Register for EPR for packaging: create your registration file

  • by Defra
  • 10 September 2026
  • 16 min read

How to submit registration details to your environmental regulator if you have obligations under extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging – use the templates to help you create your file.

For an overview of the registration process, refer to the following guidance:

If you’re a holding company that’s registering multiple subsidiaries directly with the environmental regulators, find out how to create your registration file as a holding company.

Overview of registration details

To register directly with your environmental regulator, you must submit details about your organisation through the ‘Report packaging data’ (RPD) service.

If you’re using a compliance scheme, they can register you on your behalf.

The registration details include:

  • address
  • annual turnover
  • packaging activities
  • contact details
  • the approved person or delegated person within your organisation who submits your data

You may also need to submit your organisation’s:

  • brand details – if you supply goods in the UK in packaging under your own brand
  • partner details – if you’re registered as a partnership with Companies House

If you’re registering to report closed loop packaging waste data, enter ‘Yes’ in column ‘CA’ (closed_loop_registration) in your organisation details file. Column ‘CA’ is shown in the organisation details template provided in this guide.

If you do not intend to report closed loop packaging waste data, either submit your organisation details file without a column ‘CA’, or enter ‘No’ in column ‘CA’ – for every row in your file.

Blank cells and invalid values cause a validation error for column ‘CA’ – only enter ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

Templates for registration details

You need to submit your details in one or more comma-separated values (CSV) files. You can open and complete CSV files in any spreadsheet program.

The following templates can help you structure your details correctly:

Do not remove any columns from the CSV files, even if you do not have to fill them in.

Details you must submit

General information

There are some fields that you only need to complete if your organisation is a:

  • limited liability partnership
  • private limited company
  • public limited company
  • limited partnership

These are marked in the ‘Description’ column with ‘Limited orgs only’.

You can report as a corporate group, but you must provide general information for each organisation and subsidiary in the group.

Where we’ve specified ‘allowed values’, follow these exactly, including capitalisation. For example, enter ‘Secondary’ not ‘secondary’, and ‘EN’ not ‘En’.

Do not use the following characters because they cause validation errors:

  • superscript characters, including copyright or trademark symbols
  • abbreviations such as ‘N/A’ instead of ‘not applicable’

Table 1: File structure for general information

Order (column letter) · Column header · Description · Allowed values · Mandatory

1 (A) · organisation_id · The identification number assigned to an organisation when they create an account. This is 6 figures long. Do not include any spaces.This will be the same for all organisations and subsidiaries when reporting as a corporate group. · Any · Yes

2 (B) · subsidiary_id · An identification number assigned to a subsidiary via subsidiary module.Use the same unique ID for a subsidiary across all packaging and organisation data submissions. · Any · This field must be used by holding companies when reporting on behalf of subsidiaries. Otherwise, leave blank.

3 (C) · organisation_name · Organisation name.Where applicable, this must exactly match your Companies House listing – for example if your listing says ‘limited’ do not use ‘Ltd’.If reporting as a corporate group, you need to provide names for the main organisation and any subsidiaries. For subsidiaries, this will be different from the holding company. · Any · Yes

4 (D) · trading_name · Trading name.The trading name for your organisation, or for each organisation and subsidiary, when reporting as a corporate group. Only include if different from organisation name. · Any · Yes

5 (E) · companies_house_number · Companies House registration number for your organisation, or for each organisation or subsidiary when reporting as a corporate group.Give the full 8 digits. If there are leading zeroes, include them and add ‘ at the start, for example ‘00123456.Limited orgs only. · Any · Yes

6 (F) · home_nation_code · Home nation code: the UK nation where an organisation is registered.England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales. · EN, NI, SC, WS · Yes

7 (G) · main_activity_sic · Main activity SIC: enter the for your main packaging activity by tonnage. · Any · Yes

8 (H) · organisation_type_code · Organisation type code, as listed in Companies House.Sole trader (SOL), Partnership (PAR), Regulator (REG), Public limited company (PLC), Limited Liability partnership (LLP), Private Limited company (LTD), Limited partnership (LPA), Co-operative (COP), Community interest Company (CIC), Outside UK (OUT), Others (OTH). · SOL, PAR, REG, PLC, LLP, LTD, LPA, COP, CIC, OUT, OTH · Yes

9 (I) · organisation_sub_>type_code · Organisation sub-type: Licensor (LIC), Pub operating business (POB), Franchisor (FRA), Non-associated organisation (NAO), Holding company (HCY), Subsidiary (SUB), Licensee/Franchisee (LFR), Tenant (TEN), Others (OTH). · LIC, POB, FRA, NAO, HCY, SUB, LFR, TEN, OTH · Mandatory if any of the codes apply. Otherwise leave blank.

