A company or group of companies is obligated under the regulations if it satisfies two tests:
- The amount of packaging handled by the company or group is greater than 50 tonnes per year
- The turnover of the company or group is greater than £2m
The obligation applies to packaging or packaging materials that the company produces, transforms, packs, fills or sells. It includes imported packaging that is then produced, packed, filled or sold, but does not include packaging which is exported or discarded in its process by the company.
Hotels are considered to be the sellers of packaging on items used by guests such as milk jiggers, shampoos sachets and beer bottles, and the tonnage should be taken into account when calculating the amount handled.
Pubs, hotels and restaurants are considered to sell the packaging in which drinks are supplied to customers, such as beer bottles. Independent pubs may fall below the thresholds, but pub groups need to aggregate tonnage to determine whether they are obligated.
In 2005 changes to the regulations mean that a franchiser or pub operating company or other licensor must take on the relevant obligations of any of their franchisees, tenant pubs or licensees where they do not satisfy the threshold tests by themselves. DEFRA has produced guidance on these changes.
A licensor (eg a hotel chain, pub chain or restaurant chain) should include the tonnage of packaging sold by its licensees and franchisees in the threshold test if:
- The packaging bears the logo or brand of the licensor
- The packaging is on goods which bear the logo or trade mark of the licensor
- The packaging is purchased by the licensee from the licensor as part of the licensing agreement or to satisfy the requirements of the licensor
Licensees that satisfy the threshold tests are obligated in their own right for all of the packaging that they handle
Contact us with a question if you are unsure how these regulations apply to your business. See also our pages on the packaging regulations and on minimising packaging costs