EPR Compliance for E-Commerce & DTC Brands

E-commerce and direct-to-consumer brands face a unique set of challenges under the UK's Extended Producer Responsibility scheme. Unlike traditional retail, where products sit on a shop shelf and the packaging journey is relatively straightforward, online retail introduces layers of complexity: transit packaging, fulfilment centre operations, marketplace obligations, and returns. Each of these creates compliance questions that do not exist in bricks-and-mortar retail.

If you sell products online and ship them directly to UK consumers, you almost certainly have EPR obligations. This guide explains exactly how EPR applies to e-commerce businesses, breaks down the packaging types you need to account for, addresses common misconceptions, and provides a practical compliance roadmap tailored to the way online businesses actually operate.

How EPR Applies to Online Sellers

The fundamental principle of EPR is that whoever places packaging on the UK market bears the financial responsibility for its end-of-life management. For e-commerce businesses, this typically means you are obligated in two capacities simultaneously:

You Are the Brand Owner

If you sell products under your own brand, you are the brand owner for the product's primary packaging. This includes the bottle, jar, tube, or box that directly contains your product, plus any labels, closures, or inner wraps. This is the same obligation a brand owner would have in traditional retail.

You Are Also the Packer/Filler

When you pack your product into a shipping box, add void fill, include a delivery note in a polybag, or wrap the item in tissue paper, you are acting as the packer/filler. All of that transit packaging, the packaging used to ship the product to the consumer, is your obligation as well.

This dual obligation catches many e-commerce brands by surprise. In traditional retail, the transit packaging between the manufacturer and the retailer is typically the manufacturer's obligation. But when you are selling direct to the consumer, the transit packaging becomes household packaging because it arrives at the consumer's home. And household packaging carries the full EPR fee.

Transit vs Primary Packaging: Why It Matters

The distinction between primary and transit packaging is critical for e-commerce businesses because it determines both the packaging class you report and, in some cases, who bears the obligation.

Primary Packaging

Primary packaging is the packaging that directly contains the product and is part of the product's presentation. For a skincare brand, this is the bottle or tube. For a candle business, this is the glass jar and lid. For a fashion brand, this might be the branded box the garment sits in. Primary packaging is typically the obligation of the brand owner.

Secondary Packaging

Secondary packaging groups primary packages together. In e-commerce, this might be a multipack sleeve or a gift set box. It is part of the product offering and the brand owner typically bears the obligation.

Transit (Shipment) Packaging

Transit packaging protects the product during delivery. This includes:

• Shipping boxes (corrugated cardboard mailers, rigid boxes)
• Poly mailers (plastic mailing bags)
• Void fill (paper fill, air pillows, foam peanuts, shredded cardboard)
• Tissue paper or wrapping paper used inside the box
• Protective wraps (bubble wrap, foam sheets)
• Tape (paper tape, plastic tape)
• Delivery labels and inserts (including polybag sleeves for paperwork)

In a direct-to-consumer model, all transit packaging ends up at the consumer's household. This makes it household packaging subject to full EPR fees, including fee modulation based on RAM ratings. It is not classified as commercial/industrial packaging (which would carry different fee treatment) because the end destination is a domestic address.

Common E-Commerce Packaging Materials and Their RAM Ratings

E-commerce packaging tends to use a narrower range of materials than food or beverage packaging, but the RAM ratings vary considerably.

The pattern is striking. Paper-based e-commerce packaging is almost universally Green-rated. Mono-material flexible plastics are Amber. Mixed materials and polystyrene are Red. This has clear implications for packaging strategy: an e-commerce brand that ships in corrugated boxes with paper void fill and paper tape will pay significantly less in EPR fees than one using poly mailers with bubble wrap and plastic tape.

The Fulfilment Centre Question

Many e-commerce brands, particularly those selling on marketplaces, use third-party fulfilment centres (3PLs) to store, pack, and ship their products. This raises a critical question: who bears the EPR obligation for the transit packaging applied at the fulfilment centre?

The answer depends on the contractual and practical arrangements:

• If you specify the packaging: If you provide the shipping boxes, void fill, and other transit materials to the 3PL, or if you specify exactly what they should use, you are the packer/filler and bear the obligation.
• If the 3PL chooses the packaging: If the fulfilment centre selects and supplies the transit packaging without your specification, the obligation may fall on them as the packer/filler. However, as the brand owner, you may still bear some obligation depending on the specific arrangements.
• Amazon FBA and similar programmes: When you use Fulfilled by Amazon or similar marketplace fulfilment programmes, the marketplace's fulfilment service applies its own transit packaging. The obligation for that specific transit packaging typically rests with the marketplace or its fulfilment arm, not the seller. However, you remain obligated for your product's primary and secondary packaging.

Marketplace Obligations

Selling through online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Shopify adds another layer of complexity. The key question is: does selling through a marketplace change your EPR obligation?

You Remain Obligated as the Brand Owner

Listing your products on a marketplace does not transfer your brand owner obligation to the marketplace. You are still the brand owner for your product's primary and secondary packaging, and you must report and pay fees on that packaging regardless of where it is sold.

Marketplace Obligations for Overseas Sellers

A significant development in the reformed EPR scheme is the introduction of obligations on online marketplaces that facilitate sales of products from overseas sellers into the UK. If the overseas seller does not register with the UK EPR scheme, the marketplace may become the obligated party for the packaging associated with those products. This primarily affects large marketplaces and does not change the obligation for UK-based sellers using those platforms.

