For years, UK packaging rules tightened gradually. Many companies treated early reporting requirements as administrative burdens rather than strategic signals. Then Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), PFAS restrictions and stricter labeling expectations arrived - and packaging decisions suddenly started carrying direct financial consequences.  

EPR 2026 places greater financial responsibility on businesses using packaging that is hard to recycle. The general environmental principle makes producers responsible for a product's entire lifecycle. While it currently focuses on packaging in the UK, it will eventually expand to other sectors like textiles, tyres and bulky goods.  

In practical terms, EPR functions like another tax on packaging - and, like any other cost imposed on a business, it will inevitably become a KPI. Organisations will look to measure it, manage it, and ultimately reduce their liability wherever possible. 
 
That’s not a criticism of EPR; it’s simply how businesses respond to cost signals. Once EPR fees are visible and quantifiable, they drive behaviour in the same way raw material costs, logistics, or energy prices do. 
 
The companies that respond best will be those that design packaging with EPR exposure in mind from the outset - reducing weight, improving recoverability, and avoiding formats that attract higher fees - rather than treating EPR as a fixed, unavoidable charge. 
 
U.S. producers should prepare for a significant "cost reality" where waste management is no longer primarily taxpayer funded. Modeling future fees based on material weight and type is essential for long-term financial planning 
 
As of early 2026, seven states (California, Oregon, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington) have enacted EPR laws for packaging. These laws require producers to pay fees that fund local recycling systems. 
 
EPR has also reshaped commercial relationships. Packaging is no longer just a unit cost; it carries downstream liability. Material, design and labeling choices now determine future compliance exposure and fee levels for brand owners. That shift has made true supplier –brand partnerships more valuable, moving conversations from price per unit to shared risk and lifecycle impact. The U.S. market, still largely transactional in packaging procurement, will need to evolve toward deeper collaboration. 

Technically, UK and EU-facing manufacturers have already been forced to accelerate PFAS-free packaging development. The biggest lesson: diversify raw material sources early.

Supplier chemistry and performance vary widely, and relying on a single additive or substrate partner creates risk. Companies that built parallel testing capability and innovation partnerships reduced qualification time and avoided supply bottlenecks.

Eco-modulated fees are scheduled to begin in the 2026/27 financial year. This means that fees will follow a modulated red, amber, green (RAG) system based on the entire lifecycle of the packaging:

• Red: hard to recycle materials that may contaminate other waste streams, such as non-separable multi-material packaging or highly contaminated glass.
• Amber: materials that can be recycled by face challenges, such as glass jars with non-removable materials.
• Green: materials considered as widely recyclable, such as paper and cardboard. 

Materials labeled as green will incur lower fees and red sustain a higher cost. The fees will be modulated based on your Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM). This assessment will scientifically categorise your packaging against the red, amber, green system.

Following the UK’s ban on single-use plastics in 2023, which previously saw England using an estimated 4.25 billion disposable cutlery items each year, the movement toward sustainable alternatives has become a significant trend in 2025. Both businesses and consumers are actively seeking suitable replacements for this vast amount.

• Current Bans: Single-use plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, trays, and balloon sticks are prohibited in England as of late 2023.
• 2025/26 Expansion: New regulations will ban plastic-containing wet wipes by 2025/26, following a successful 18-month phase-out period. 

Circularity provides another caution to the U.S. In the UK, the most successful circular packaging projects start with end-of-life reality, not material hype. Where will this pack actually go? What infrastructure will handle it? What contamination risks exist? Leading with a “miracle material” instead of a recovery pathway often leads to higher cost with little environmental gain.

This is why we launched our Go-Recycle scheme in the UK, offering customers and brands a simple, responsible and cost-effective way to recycle old corrugated cardboard (OCC) - recycling more waste, saving costs and supporting a truly circular economy. 

To eliminate consumer confusion, the UK is moving toward a mandatory, simplified labelling standard.

• Clear messaging: Labels must state either "Recycle" or "Do Not Recycle".
• Revised timeline: While originally planned for 2026, mandatory labelling for all packaging (including plastic films) is now expected to be fully implemented by 1 April 2027 or 2028 to ensure alignment with EU standards and the Windsor Framework.
• Lesson for U.S.: Harmonising state-level "chasing arrows" rules into a single federal binary label would drastically reduce consumer error and business compliance costs. 

Outside of EPR, the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) acts as a direct commercial lever against virgin plastic.

The UK Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) is a direct financial levy designed to make virgin plastic less economically attractive compared to recycled alternatives. It operates independently of EPR, though both are part of the UK's broader Resources and Waste Strategy.  

Key thresholds and rates

The tax applies to plastic packaging manufactured in or imported into the UK that contains less than 30% recycled plastic.  

• Current rate (as of Feb 2026): £223.69 per tonne
• Upcoming rate (from 1 April 2026): £228.82 per tonne 

Perhaps the most uncomfortable lesson is economic: sustainability innovation costs money. The question is no longer whether packaging change is expensive; it’s whether delay will cost more. In the UK, regulation turned packaging into a board-level KPI because cost signals changed behavior.

The U.S. still has a window to act early. Those who treat packaging reform as strategy - not reaction - will be the ones who stay competitive when regulation catches up. 

The Go-Pak Group is the British subsidiary of SCG Packaging (SCGP) and specialises in disposable products and packaging for the food service, cash and carry and retail sectors.

Through our expertise in manufacturing, supply chain management, and our desire to continue innovating, we’re able to provide exceptional quality products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs.

We recognise the BRC Global Standards as the foundation of sustainable quality throughout our products and services, as such, we are proud that both our UK distribution platform and plastic manufacturing facility hold certification to the highest available grades. Following the latest investment in our purpose-built paper cup manufacturing facility, we’re on track to deliver the same outstanding quality to our customers through implementation of the BRC standard.

SCGP and Go-Pak share the same vision: to create value and offer solutions. This integration supports the product development strategy based on cooperation, technology exchange, and joint research to create more diverse, sustainable, products that are compliant to packaging laws but still deliver for our customers.  

Contact our team to discuss US food packaging, plastic cutlery wholesale supply, or custom printed hot cups for your brand.