UK EPR deadlines 2026: Key dates, reporting rules and compliance risks
If you’re a brand in the UK and you use packaging, the new UK extended producer responsibility (UK EPR) regulations affect you. The system can feel confusing at first. But compliance is possible even without specialist software. Below is a practical overview of the UK EPR deadlines 2026, registration process, reporting requirements and recycling obligations. […]
California SB54 EPR Fees Explained: How Material Choices Affect Producer Costs in 2026–2027
California Senate Bill 54 (SB54), the state’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), law is one of the largest and most complex EPR programs in the world. The legislation is designed to push brands to reduce, reuse, and redesign their packaging by directly linking material choices to producer fees. Under SB54, companies that place packaging on the […]
Design for Recyclability 2026: New material, label & additive restrictions
The 2025 EU PPWR (Packaging Waste Regulation) has ushered in a ‘packaging renaissance’, where packaging is being designed for both consumer appeal and recyclability. For brands selling into the EU, design for recyclability is now a compliance requirement, not a future ambition. Decisions made in 2026 will determine whether packaging can legally remain on the […]
How to build an EPR-ready packaging data architecture for 2026
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws are expanding rapidly across global markets. For brands, this shift brings a clear reality: packaging data is no longer a back-office detail. It is a regulatory asset. Whether EPR is already in force where you operate or still on the horizon, building an EPR-ready packaging data architecture now is the […]
COP30 brand takeaways from Belém: what matters for packaging EPR and plastic recovery
Belém, the host city of COP30, has become a vivid symbol of climate disruption. From extreme heat to deforestation and plastic waste pollution flooding low-lying communities, Belém shows the consequences of the linear “take–make–dispose” model at full scale. For brands working in sustainable packaging, these realities make COP30 a turning point. As Brazilian Indigenous groups […]
California’s SB 54 plastic packaging EPR: November 15 deadline explained and what’s next
California’s SB 54 plastic packaging EPR law is the most ambitious packaging policy in the United States. It requires producers to meet strict source-reduction, recyclability, and recycling-rate targets through 2032 and mandates joining a producer responsibility organization (PRO) or operating an approved plan by January 1, 2027. A key source of confusion has been the […]
What is Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) & How do Plastic Credits Fit In?
What is EPR? Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is the concept that brands, plastic packaging producers and importers should take responsibility for the plastic they put into a market across its entire lifecycle. EPR policies are based on the “polluter pays” principle and are generally implemented by governments via a set of rules and targets. EPR […]
Environmental Standard Setter Verra Names Plastic Collective to Plastic Program Advisory Group
Image sourced from Verra. Plastic Collective’s Steve Hardman was recently invited to join Verra’s Plastic Program Advisory Group (PPAG). He, alongside eighteen other cross-sector stakeholders, will guide the development of the Plastic Waste Reduction Program. The Program, initiated by the 3R Initiative, launched in February 2021 as the first standard to codify requirements to finance activities that verifiably reduce plastic waste […]