Valpak vs Ecosurety as your UK compliance scheme in 2026

Valpak vs Ecosurety is an unusual comparison, because the two companies are the same kind of thing. Both are UK packaging compliance schemes, both register you with the regulator, both buy your recycling evidence and both will file your submission for you.

So the question is not whether to hand the work over. It is which company you want holding it, and how much of the buying decision you keep.

What both of these companies already do for you

A compliance scheme is a company you join so that your producer responsibility duties are discharged through them instead of by you alone.

Valpak and Ecosurety have both been doing that job in the UK since the late 1990s. Valpak count "4,000 businesses helped since 1997". Ecosurety describe "over 20 years' experience as a UK compliance scheme".

Four things come as standard with either one, and they are worth naming before anything separates them.

1. They register you. Valpak list "Registration with the appropriate environment agency" as a member benefit. Ecosurety act as your scheme for the same purpose.
2. They buy your recycling evidence. Both purchase the PRNs that cover your obligated tonnage, so you never deal with the evidence market yourself.
3. They can do the data work. Valpak let you "fully outsource data collection and submission" to their Data Management Team. Ecosurety say they "review and submit on your behalf".
4. They cover the UK's other packaging charges. Both handle the plastic packaging tax and the coming deposit return schemes alongside EPR.

That is a lot of shared ground. It means a producer choosing between them is not choosing a model, the way they would be when weighing a scheme against a software platform. They are choosing a supplier.

Where the recycling evidence decision actually sits

This is the sharpest published difference between the two, and it is worth understanding before you look at anything else.

When you report packaging as a large producer, the regulator turns your tonnage into a PRN obligation. Somebody then has to go into the evidence market and buy those notes. The two companies publish very different amounts of detail about who decides when that happens.

Ecosurety name three routes on their PRN procurement page. Valpak describe one buying operation that runs across the whole scheme. The figure below is a picture of what each company publishes, not a scorecard.

Valpak buy on behalf of the scheme

Valpak's evidence page describes a single purchasing operation working for all members at once. They "secure most PRNs through ongoing relationships with UK-based reprocessors" and add "flexible spot purchases" to manage market volatility. Every reprocessor gets "a full audit every three years".

They also publish two numbers about where the money goes. In 2024, they say, Valpak purchased 55% of PRNs from UK reprocessors, and they claim to have invested over £300m into the UK over the last five years.

Their packaging compliance page goes further and states that Valpak buy "more PRNs bought from UK reprocessors than any other scheme". That is their own comparative claim rather than an audited figure.

What their published material does not describe is a per-producer choice over the timing, spend or source of your purchase. If that control matters to you, it is a question to put to them directly rather than something you can read off the site.

Ecosurety publish three named routes

Ecosurety split the same job three ways.

1. Scheme PRNs work like Valpak's model, where "we decide when to buy from the market". Ecosurety say 99% of their compliance customers use it.
2. Active-buy PRNs invert that, so "you decide the timing, spend and source of your PRNs", with Ecosurety recommending opportunities.
3. Direct-buy PRNs are sold to producers who are not Ecosurety members at all, "even if you're under contract with another compliance scheme".

That last route is the odd one, and it is worth knowing about. It means Ecosurety will sell recycling evidence to a producer who is registered with a rival scheme.

They also claim "the second-largest PRN obligation of all compliance schemes", again their own claim, and give customers a PRN market insights tool that is updated daily.

Valpak sell packaging compliance inside a much longer list

Valpak's site is the wider of the two by a large margin, and that is the main thing you are buying into. Their homepage counts 195 countries supported, 65,000,000 SKUs in their product and packaging database and a 94% customer satisfaction rating.

Their own about page explains the ownership plainly. "When Valpak became a Reconomy company in 2018, a green powerhouse was born", with Reconomy described as "an international circular economy specialist". That parent group is why the service menu runs so far past packaging.

What sits next to packaging on their menu

The compliance list alone covers WEEE, batteries, textiles, CBAM, hazardous waste, REACH, RoHS, ESOS, SECR and the Modern Slavery Act.