10 (J) · packaging_activity_so · Supplied under your brand: does the organisation supply goods to the UK market in primary, secondary or shipment packaging under its own brand?Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. · Primary, Secondary, No · Yes

11 (K) · packaging_activity_pf · Packed or filled as unbranded: does the organisation place goods into packaging that’s unbranded when it’s sold?Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. · Primary, Secondary, No · Yes

12 (L) · packaging_activity_im · Imported: does the organisation import packaging that contains goods into the UK to sell?Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. · Primary, Secondary, No · Yes

13 (M) · packaging_activity_se · Supplied as empty: does the organisation sell empty packaging to businesses that have an annual turnover of less than £2 million and supply less than 50 tonnes of packaging a year?Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. · Primary, Secondary, No · Yes

14 (N) · packaging_activity_hl · Hired or loaned: does the organisation hire or loan out reusable packaging to UK organisations?Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. · Primary, Secondary, No · Yes

15 (O) · packaging_activity_om · Supplied through an online marketplace that you own: does the organisation own an online marketplace that allows non-UK organisations to sell packaged products in the UK?Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. · Primary, Secondary, No · Yes

16 (P) · packaging_activity_sl · Selling: does the organisation sell empty or filled packaging directly to end consumers?Choose whether this is a primary or secondary activity for the organisation. · Primary, Secondary, No · Yes

17 (Q) · registration_type_code · Registration type code: whether you are registering as a group (GR) or an individual (IN). · GR, IN · Yes

18 (R) · turnover · The organisation’s most recent annual turnover, based on the last audited accounts that were available before 7 April in the obligation year.Give this in millions to 2 decimal places – for example if your turnover was £24,500,000, enter 24.50 · Do not include ‘£’ · Yes

19 (S) · total_tonnage · Total weight of all packaging activities in the calculation year combined, in tonnes. For example, for 2023 data this is packaging handled in 2022.Organisations must assess the packaging they handled in the calculation year to determine if they meet the small or large packaging thresholds. · Use digits only, in whole numbers. · Yes

20 (T) · produce_blank_packaging_flag · Does the organisation put packaging on the market which has no brand names, identifying marks or trademarks? · Yes, No · Yes

21 (U) · liable_for_disposal_costs_flag · Does the organisation place household packaging on the market?If your organisation is a subsidiary, enter ‘No’. Only holding companies and individual organisations are liable for disposal costs. · Yes, No · Yes

22 (V) · meet_reporting_requirements_flag · Reporting requirements: confirm that you are able to oversee the process for this organisation to report its packaging activities.This includes keeping account information up to date, making sure all data gets submitted and communicating about fees. · Yes, No · No

Addresses

In the same CSV file as the other organisation details, you must include addresses for the organisation:

  • registered address on Companies House, if it’s a limited liability partnership (LLP), private limited company (LTD) or limited partnership (LP)
  • head office or principal place of business, unless it’s a limited liability partnership (LLP), private limited company (LTD) or limited partnership (LP)
  • audit address – this is a place the environmental regulator can start an audit of submitted information

You must submit the first two addresses by the registration deadline.

You must also include a service of notice address if this is different from the registered address. This is where we’ll send legal notices if the organisation is non-compliant.

Do not include a service of notice address if it’s the same as the registered address.

If you’re reporting as a corporate group, you must include the addresses for each organisation and subsidiary within the group.

For all addresses, you must include:

  • first line of address
  • city
  • county
  • postcode
  • country

For all addresses apart from the audit address, you must also include a phone number.

For country, do not enter ‘United Kingdom’ or ‘UK’. Instead, enter either:

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland

Each piece of information must go in a separate column in the file. Check the following table and refer to the organisation details template provided in this guide.

Table 2: File structure for addresses

Order (spreadsheet column) · Column header · Description

23 (W) · registered_addr_line1 · Registered address line 1

24 (X) · registered_addr_line2 · Registered address line 2

25 (Y) · registered_city · registered address city

26 (Z) · registered_addr_county · Registered address county

27 (AA) · registered_addr_postcode · Registered address postcode

28 (AB) · registered_addr_country · Registered address country

29 (AC) · registered_addr_phone_number · Registered address phone number

30 (AD) · audit_addr_line1 · Audit address line 1

31 (AE) · audit_addr_line2 · Audit address line 2

32 (AF) · audit_addr_city · Audit address city

33 (AG) · audit_addr_county · Audit address county

34 (AH) · audit_addr_postcode · Audit address postcode

35 (AI) · audit_addr_country · Audit address country

36 (AJ) · service_of_notice_addr_line1 · Service of notice address line 1

37 (AK) · service_of_notice_addr_line2 · Service of notice address line 2

38 (AL) · service_of_notice_addr_city · Service of notice address city

39 (AM) · service_of_notice_addr_county · Service of notice address county

40 (AN) · service_of_notice_addr_postcode · Service of notice address postcode

41 (AO) · service_of_notice_addr_country · Service of notice address country

42 (AP) · service_of_notice_addr_phone_number · Service of notice address phone number

