How RAM Assess Helps You Lower Packaging EPR Fees

Will the packaging you assessed this year receive the same recyclability rating in 2027? With changes to the RAM assessment criteria and higher fees ahead for Red-rated packaging, it’s worth finding out now.

Checking every packaging specification, working through the assessment criteria and updating your records can take hours, particularly if you manage hundreds or thousands of product lines.

Clarity’s RAM Assess automates recyclability assessments, simplifies reporting and helps you identify which packaging formats are driving up your Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) waste disposal fees. You can also use it to estimate how changes to packaging design, materials or weight could affect what you pay.

The Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) assesses how well packaging can be recycled through existing UK infrastructure. It considers whether packaging can be collected, sorted and reprocessed, and whether there is a use for the resulting material. The assessment gives packaging a Red, Amber or Green rating.

Applying the methodology starts with understanding how each pack is put together. For example, a bottle with a cap, label and sleeve requires you to check the materials and specifications of each component. You then need to decide which parts to assess together and which to assess separately before applying the relevant criteria. Two packs that look identical can receive different recyclability ratings if they use different sleeve materials or adhesives.

Doing this manually often means switching between supplier specifications, guidance documents and spreadsheets, then recording the results for EPR reporting. When a specification changes or the RAM methodology is updated, you may need to go back through that work.

RAM 2027 applies to in-scope packaging supplied from 1 January to 31 December 2027. It expands the automatic Red criteria, revises the assessment process, updates material-specific criteria and changes the requirements for take-back schemes.

A rating can be correct under RAM 1.1 and still change under RAM 2027, even if the packaging itself stays the same. Reviewing your portfolio ahead of the change gives you time to check supplier specifications, identify formats that could move to Red and consider whether a design change is worth pursuing. Read more about what’s changing under RAM 2027 and how to prepare.

For obligated large producers, RAM ratings affect the waste disposal fees paid on household packaging subject to fee modulation. Amber-rated packaging is charged at the base rate for its material. Red attracts a premium and Green receives a discount.

Under PackUK’s published fee modulation policy, the Red premium increases over the first three assessment years.

By the 2028/29 assessment year, Red-rated packaging is set to attract twice the Amber fee for the same material. If you use a Red-rated format across several high-volume product lines, that widening gap could have a significant impact on your costs. Reviewing those formats now gives you more time to work with suppliers, test alternatives and make changes before the higher premiums apply.

• Forecast fees and compare potential savings. RAM Assess combines your packaging data, recyclability ratings and sales volumes to estimate waste disposal fees across your portfolio. You can see which formats contribute most to your forecast and model how switching a material, removing a component or making a pack lighter could affect future fees. That gives packaging, procurement and finance teams a basis for weighing potential savings against the cost and lead time of making the change.
• Spend less time on manual assessments. RAM Assess applies the relevant criteria to the component data you provide and generates Red, Amber and Green ratings across your portfolio. This reduces repetitive work and helps teams apply the methodology consistently across products and sites.
• Keep pace with changes to RAM. RAM Assess updates automatically as RAM requirements change, including for RAM 2027. Your team can focus on checking packaging specifications and reviewing ratings as the criteria evolve.
• Make EPR reporting easier. Manage assessments across teams and sites in one place, generate detailed reports and export RAM-rated packaging data for EPR reporting. That means less time pulling together results from separate spreadsheets.
• Give packaging and procurement teams a clearer brief. Component-level results help teams see where to investigate a recyclability issue, whether that means reviewing a sleeve material with a packaging designer or discussing an alternative adhesive with a supplier.

RAM Assess also includes a dedicated help desk and access to Clarity’s RAM Knowledge Hub. Optional calls with specialist RAM consultants are available if you need help with a more complex assessment.

Request a RAM Assess demo to see how you can spend less time on manual assessments, prepare for RAM 2027 and identify packaging changes that could reduce your future EPR fees.