UK Packaging EPR for Shopify Sellers: Who Pays and What to Report

If you sell on Shopify and ship to customers in the UK, you have probably heard about packaging extended producer responsibility (pEPR). It is the UK’s version of the rule that the business putting packaging on the market pays for what happens to it as waste.

The UK scheme works very differently from Germany’s LUCID or France’s Citeo. It has real size thresholds, its own reporting service, and duties that depend on whether you count as a small or a large producer. Many small Shopify shops are not obligated at all. Others are, and miss deadlines because they assume it works like the EU schemes.

This guide walks through the UK rules as GOV.UK publishes them in October 2026: who is obligated, what you report, when, and what you pay. It is general information, not legal advice. Check your own position against the GOV.UK guidance or with your environmental regulator.

Step 1: Check if you are obligated at all

GOV.UK’s Check if you must comply with EPR for packaging guidance sets three conditions. All three must apply:

You are established in the UK.
You carry out a packaging activity, for example selling filled packaging to an end user, or supplying filled packaging under your own brand.
You meet both size thresholds: you supplied or imported more than 25 tonnes of packaging in the UK in the previous year, and your worldwide annual turnover was £1 million or more.

For a small Shopify brand, 25 tonnes is a lot of packaging, but check it properly: shipping boxes, mailers, void fill and product packaging all count.

What “established in the UK” means

GOV.UK treats you as established in the UK if your registered office, head office or principal place of business is in the UK, including when you run the business from home.

It also counts a business whose head office is abroad as established in the UK if it has a UK branch, a UK warehouse, or a UK PO box, returns address or other postal address. A UK returns address is easy to overlook, so check this point if you sell from abroad with UK returns.

If you are based outside the UK and sell straight to UK consumers from your own Shopify store, the published guidance does not set out a duty for you directly. It does make online marketplaces report packaging when non-UK suppliers sell into the UK through them. If your setup is unusual, for example stock held in a UK 3PL warehouse, ask your regulator rather than guessing.

Step 2: Small or large producer

If you are obligated, your duties depend on your size. GOV.UK’s thresholds:

Packaging supplied or imported (previous year)	Worldwide turnover	Status
Under 25 tonnes	Any	Not obligated
25 to 50 tonnes	Under £1m	Not obligated
25 to 50 tonnes	£1m or more	Small producer
Over 50 tonnes	£1m to £2m	Small producer
Over 50 tonnes	Over £2m	Large producer

For reporting 2026 data, GOV.UK says you count the packaging you supplied or imported from 1 January to 31 December 2025, and use the turnover from your last accounts available before 7 April 2026.

If you belong to a group of companies, the whole group is tested. When the group meets the large threshold, every member counts as large.

Step 3: Register through Report packaging data

Registration and reporting both run through the Report packaging data (RPD) service. GOV.UK’s registration guidance describes these steps:

Create an RPD account. You need one whether you register directly or through a compliance scheme. The account is held by a director, company secretary, partner, sole trader or LLP member.
Get approved. Your regulator must approve you as an “approved person”. GOV.UK says this can take up to 28 days, and you cannot submit a registration before it.
Upload your registration details file in the Registration area of your account.
Pay the registration fee in the service, as part of the application.

Large producers register and pay each year by 1 October. Small producers register each year and pay a registration fee by 1 April. For 2027 registration, GOV.UK notes one exception: a large producer whose only packaging activity is selling filled packaging directly to end users has until 1 April 2027.

For large producers, the same page lists a 2027 registration fee of £2,842 when you register directly, or £1,803 through a compliance scheme (plus the scheme’s own fees). Small producer fees are in a separate guide. Late registration carries a £386 late fee. Fees change, so read the current page before you budget.

Compliance schemes

You can register through an approved compliance scheme. A scheme can register you, pay fees for you, report your packaging data and, for large producers, buy recycling evidence. It cannot pay your waste disposal fees. You stay legally responsible either way.

Step 4: Collect the right data

UK reporting is more detailed than a simple “kg per material”. GOV.UK’s guidance on what packaging data to collect asks for:

Material and weight in kilograms. Materials are aluminium, fibre-based composite, glass, paper or card, plastic, steel, wood, and other.
Plastic split into rigid or flexible for household packaging and packaging that commonly ends up in public bins.
Packaging activity, such as selling filled packaging to an end user or supplying under your brand.
Household or non-household. You assess this per activity, using GOV.UK’s separate household assessment guidance.
Nation of supply, the UK nation the packaging went to (England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), when you sell filled packaging direct to an end user.