43 (AQ) · principal_addr_line1 · Principal place of business address line 1

44 (AR) · principal_addr_line2 · Principal place of business address line 2

45 (AS) · principal_addr_city · Principal place of business address city

46 (AT) · principal_addr_county · Principal place of business address county

47 (AU) · principal_addr_postcode · Principal place of business address postcode

48 (AV) · principal_addr_country · Principal place of business address country

49 (AW) · principal_addr_phone_number · Principal place of business address phone number

Sole traders

If your organisation is a sole trader, you must enter the sole trader’s:

  • first name
  • last name
  • phone number
  • email address

Each piece of information must go in a separate column in the file. Check the following table and refer to the organisation details template provided in this guide.

Include these empty columns even if they do not apply to you.

Table 3: File structure for sole traders

Order (spreadsheet column) · Column header · Description

50 (AX) · sole_trader_first_name · Sole trader first name

51 (AY) · sole_trader_last_name · Sole trader last name

52 (AZ) · sole_trader_phone_number · Sole trader phone number

53 (BA) · sole_trader_email · Sole trader email

If you are not a sole trader, include the columns but leave them blank.

People

You must include your organisation’s primary contact. This is the first person we should contact if we have questions about your organisation’s data reporting.

If you’re a corporate group with subsidiaries, you only need to include the primary contact for the holding company.

You must also provide details of either the approved person or delegated person within your organisation. This is the person who has verified and submitted your data. The approved person is usually the person who created the ‘Report packaging data’ account for your organisation.

If you’re a compliance scheme, you must provide details of either the approved person or delegated person who verified the data within the organisation you’re registering.

If you have one, you can also include your organisation’s:

  • secondary contact – the next person we should contact if we have questions about your data reporting

For each person, you must include:

  • first name
  • last name
  • phone number
  • email address

You can also include their job title.

Each piece of information must go in a separate column in the file. Check the following table and refer to the organisation details template provided in this guide.

Table 4: File structure for people

Order (spreadsheet column) · Column header · Description

54 (BB) · approved_person_first_name · Approved person first name

55 (BC) · approved_person_last_name · Approved person last name

56 (BD) · approved_person_phone_number · Approved person phone number

57 (BE) · approved_person_email · Approved person email

58 (BF) · approved_person_job_title · Approved person job title

59 (BG) · delegated_person_first_name · Delegated person first name

60 (BH) · delegated_person_last_name · Delegated person last name

61 (BI) · delegated_person_phone_number · Delegated person phone number

62 (BJ) · delegated_person_email · Delegated person email

63 (BK) · delegated_person_job_title · Delegated person job title

64 (BL) · primary_contact_person_first_name · Primary contact first name

65 (BM) · primary_contact_person_last_name · Primary contact last name

66 (BN) · primary_contact_person_phone_number · Primary contact phone number

67 (BO) · primary_contact_person_email · Primary contact email

68 (BP) · primary_contact_person_job_title · Primary contact job title

69 (BQ) · secondary_contact_person_first_name · Secondary contact first name

70 (BR) · secondary_contact_person_last_name · Secondary contact last name

71 (BS) · secondary_contact_person_phone_number · Secondary contact phone number

72 (BT) · secondary_contact_person_email · Secondary contact email

73 (BU) · secondary_contact_person_job_title · Secondary contact job title

Organisation size

You must say whether you’re a large or small producer. Check if you’re a large or small producer under EPR for packaging.

Order (column letter) · Column header · Description · Allowed values

73 (BV) · organisation_size · Large or small producer · S, L

Changes to organisation details

Report any changes

You must keep any information you’ve submitted up to date. You must report any changes within 28 days of them happening. Do this by submitting a new registration details file to your environmental regulator.

This includes changes such as adding or removing subsidiaries from your group registration, or changes to your contact details or registered office address.

Compliance schemes must report members leaving and joining using an updated registration details file.

Do not remove rows containing subsidiaries that are leaving – just fill in the leaver information for them, including the mandatory ‘leaver code’.

If your organisation becomes insolvent and is no longer trading, contact your environmental regulator immediately.

Use the following columns to report changes.

Table 5: File structure for reporting changes

Order (spreadsheet column) · Column header · Description

75 (BW) · leaver_code · Enter joiner codes and leaver codes in this column.

76 (BX) · leaver_date · Leaver date. Use the format DD/MM/YYYY.

