UK EPR software: collect, calculate and submit packaging data
Merchant is EPR software for UK producers. It holds your packaging at component level, collects what is missing from your suppliers, rates recyclability under RAM, and generates the Report Packaging Data submission from the same records - so the file is produced rather than assembled.
Why spreadsheets stop working at pEPR
The old packaging regulations asked for tonnage by material. A spreadsheet answers that. pEPR asks which of your components are red, amber or green, whether each one went to a household or a business, which UK nation it was supplied in, and what activity brought it into scope - twice a year, with fees attached to the answers.
That is not a bigger version of the same question. It is a question about components, and most packaging data is held per product. A row that says a SKU's packaging weighs 84 grams cannot tell you that the sleeve is what makes it red-rated, and it cannot tell you what removing the sleeve would save.
The second problem is that modulated fees make the data expensive to get wrong in both directions. Report commercial packaging as household and you pay fees on tonnage that never attracted them. Leave components unassessed and you have no idea which of your multipliers is wrong.
The full workflow, from supplier to submission
Five stages, one data set. Nothing is re-entered between them.
Collect
Suppliers submit component specifications through a structured form that validates on intake. Materials, weights, recycled content and construction detail arrive usable rather than as a PDF someone has to retype.
Categorise
Components are mapped to the material categories the RPD service recognises, with packaging level, intended use and activity type held on the record rather than reconstructed at submission time.
Assess
Household components carry a recyclability grade with its basis and date, and red, amber or green ratings are applied from the component data when the report runs.
Calculate
Tonnage aggregates from component weights and actual volumes, and the modulated fee follows from the rating. You see what the bill will be before it arrives.
Submit
The submission file is generated in the format the RPD service expects, with gaps flagged before the deadline rather than at it.
What the data model gets right
These are the details that decide whether a submission is defensible, and they are all decisions made in the schema rather than features added later.
- Packaging held at component level, so a bottle, its closure, its label and its sleeve are four records with four materials and four weights
- Bills of materials versioned with an effective-from date, so a mid-year respecification reports correctly for the period it applied to
- Household and commercial split held on the record, not derived from a product list at submission time
- Recycled content as a nullable value, keeping "not recorded" distinct from "confirmed zero"
- Recyclability grades stored per component with their basis, assessment date and expiry
- UK nation breakdown for large producer reporting
- An audit trail from any submitted tonnage back to the component weight and the supplier declaration behind it
Common questions about EPR software
What is EPR software?
EPR software holds your packaging data at the level the obligation requires and produces the submissions from it. In the UK that means component-level materials and weights, the household and commercial split, RAM recyclability ratings, and a file in the format the Report Packaging Data service expects.
Do I need EPR software?
If you are a large producer, the obligation is component-level and twice a year, with RAM assessments to run, supplier weights to chase and modulated fees attached to the answers. At that point a spreadsheet is the risk rather than the tool: it cannot hold a grade with its basis and date, cannot keep versioned bills of materials, and cannot show a regulator how a tonnage was derived. Smaller producers with a growing range usually want the database in place before they cross the large-producer threshold rather than after.
What compliance documents does it produce?
The Report Packaging Data submission file for UK pEPR, Plastic Packaging Tax exposure reports, EU PPWR Declarations of Conformity, the French, German and Italian scheme declarations, and the Article 12 sorting label for every component. All of them from the same component records, so a change made once is reflected in each document that depends on it.
Can it produce the RPD submission file directly?
Yes. The file is generated from the component records, broken down by material, packaging level, intended use and activity type. Nothing is transcribed by hand, which removes the step where most errors enter.
Does it handle Plastic Packaging Tax as well?
Yes, from the same data. Plastic Packaging Tax is a separate HMRC return assessed per plastic component against a 30% recycled content threshold. The recycled content field that feeds it is the same field pEPR and PPWR draw on.
What about reporting into the EU?
The same component data produces PPWR conformity evidence and the French, German and Italian scheme declarations. That is covered on the multi-jurisdiction EPR compliance page rather than here.
How long does implementation take?
Loading a portfolio you already hold is quick. Collecting component weights and recycled content from suppliers who have never been asked for them is the long pole, and it is measured in months rather than weeks the first time. Starting before a deadline window rather than inside it is the single biggest lever on how painful a first submission is.
Before you buy anything
The obligation is worth understanding on its own terms. These are written to be useful whether or not you end up using Merchant.
Bring your worst three SKUs
Not the clean ones. The multi-component, supplier-data-missing ones, and we will show you what comes out.
Southampton SO14 3TG, UK