New UK packaging regulations have just made plastic a much more expensive habit for the brands that rely on it. At re:gn, we have spent years building a range designed to avoid that cost entirely, not because the rules required it, but because it was the right thing to do.
What’s Changed
From 1 April 2026, the UK Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) increased to £228.82 per tonne for plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content. At the same time, the Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme introduced fee modulation from the 2026/27 financial year, moving away from a flat-rate system to one based on packaging recyclability.
For the products that dominate the laundry and cleaning aisle, things like multilayer film
pouches, coloured HDPE bottles, and plastic pod tubs, the charges are expected to be the highest. When you add it all up, brands relying on conventional plastic packaging are now looking at a combined regulatory exposure of over £651 per tonne, before any modulation uplifts are applied.
To put the scale of this in context: the UK laundry sector alone generates an estimated 10,791 tonnes of plastic packaging waste each year, from around 109 million plastic packs sold.
The Numbers, Side by Side
|
Conventional brand (plastic packaging) |
re:gn / Simple Living Eco / Ocean Saver |
|
|
Packaging Tax (from 1 Apr 2026) |
£228.82 per tonne |
£0 |
|
pEPR plastic packaging base fee (2025/26) |
£423 per tonne |
£0 |
|
pEPR fee modulation (from 2026/27) |
Higher fees for hard-to-recycle plastic (multilayer film, coloured HDPE) |
Not applicable - no plastic packaging |
|
Combined regulatory exposure per tonne |
£651.82+ (before modulation uplifts) |
£0 |
Sources: HM Treasury (PPT); Defra (pEPR base fees); smol/Sustainable Packaging News (laundry plastic waste figures).
Designed This Way From Day One
Our laundry sheets, the Simple Living Eco range, plus the Ocean Saver detergent sheets we stock, are all plastic-free - meaning none of these new costs apply to them. And crucially, they were designed that way from the outset, not retrofitted to meet a regulation.
As Craig Larkin, Managing Director at re:gn, explains: "Bigger brands can't tweak their way out of this one. Switching to recycled plastic still means a plastic bottle on the shelf and a bigger bill on their balance sheet. We've kept our laundry sheets plastic-free from day one. The regulations have simply caught up with what we already knew was the right thing to do."
What This Means for Your Shopping Basket
There is a broader point here that goes beyond brand balance sheets. As these costs get passed along the supply chain to consumers, the price gap between plastic-heavy and plastic-free products will start to close. The sustainable choice is becoming the easier one, and in many cases, the cheaper one too.
Switching to laundry sheets is one of the simplest swaps you can make. No bulky plastic bottle to deal with, no measuring out liquid detergent, and no compromise on the clean. Just a compact, plastic-free strip that does the job.
