Article 25 Registration fees for registered producers
The scheme administrator may, for each relevant year, charge any registered producer during all or part of that relevant year, a fee.
The fee charged under paragraph (1) (the “registration fee”) may be used for the purposes of meeting any or all of the following costs—
SEPA’s costs, and
the costs incurred by the scheme administrator in exercising its functions under, or in connection with, the Deposit and Return Scheme.
The amount of the registration fee payable by a scheme producer is the aggregate of the following amounts—
the producer amount for scheme packaging in which scheme articles are contained or sold and which are made wholly or mainly from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic (if any),
the producer amount for scheme packaging in which scheme articles are contained or sold and which are made wholly or mainly from steel (if any), and
the producer amount for scheme packaging in which scheme articles are contained or sold and which are made wholly or mainly from aluminium (if any).
The producer amount for scheme packaging in which scheme articles are contained or sold and which are made wholly or mainly from each type of scheme material must be calculated as follows (and may be £0)—
where—
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“A” is the fee for the relevant year for an item of scheme packaging made wholly or mainly from the particular scheme material (the “per scheme packaging fee”), and
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“B” is the total number of items of scheme packaging made wholly or mainly from that scheme material which the scheme administrator expects the registered producer to market, offer for sale or sell to consumers in the relevant year.
The per scheme packaging fee for scheme packaging made wholly or mainly from a particular scheme material—
must be the same for all registered producers, and
may be £0.
The scheme administrator must, for the purposes of determining the registration fee, have regard to the likely value, or if known the actual value, of each type of scheme material which the scheme administrator expects to be recycled from all of the scheme packaging which is collected by, or returned, to the scheme administrator in the relevant year.
The per scheme packaging fee for one scheme material must not subsidise any of the relevant costs for any other scheme material.
For the purposes of paragraph (7), “the relevant costs” for a scheme material are the costs which the scheme administrator expects to incur in the exercise of its functions under, or in connection with, the Deposit and Return Scheme in relation to the collection, processing and recycling of scheme packaging made wholly or mainly from that material.
The scheme administrator must—
keep the registration fee under review,
carry out a review of the operation of the registration fee at least every 12 months, and
publish the registration fee in such manner as it considers appropriate to bring it to the attention of registered producers.
Before determining, or re-determining, the registration fee, the scheme administrator must consult—
registered producers, including in particular persons who represent the interests of small producers in Scotland, and
such other persons (if any) as the scheme administrator considers appropriate,
and have regard to the views expressed in responses to the consultation.
The scheme administrator may require the registration fee to be payable at times or intervals and by means specified by the scheme administrator.
The scheme administrator may make different payment arrangements for different cases or circumstances and in particular—
must ensure that any registration fee charged to a registered producer in accordance with paragraph (1) does not include a fee in respect of packaging from an item which is a low volume drink product during the relevant year concerned,
may make arrangements for registration fees to be reduced, waived or refunded (whether in whole or in part).