Shipment packaging has its own definition. GOV.UK describes it as tertiary packaging on items supplied to a consumer, with cardboard boxes, carrier bags, bubble wrap and mail bags as examples. For a Shopify seller that is your outer box or mailer plus the fill inside it.

Fibre-based composite applies when plastic layers make up more than 5% of the material by mass. Paper mailers with a plastic coating are worth checking against that rule.

Step 5: Report on time

The deadlines from GOV.UK’s reporting periods page:

Producer	Period	Deadline
Large	1 January to 30 June 2026	1 October 2026
Large	1 July to 31 December 2026	1 April 2027
Small	1 January to 31 December 2026	1 April 2027

Large producers report every six months. Small producers report once a year. Both must keep the data behind their reports for seven years.

Step 6: Understand what you pay

Small producers pay a registration fee and report data. GOV.UK does not list them as paying waste disposal fees.

Large producers also pay a yearly waste disposal fee for household packaging to PackUK, the scheme administrator, and have recycling obligations. The fee depends on the tonnage and material you report. GOV.UK publishes base and illustrative fees separately, and they change from year to year, so this guide does not quote them. Use the current figures in the EPR for packaging collection when you plan.

How the UK differs from Germany and France

If you also ship to the EU, do not copy your German or French setup to the UK. The structures differ:

	UK (pEPR)	Germany (VerpackDG)	France (Citeo and others)
Small-volume exemption	Yes: under 25 t, or under £1m turnover	No exemption from LUCID registration	Flat fee below 10,000 units a year
Who registers	UK-established businesses meeting both thresholds	Every producer, including sellers abroad shipping to German consumers	Every producer, through an approved scheme
Foreign sellers	Guidance is built around UK establishment	Authorised representative required	Authorised representative (mandataire) required
Register	Report packaging data service, with your environmental regulator	LUCID, run by the ZSVR	IDU number issued when you join a scheme
Reporting unit	kg per material, activity, household class and nation	kg per material type	Units sold (UVC); grams per material for larger volumes
Frequency	Every 6 months (large) or yearly (small)	Matches the system contract; one annual report if under 10 t	Yearly declaration, January to February

For the EU detail, see our guides to LUCID registration step by step, Citeo and Triman for online sellers and the EU PPWR for Shopify sellers.

Getting your tonnage from Shopify

Shopify does not record what packaging went into each parcel. You weigh each packaging type by material, map products to packaging, count units shipped to UK addresses (by nation if you need nation of supply) and multiply. Our guides on exporting Shopify orders with line-item properties and calculating packaging weight per material from Shopify orders cover the exports and the method. Keep your working for seven years.

Checklist

Check the 25 tonne and £1 million tests on last year’s figures.
Check whether a UK branch, warehouse or returns address makes you UK-established.
Work out whether you are small or large.
Create your RPD account early, since approval can take up to 28 days.
Register and pay by the right date: 1 April (small) or 1 October (large).
Collect material, weight, household class and nation of supply for each activity.
Report every six months (large) or yearly (small), and keep records for seven years.

Common pitfalls

Assuming EU registration covers the UK. It does not. The UK is a separate scheme with its own service.
Ignoring the turnover test. It is worldwide turnover, not UK sales.
Leaving the RPD account to the last week. Approval alone can take up to 28 days.
Forgetting group rules. A small subsidiary of a large group is a large producer.

FAQ

Do I need to register for UK packaging EPR if I sell less than 25 tonnes?

No. GOV.UK says you are not obligated if you supplied or imported 25 tonnes or less of packaging in the UK in the previous year, whatever your turnover.

Does UK packaging EPR apply to sellers based outside the UK?

The obligation is written for organisations established in the UK. A UK branch, warehouse, PO box or returns address can make a foreign business count as UK-established. Online marketplaces report packaging when non-UK suppliers sell through them. If you sell from abroad on your own store, check your position with the regulator.

When are the next UK packaging data deadlines?

Large producers report July to December 2026 data by 1 April 2027. Small producers report all of 2026 by 1 April 2027.

Do small producers pay waste disposal fees?

GOV.UK lists the yearly household packaging waste disposal fee to PackUK as a large producer duty. Small producers register, pay a registration fee and report data once a year.

Is my LUCID or Citeo number valid in the UK?

No. Those are German and French registrations. The UK uses its own Report packaging data service.

Where StoreFleet: Packaging EPR fits

StoreFleet: Packaging EPR is built for Germany and France: LUCID and dual system figures, Citeo declarations, and your registration numbers on your store. It can also list the UK as a destination in its per-country totals and store a UK registration number. It does not produce a Report packaging data file. It also does not split figures by household class, UK nation or the UK’s material list, so you still need to prepare those yourself for UK reporting.