Packaging - extended producer responsibility: full business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA)

10.0 Enforcement, sanctions and monitoring

124. As outlined in the UK IA, it is expected that the reforms will see more money in the system and additional obligations placed on producers, while the system will also be made more transparent. This means regulators will have to carry out additional compliance, monitoring and enforcement duties. For indications of how compliance may be monitored and enforced, please refer to the UK IA.

125. SEPA will have additional monitoring and enforcement duties to fulfil with the extra obligations being placed of MRFs for how they handle packaging materials coming in and out of their facilities as outlined in the updated MRF code of practice and due to the additional data required to prove compliance with packaging EPR regulations. This data may be commercially sensitive and, as such, additional powers will be required so that SEPA can share this data with the SA.

126. SEPA will also have more monitoring and enforcement duties with regards to the data reporting requirements placed on producers for the packaging waste they place on the market. All producers will be required to submit more data in greater detail than before, but most importantly there will be a new section of packaging producers required to submit data who have not done so until now; due to the new de-minimis threshold created for data reporting requirements only.

127. If organisations do not uphold their new obligations in line with the packaging EPR regulations, enforcement action will be taken with the possibility of sanctions including monetary fines. The precise nature of these sanctions is yet to be decided.