By Gillian Garside-Wight, Director of Consulting, Aura

2026 is going to be a major year for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reporting in the UK. Although larger producers had their first reporting deadline in October, April 2026 will be the first deadline for smaller producers, along with another six-month milestone for the bigger players.

That means fees that businesses will want to mitigate and gargantuan fines for non-compliance. In some cases, those penalty fines could rise to a staggering 5% of annual turnover, which for a big global brand could be millions of pounds.

The biggest impact for brands selling in the US will likely be for California, which had its SB 54 EPR reporting deadline on November 15, 2025. 

The coming 12 months will see the ripples of that deadline continuing to impact brands and retailers globally. It will be devastating for many who sell in the state with the world’s fifth-largest economy, who will find themselves potentially facing significant fees, as well as significant fines for non-compliance. This could range up to $50,000 per day.

In addition, October 2026 is when California’s Truth in Labeling legislation comes into force. Brands and retailers will have to expect litigation from then on, if their packaging says it’s recyclable when it is not, or if it’s misleading.

Businesses are going to need to ensure they have 100% accurate data on every component that makes up their packaging, or else the financial penalties are going to leave them reeling. That data will also be the only way to ensure that their packaging is meeting consumer demands for greater recyclability and sustainability.

About the author: Gillian Garside-Wight is the Director of Consulting at the packaging sustainability consultancy, Aura. Garside-Wight is one of the UK’s leading experts on compliance-ready packaging data, EPR legislation, recyclability, and packaging design for sustainability.