Glossary of terms
Accredited exporter
An exporter of post-use UK packaging waste destined for reprocessing abroad that has been given accredited status by the regulator to issue PERNs.
Accredited reprocessor
Typically waste recycling companies which are accredited by either the Environment Agency, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency or the Environment and Heritage Service (Northern Ireland) and is authorised to issue PRNs.
Accurate as reasonably possible
The level of accuracy required by the environment agencies for data returns under the packaging waste regulations.
Activity obligation
A company’s obligation under the packaging waste regulations is determined by the ‘activity’ it performs on packaging. This can be defined as a ‘raw material manufacturer’, a ‘converter’, a ‘packer/filler’, a ‘seller’ or an ‘importer’.
Composite packaging
Packaging made of more than one material where the materials cannot be readily separated.
Compliance scheme
A company that takes over the statutory obligations of obligated producers.
Consumer information obligations (CIO)
The consumer information obligations state that companies defined as ‘sellers’ under the packaging waste regulations must provide their customers with information about packaging and how and where it can be recycled. Any producer defined as a seller must provide information to their customers on how to recycle the packaging sold and explanations of any markings or symbols on the packaging.
Convertor
A company which manufactures packaging from raw materials. Although there may be more than one company involved in the conversion process, the company who makes the final, recognisable packaging item should pick up the conversion obligation.
Defra
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
DTI
Department of Trade and Industry
Duty of care
Duty of care in the waste industry is a process, with the authority of the law, which defines how waste will be managed.
End markets
End markets are required for the sale of products made from recycled packaging waste and there is an ongoing need for end market development to ensure that growth in the recycling of packaging waste is not restricted.
Energy from waste (EfW)
Packaging waste can be burned at high temperatures to create energy and this is known as energy from waste.
Exporting
This is the supply of packaging materials or packaged goods from Great Britain or Northern Ireland to countries outside the UK.
Hazardous waste
Solid waste that exhibits one of the four characteristics of a hazardous waste (reactivity, corrosivity, ignitability, and/or toxicity), or is specifically designated as such by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Importing
This is the supply of packaging materials or packed goods to Great Britain or Northern Ireland from countries outside the UK.
Internal use
This relates to packaging which is used on site for storage or supply to another site within the same legal entity and has not been supplied outside the company. This packaging is not obligated at present but is being reviewed.
Leased packaging
From 2006 onwards, as a lessor all packaging which you lease is now obligated on its first trip and will need to be included in submission data.
Northern Ireland regulations
The Northern Ireland version of the packaging waste regulations came into force in 1999 and the regulations are policed by Northern Ireland’s Environment and Heritage Service.
Obligated company
A business with an annual turnover of more than £2m and which owns and handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging in a calendar year by performing one or more of the following activities: import, raw material manufacture, conversion, packing/filling and selling.
Other packaging
This relates to all other packaging outside of the main classifications of aluminium, steel, plastic, paper, wood and glass. Includes packaging materials such as cork or ceramics.
Packaging
All products made of any materials of any nature to be used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery and presentation of goods from raw materials to processed goods form the producer to the user or the consumer.
Packaging and packaging waste directive
This is an EU directive which was passed in 1994 to ensure that all member nations had an obligation to recycle a proportion of their packaging waste. Each member state has interpreted the directive in its own way and in the UK the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations came into effect in 1997.
Packaging chain
This is the process a piece of packaging goes through from the conversion of its raw material, to the time when it is sold to an end user.
Packaging export recovery note (PERN)
This relates to accredited UK companies who export packaging materials for recycling outside of the UK and who generate PERNs rather than PRNs, but both are deemed acceptable evidence of compliance by the environment agencies.
Packaging handled
This is the new packaging which a producer owns and supplies to another producer in the packaging chain, or to an end-user.
Packaging waste recovery note (PRN)
A PRN represents one tonne of recycled or recovered packaging by material and is issued by an accredited reprocessor. This is now the only method of compliance with the packaging waste regulations.
Packer/filler
A company which takes empty packaging and then packs or fills it with products.
Primary packaging
Packaging designed to be the sales unit sold to the final user or consumer at the point of purchase. For example, glass jars, beer cans or cereal boxes.
Production residue
Production materials which are discarded before they are converted into identifiable packaging are production residues, not packaging waste. This type of waste does not count towards your obligation under the packaging waste regulations.
Raw material manufacturer
A company which produces raw materials which are subsequently made into packaging.
Recovery
Includes recycling and the burning of waste for energy (EfW).
Recovery target
This is the amount of packaging waste that obligated companies and schemes in the UK must recover each year.
Recycling
Recycling is defined in the regulations as ‘the reprocessing in a production process of the waste materials for the original purpose or for other purposes’. This includes composting, but excludes energy from waste (EfW).
Recycling target
This is the amount of packaging waste that must be recycled by obligated companies and schemes in the UK each year.
Reprocessing
The common term for the process by which packaging waste materials are recycled and/or recovered.
Re-used packaging
Re-used packaging is any packaging that is being used for a second or subsequent time. These types of packaging will pick up obligations on their first trip only and the cost of this obligation can be spread over a period of four years.
Secondary packaging
Packaging used to combine a number of single sellable units.
Seller
The individual, firm or legal entity that sells a packaging product to the final user or consumer of the packaging. However, selling is not only performed by a retailer but potentially by any business, including a wholesaler, could have a selling obligation on packaging if their customer removes any of the packaging sent to them.
Tertiary packaging
Packaging used to aid handling and transport of a number of sales units. The packaging is specifically designed to prevent damage during transportation.
The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 1998
Legislation that requires that businesses use minimal packaging. This piece of legislation is enforced by the DTI.
Third party exports
Packaging supplied to a UK company (including companies in Northern Ireland) that is subsequently exported from the UK by that or another party.
WEEE
Waste electrical and electronic equipment
WEEE directive
Forthcoming legislation making producers, distributors, retailers and users and users of electrical and electronic goods responsible for their safe collection and disposal at end of life.
