and developing markets.

A World Economic Forum panel of experts describes well-designed EPR systems as creating the conditions for scalable circularity, through predictable financing, credible data and clear performance targets.

In their words, EPR turns marginal recycling projects into viable ones, because it guarantees a steady flow of feedstock and a price signal for recovered materials.

That's a meaningful shift. Recycling has historically struggled with volatile commodity prices and unpredictable input volumes. EPR systems smooth both, creating the conditions for serious capital to flow into building reprocessing capacity.

Clearly, when producers fund the system, the system gets built. The infrastructure follows the money.

Where the UK stands today on EPR schemes

 The UK has three mature EPR regimes running in parallel, each at a different stage of evolution.

• Packaging EPR is the headline story. For over 25 years, producers had supported the achievement of recycling targets by purchasing Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs). A new pEPR scheme under the Environment Act 2021 has shifted the full net cost of household packaging waste onto the producers who place it on the market. Producers received their first invoices in October 2025 and will redirect roughly £1.5 billion a year into local authority collection and recycling services.
• WEEE EPR continues to evolve, with rising collection targets, a new category for vapes and e-cigarettes and requirements for online marketplaces to take responsibility for the products they enable to be sold to UK households.
• Batteries EPR is in the middle of its own transformation, driven by the explosion in lithium-ion volumes, fire risks in waste streams and the upcoming EU Battery Regulation requirements that UK producers selling cross-border will need to meet.

Together, these three regimes touch thousands of businesses. If you make, import, brand or sell physical products, EPR compliance is no longer a niche concern.

A new chapter for packaging EPR: Ecomodulation

The introduction of fee modulation within the UK’s EPR framework marks a clear shift from policy intent to practical implementation. Until now, much of the EPR conversation has centred on high-level commitments to make producers financially responsible for the lifecycle impacts of their packaging.

Ecomodulation changes that dynamic by introducing differential fees based on the environmental performance of materials, rewarding more sustainable design choices and penalising those that are harder to recycle or manage at end of life. For compliance-focused businesses, this is a notable development: it signals that EPR is no longer a uniform cost to be absorbed, but a variable one that must be actively managed through data, design, and procurement decisions.

From a strategic standpoint, modulated fees are designed to drive behavioural change across the supply chain, aligning producer incentives with broader circular economy goals. This means packaging choices, such as material composition, recyclability, use of recycled content, will increasingly have direct financial consequences.

For organisations, the implication of ecomodulation is twofold: first, a need to improve the quality and granularity of packaging data to ensure accurate reporting and cost forecasting; and second, an opportunity to reduce future liabilities by embedding eco-design principles into product development now.

Textiles EPR next, and a signal from California

 The next frontier is textiles EPR. EPR for clothing and household textiles isn't UK law yet, but change is coming. France has had a textile EPR scheme for several years. The Netherlands, Sweden and a growing list of other European markets are following. The UK will get there.

The most instructive case study, though, is across the Atlantic. In March 2026, California became the first US state to enforce textile EPR under SB 707, and Landbell USA was appointed as the Producer Responsibility Organisation. That's significant for two reasons.

For UK fashion brands and retailers selling into the US, California's scheme is a live compliance obligation, not a future hypothetical. Producer registration runs to July 2026, with full enforcement and penalties from 2030.

For the wider EPR community, it confirms what many of us have been saying for years. EPR is the global model for managing the environmental impact of products at end of life, and the principle of "if you make it, you help fund what happens to it" is now embedded in policy from Sacramento to Stuttgart.

ERP UK is part of the Landbell Group, so the appointment in California is a direct signal that the expertise we draw on every day is trusted at the highest levels of global EPR scheme design. When textile EPR arrives in the UK, we'll already have walked the road.

EPR compliance as a commercial opportunity, not a cost

Too many businesses still miss this point. EPR systems aren't designed to penalise producers. They're designed to reward better choices.

Modulated fees mean recyclable packaging costs less than non-recyclable. Recycled content reduces your tax exposure under the Plastic Packaging Tax. Take-back schemes create new customer touchpoints and new revenue streams. Design-for-circularity principles produce products that last longer, repair more easily and recover more value at end of life.

EPR obligations, when used properly, are the lever that turns regulatory pressure into competitive advantage. They're how you turn a packaging review into a brand story, a WEEE obligation into a customer loyalty programme, and a battery take-back requirement into a community-facing demonstration of values.

ERP UK’s commitment to circularity

 ERP UK exists because we believe environmental compliance, done properly, is one of the most powerful tools businesses have to build a more circular economy.

Our purpose is to enable our customers, and ourselves, to make a positive impact on sustainability. Our vision is to be a global leader in the circular economy, trusted by customers and partners. And our mission is to simplify EPR for stakeholders here and globally, using expertise and data.

 Hundreds of businesses trust us with their compliance, from start-ups placing their first products on the market to multinationals coordinating obligations across multiple jurisdictions.

We coordinate more than 50,000 waste collections every year through our UK-wide approved supplier network. We hold ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 across all our processes. And we've maintained a 100% compliance success record for our members.

We monitor every consultation, every guidance update, every technical change, then translate it into plain English for the people who actually have to act on it. We run free audits, technical workshops and webinars. We can provide on-site data services, supplier verification and weighing support. And every member gets a dedicated account manager who understands their sector.

As part of the Landbell Group, we plug our members into one of the largest global EPR networks in existence. So, when textile EPR arrives, when EU battery passports go live in February 2027, when the next regulatory shift lands, we're already on it.

The bigger picture: Why EPR matters

 EPR matters because it's how we move from a linear economy that treats products as disposable to a circular one that treats them as resources. It matters because it funds the recycling infrastructure the UK has needed for decades. It matters because it rewards businesses that design better, source smarter and take responsibility seriously.

And it matters because the businesses that embrace it now, rather than resisting it, will be the ones still standing when circularity stops being a regulatory requirement and starts being a baseline expectation from customers, investors and employees alike.

We think that's the bigger picture. And it's why we do what we do.

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