Two questions and we'll tell you whether you need to register with HMRC, file quarterly returns, and what your likely obligations look like. Built for UK distributors and food brand owners.
Total annual plastic packaging tonnage across all components - primary, secondary, transit, anything plastic that's placed on the UK market.
You must register if you manufacture or import 10 or more tonnes of plastic packaging in any rolling 12-month period. The clock is rolling, not calendar - so you need to monitor continuously. There's also a forward-looking trigger: if you reasonably expect to hit 10 tonnes in the next 30 days, register immediately.
A plastic packaging component with 30%+ recycled plastic content is exempt from PPT. Below 30%, the full rate applies. It's a binary line - 29% is taxable, 30% is exempt. Components are assessed individually, so a mix of recycled and virgin SKUs is normal.
Once registered, you stay registered until you formally deregister - even if your tonnage drops below 10 tonnes. And even if all your components are exempt at 30%+ recycled, you're still required to file nil quarterly returns.
PPT and EPR are different regimes. EPR exemption doesn't mean PPT exemption, and vice versa. A small EPR producer can be fully PPT-liable, and a large EPR producer can be PPT- exempt. The two have to be assessed independently.