Beyond compliance they sell life cycle assessments, environmental product declarations, carbon footprinting, energy management, zero waste to landfill, waste collection and IT recycling.

For a producer whose environmental to-do list is longer than packaging, that breadth is the offer. One account manager, one supplier, one contract covering obligations that would otherwise sit with several vendors.

How a year with Valpak runs

Their published process is consultation-led from the first step to the last.

1. You start with a test or a call. Valpak run a free packaging EPR obligation test, a packaging EPR cost calculator and a PPWR quiz, then ask you to "contact us today for a free quote".
2. They register you with the appropriate environment agency and confirm it with a certificate of compliance.
3. You either submit your own data or hand it over, through their "unique, interactive online data submission system" or by outsourcing the whole job to their Data Management Team.
4. Evidence is bought for you automatically as part of the scheme's buying programme, with no action from you.
5. You work through the Members' Area for the rest, including free training, regulatory updates and their government representation work.

The honest limit is visibility. Almost everything on their site, including the calculator results, sits behind a form or a conversation, so you learn what Valpak will do for you by talking to them.

Ecosurety build their whole pitch on the data machinery

Ecosurety go the other way and stay close to packaging, then publish an unusual amount of detail about how the data is actually processed.

They are Bristol based, independent, and joined the B Corp movement in 2020. Their stated purpose is "to rid the world of unnecessary packaging", and they publish an annual impact report against it.

The customer list they name is heavyweight for a packaging specialist, including John Lewis, Princes Group, Clarks, Dr Martens, Lush and Kellogg's, and they say they are "trusted by over 500 major brands and retailers".

The numbers they publish about the pipeline

Most compliance schemes describe their service. Ecosurety describe their plumbing, and the figures are specific.

1. Three ways in. Raw files in any format, supplier uploads through their named Ecosurety Collect platform, or direct synchronisation using "Cloud-to-Cloud, Snowflake-to-Snowflake and bespoke APIs".
2. Over 220 validation checks, run from ingestion through to calculation.
3. 5.5 million rows of data processed per submission, with 2.6 million accuracy improvement opportunities flagged across all customers at the last EPR submission.
4. Smart review afterwards, which turns your submitted UK data into insight on what is driving your fees and which data is missing.
5. Scenario modelling across EPR, PRNs, plastic packaging tax, deposit return schemes and international obligations, so a packaging change can be costed before you commit.

They also run recyclability assessment support, which matters because that status feeds directly into eco-modulated fees.

One case study describes a retailer mitigating millions of pounds in forecasted EPR fees by clarifying unknown recyclability statuses, which is a forecast saving rather than cash recovered.

The honest limit here is scope. Ecosurety cover packaging deeply, plus batteries, WEEE and textiles internationally, but nothing like Valpak's carbon, energy and waste-collection catalogue. If your list is longer than packaging, you will be buying elsewhere too.

Side by side on what matches and what does not

The table below runs both companies down the axes a UK producer actually chooses on, and the last column says plainly whether the row is a real difference or the same offer twice. Everything in it comes from each company's own published material in August 2026.