Platform-Specific Considerations

• Amazon: Sellers using FBA should distinguish between packaging they supply (their obligation) and packaging Amazon adds (Amazon's obligation). Sellers using Merchant Fulfilled Shipping are obligated for all packaging.
• eBay and Etsy: As the seller, you are fully obligated for all packaging you use, including transit packaging you apply before handing to a carrier.
• Shopify and own-website sales: You are the brand owner and the packer/filler. Full obligation for all packaging components.

Returns Packaging: The Hidden Obligation

E-commerce has a returns problem, and it is not just a logistics headache. It has EPR implications too.

When a customer returns a product, they often reuse the original shipping box or poly mailer. But sometimes they use new packaging, either their own or a returns-specific mailer you provided. Here is how returns interact with EPR:

• Pre-paid returns packaging you supply: If you include a returns poly mailer or bag in the original shipment, that is packaging you are placing on the market and you are obligated for it, even if the customer never uses it for a return.
• Customer-supplied returns packaging: If the customer sources their own packaging for the return, you are not obligated for that packaging. The customer is acting as a private individual, not a producer.
• Reused outbound packaging: Packaging that the customer reuses for the return was already counted in your original outbound shipment data. It does not need to be counted again.

The practical takeaway: account for any returns-specific packaging you supply in your compliance data. If you include a returns bag in every shipment, that weight should be captured alongside your outbound transit packaging.

Practical Compliance Steps for E-Commerce Brands

Here is a step-by-step workflow designed specifically for online businesses.

Step 1: Determine Your Obligation Status

Check whether you meet the EPR obligation thresholds. For small producers: turnover above £1 million and handling more than 25 tonnes of packaging per year. For large producers: turnover above £2 million and handling more than 50 tonnes. Remember that tonnage includes all packaging, both product packaging and transit packaging.

Many e-commerce brands underestimate their packaging tonnage because they focus only on product packaging and forget about shipping materials. A business shipping 500 orders per day with an average of 300g of transit packaging per order is handling approximately 55 tonnes of transit packaging alone per year.

Step 2: Map All Packaging Components

Create a comprehensive list of every packaging component you use, categorised as:

• Primary packaging: Product containers, labels, closures
• Secondary packaging: Multipack wraps, gift boxes, branded presentation boxes
• Transit packaging: Shipping boxes, mailers, void fill, tape, labels, inserts, wrapping

For each component, record the material type, weight per unit, and estimated annual usage volume.

Step 3: Weigh Everything

Do not estimate packaging weights from supplier datasheets alone. Physically weigh representative samples of each component. For transit packaging, weigh a complete packed shipment and subtract the product weight to get an accurate total packaging weight. Variations across different box sizes and product types mean you may need to weigh several representative configurations.

Step 4: Conduct RAM Assessments

Assess each component through the five RAM stages. E-commerce packaging typically involves fewer exotic materials than food packaging, but common pitfalls include padded envelopes (mixed materials), plastic tape (contaminant), and polystyrene cushioning (limited infrastructure).

Step 5: Calculate Your Tonnage

Multiply the weight per unit of each component by the annual quantity used. Sum across all components to get your total obligated tonnage. Break this down by material type and RAM rating for fee projection purposes.

Step 6: Optimise Before You Report

Before submitting your data, review your transit packaging choices. Switching from a padded envelope (Red) to a corrugated mailer (Green) could save significant fees. Replacing plastic tape with paper tape removes a Red-rated component entirely. Moving from polystyrene packing peanuts to paper-based void fill improves both your RAM profile and your customer experience.

Step 7: Submit and Monitor

Submit your data to the RPD within the required deadlines. Set up a process to track packaging changes throughout the year, including new product launches, new packaging suppliers, and changes in fulfilment partner packaging specifications.

E-Commerce Packaging Optimisation Opportunities

E-commerce brands have a significant advantage over traditional retail in one respect: they control the entire packaging experience from production to the customer's doorstep. There is no retailer shelf-presence requirement dictating packaging size or format. This gives DTC brands freedom to optimise aggressively.

Right-Size Your Shipping Boxes

Over-boxing is one of the most common waste points in e-commerce. A product shipped in a box twice its necessary size requires more cardboard and more void fill. Investing in a range of box sizes matched to your product dimensions reduces both material usage and EPR fees. Some brands are moving to on-demand box cutting machines that create perfectly sized boxes for each order.

Eliminate Unnecessary Packaging Layers

Does every order need tissue paper? Does every product need an inner polybag? Question every layer and remove anything that does not serve a genuine protective or regulatory purpose. Each eliminated layer is tonnage removed from your EPR obligation.

Switch to Paper-Based Transit Materials

Paper-based packaging consistently scores Green under the RAM framework. Switching from plastic void fill to paper fill, from bubble wrap to corrugated wrapping, and from plastic tape to paper tape converts Red and Amber-rated components to Green. The fee savings compound with the modulation multiplier increases.

Consider Reusable Packaging Models

Some DTC brands are exploring reusable shipping containers that customers return. While the compliance treatment of reusable packaging is still evolving under the reformed scheme, the principle is that packaging designed for multiple use cycles may attract lower per-use fees because the total packaging placed on the market is reduced.

E-commerce brands that design their shipping experience with EPR in mind from the start will not only pay lower fees but deliver a better unboxing experience. Customers increasingly prefer paper-based, minimal packaging over plastic-heavy, over-packaged shipments.