77 (BY) · organisation_change_reason · Reason for the change to the organisation. Use 250 characters maximum.

78 (BZ) · joiner_date · Joiner date. Use the format DD/MM/YYYY.

Codes and formats for reporting changes

You must enter the correct joiner or leaver code for the specific change that has happened.

As a producer, you only need to enter a joiner or leaver code when there is a mid-year change.

If you are unsure which joiner code or leaver code to use, you must contact your environmental regulator.

Joiner codes

If you enter a joiner code in the ‘leaver_code’ column, you must also enter a ‘joiner_date’ in the format DD/MM/YYYY.

In the following table, ‘obligated producer’ refers to an organisation that has obligations under EPR for packaging.

If you’re a holding company and a producer has joined your corporate group as a subsidiary, enter the date that the producer joined your group.

Code · Description

1 · Obligated producer has joined your group – as part of your registration. Producer was registered independently before.

2 · Producer who was not obligated before has joined a group – registering independently. Percentage obligation based on number of days in the year they were part of the group.

3 · Producer who was not obligated before has joined your group – as part of your registration. Percentage obligation based on number of days in the year they were part of your group.

7 · Obligated producer has joined your group but holding company is not responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of a different group registration before and is now part of your group registration.

9 · Producer has joined a group but is not responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of a different group registration but has now registered individually.

15 · Organisation has become an obligated producer due to a mid-year change.

17 · Producer has become obligated due to carrying on the activities of an incapacitated producer.

19 · Producer registered after the registration deadline.

20 · Any other reason. You must also complete the ‘organisation_change_reason’ column to explain why the producer joined, using 250 characters maximum.

Leaver codes

If you enter a leaver code in the ‘leaver_code’ column, you must also enter a ‘leaver_date’ in the format DD/MM/YYYY.

Code · Description

4 · Producer that is not obligated independently has left your group. Holding company is responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was registered independently before.

5 · Producer that is not obligated independently has left your group. Holding company is responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration.

6 · Producer that is obligated independently has left your group. Holding company remains responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration.

8 · Producer has left your group. Holding company remains responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration and is now part of a different group registration.

10 · Producer has left your group. Holding company remains responsible for obligations due to mid-year change. Producer was part of your group registration and is now registered independently.

11 · Producer has become insolvent and stopped trading, so is no longer obligated.

12 · Organisation has stopped being a producer – no longer performing a producer function.

13 · Producer has resigned from compliance scheme.

14 · Compliance scheme has terminated producer’s membership.

16 · Producer has merged with another organisation – not incapacity related.

21 · Any other reason. You must also complete the ‘organisation_change_reason’ column to explain why the producer left, using 250 characters maximum.

Brand information

If you enter a packaging activity as ‘supplied under your brand’ in the organisation details file, you need to submit a separate CSV file with information about the brand.

Use the brand details template provided in this guide, or create a CSV file with the same headers.

Table 6: File structure for the brand information CSV file

Name · Column header · Description · Allowed values

Organisation ID · organisation_id · The brand owner’s organisation ID. This is 6 figures long. Do not include any spaces. · Any

Subsidiary ID · subsidiary_id · An identification number assigned to a subsidiary via subsidiary module. · Any

Brand name · brand_name · The word or phrase used to identify the brand. · Any

Brand type code · brand_type_code · Whether the brand identifier is a brand name (BN), trademark (TM) or other (OT). · BN, TM, OT

Partner information

If you enter an organisation type of ‘partnership’ in the organisation details file, you will need to submit a separate CSV file about your organisation’s partners.

Use the partner details template provided in this guide, or create a CSV file with the same headers.

Table 7: File structure for the partner information CSV file

Name · Column header · Description · Allowed values

Organisation ID · organisation_id · The ID of the organisation that the partner belongs to. This is 6 figures long. Do not include any spaces. · Any

Subsidiary ID · subsidiary_id · An identification number assigned to a subsidiary via subsidiary module. · Any

First name · partner_first_name · Any

Last name · partner_last_name · Any

Phone number · partner_phone_number · Any

Email · partner_email · Any

Compliance schemes

If you’re a compliance scheme, you must:

  • submit one set of files for all your large producers
  • submit another set of files for all your small producers

‘Set of files’ means the CSVs for organisation, brand and partner details. This means you may have to submit up to six files.

Do not submit separate files for each producer.

Get help or give feedback

If you have any questions, contact your environmental regulator or the EPR for packaging customer service team.

Check the contact details for regulators and administrators.

You can also give feedback about this guidance.

User panel

Defra is looking for waste and packaging professionals to join a user panel to help improve our services. Find out how to take part in resources and waste research sessions.

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Source: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs · Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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