What you are comparing	Valpak	Ecosurety	Same or different
What it is	UK packaging compliance scheme	UK packaging compliance scheme	Same
Registers you with the regulator	Yes, with the appropriate environment agency	Yes, as your scheme	Same
Buys your recycling evidence	Yes, automatic PRN purchasing	Yes, handled for you as your scheme	Same
Files your submission	Yes, if you outsource to their Data Management Team	Yes, reviewed and submitted on your behalf	Same
Choice over PRN timing and source	Not described on their evidence page	Active-buy route, you decide timing, spend and source	Different
Sells evidence to non-members	Not stated	Yes, direct-buy, even under contract elsewhere	Different
Their own evidence claim	Most PRNs bought from UK reprocessors of any scheme	Second-largest PRN obligation of all schemes	Different claims, both their own
Owner	A Reconomy company since 2018	Independent, B Corp since 2020	Different
Trading since	1997	Over 20 years as a UK scheme	Same era
Beyond packaging	WEEE, batteries, textiles, CBAM, REACH, carbon, energy, waste collection, IT recycling	Batteries, WEEE and textiles internationally, plus PPT and DRS	Different
International reach claim	195 countries, 3,200 submissions a year	Country-by-country review, registration and filing	Different scale claim
International charging	Not published	A flat charge per country, per year	Different
Published platform detail	65,000,000 SKUs in the database, Data Insights, Members' Area	220 validation checks, 5.5m rows a submission, Collect, direct sync	Different things published
Security certification	ISO 27001, plus 9001, 14001 and 45001	ISO 27001	Same
EU PPWR conformity	Generate auditable Declarations of Conformity with unique IDs	Name it as your duty, supply data and guidance only	Different
Free tools before you enquire	Obligation tests, packaging EPR cost calculator, PPWR quiz, all gated by a form	Charging shape for international, PRN insights for customers only	Different, neither shows a scheme price
Published price	None	None	Same

What changes when you sell outside the UK

Both companies will take you beyond the UK, but they describe the job at different scales, and this is where the two offers stop resembling each other.

Valpak lead on footprint

Valpak's international page claims regulatory expertise across 195 countries and 3,200 data submissions annually worldwide.

You get a multi-national registration service, a multi-national data submission service and fully outsourced data management on their own system.

Every service comes with "a dedicated account manager, who will be your single point of contact to look after your business's requirements in all countries". No charging model is published.

Ecosurety lead on sequence and price shape

Ecosurety start with an international compliance review that tells you which countries you are obligated in, where the data gaps are and what to do next, covering packaging, single-use plastics, batteries, WEEE and textiles.

Then they coordinate registrations, process and validate the data and submit it. Their published pricing shape is "a flat charge per country, per year", with no number attached. Their Clarks case study covers 20 countries.

The PPWR gap is real

The PPWR requires an EU Declaration of Conformity for packaging placed on the EU market, and the two companies stop at different points.

Valpak run a conformity data and documentation service that will "generate auditable Declarations of Conformity (DoC)" carrying unique IDs, manufacturer details and conformity statements, available through the Members' Area.

Ecosurety name the declaration as a producer duty on their PPWR page and offer data, insight and guidance around it, not the document itself. If a retailer is already asking you for declarations of conformity, that difference decides a lot.

Working out what each one costs before you enquire

Neither company publishes a scheme price, so any real comparison ends in two quotes. What differs is how much you can work out on your own beforehand.

What Valpak let you calculate

Valpak give you more free arithmetic. Their packaging EPR cost calculator estimates your fees by material using "estimated fees provided by Defra", and their obligation tests tell you whether you are caught at all.

The catch is that results appear only after you submit your name, company, email and phone number. The estimate also excludes PRN costs, which for many producers is the volatile half of the bill.

What Ecosurety publish instead

Ecosurety give you less arithmetic and one piece of structure. The flat charge per country per year for international work tells you the shape of that invoice before you ask, which is more than most competitors publish.

The rate itself is not there, though, and their PRN market insights are customer-only.

Two lines to insist on in either quote

Because the scheme fee and the evidence cost behave differently, a single blended number hides the part that moves.

1. Ask for the scheme fee and the evidence cost separately. PRN prices track the market, so a combined figure tells you nothing about which half is rising.
2. Ask what happens when your data is late or messy. Both companies price data work as a service level, from light-touch support to fully outsourced, and that is where quotes diverge most.

Start from the rest of your compliance list

The cleanest way to choose between two schemes that do the same core job is to look at what else is on your desk this year, and at who you want deciding when your evidence gets bought. Find the line below that sounds most like your situation.

1. Your list runs well past packaging, into carbon reporting, ESOS, hazardous waste or IT disposal. Valpak's catalogue is built for consolidating that into one supplier.
2. Packaging is the whole problem, and the data is the mess. Ecosurety publish the most detail about ingestion, validation and what happens to supplier data.
3. You want to control PRN spend yourself. Ecosurety's active-buy route is the only published option of the two that hands you the timing and the source.
4. You are already with another scheme but unhappy with your evidence pricing. Ecosurety's direct-buy route sells to you without a switch.
5. You sell into many countries and want one point of contact. Valpak's 195-country claim and single account manager are pitched exactly at that.
6. You want to know the shape of the international bill up front. Ecosurety publish a flat charge per country per year, Valpak publish nothing.
7. Retailers are asking for EU declarations of conformity. Valpak generate the document, Ecosurety do not.
8. Buying decisions in your company weigh ownership and ethics. One is a B Corp that publishes impact reports, the other is part of an international waste and resources group.

If you would rather keep the reporting in-house

Both companies are built on the same assumption, that you would rather not do this work. That is often the right preference, but it is not the only shape on the market.

The other approach is to keep your packaging data in a platform you run, file the returns yourself and buy evidence separately.

Our own product, Repax, works that way, with public pricing that starts at a free tier and paid plans from €29 a month, plus a separate module for the EU Declaration of Conformity.

We are not a compliance scheme and we do not buy PRNs, so a producer who wants the obligation discharged by one supplier is genuinely better served by Valpak or Ecosurety. We set out that trade-off in more detail in Repax vs Valpak and Repax vs Ecosurety.

If you would rather own the data and the workflow, our UK packaging EPR software comparison covers that side of the market.

Two things decide it

Neither of these is the safer default, and any page that tells you otherwise is guessing at your situation. They have run in parallel for a quarter of a century, they serve overlapping sets of large UK brands, and they publish no price.

What actually decides it is narrow. First, how long is your environmental list, because Valpak can absorb far more of it than Ecosurety can. Second, do you want to make the call on when your recycling evidence gets bought, because only Ecosurety publish a route that lets you.

Answer those two and the choice usually makes itself. If both answers are close, get quotes from both and compare the scheme fee and the evidence cost as separate lines, then judge them on the data service level rather than the brochure.

If neither convinces you, we cover the wider field in alternatives to Valpak and alternatives to Ecosurety.

Frequently asked questions about Valpak and Ecosurety

Short answers to what producers ask most when they are weighing these two schemes against each other.

Is Valpak or Ecosurety better for UK packaging EPR?

Neither in general, because they sell the same core service under the same UK producer responsibility rules. It comes down to breadth against control. Valpak cover far more obligations than packaging, and only Ecosurety publish a route where you decide when your PRNs are bought.

Do both Valpak and Ecosurety buy PRNs for you?

Yes. Valpak members get "automatic PRN purchasing", bought across the whole scheme. Ecosurety say they "handle this obligation for you". The difference is choice, because Ecosurety publish three routes including active-buy, where you set the timing, spend and source.

Can you buy PRNs from Ecosurety without joining them?

Yes. Their direct-buy route is aimed at "producers who are not registered with our compliance scheme" and works "even if you're under contract with another compliance scheme". They transfer the notes to you or to your existing scheme.

Which one covers more than packaging?

Valpak, by a wide margin. Alongside packaging they sell WEEE, batteries, textiles, CBAM, hazardous waste, REACH, carbon footprinting, energy management and IT recycling. Ecosurety stay packaging-centred, adding the plastic packaging tax and deposit return schemes.

What do Valpak and Ecosurety cost?

Neither publishes a scheme price, so both end in a quote. Valpak's free calculator estimates fees by material, but it needs your contact details and excludes PRN costs. Ecosurety publish a shape rather than a price, "a flat charge per country, per year" internationally.

Do either of them produce the EU Declaration of Conformity?

Valpak do. Their PPWR service says they "generate auditable Declarations of Conformity (DoC)" with unique IDs, accessed through their Members' Area. Ecosurety do not. Their PPWR page names the declaration as your obligation and offers data and guidance around it.

Does it matter that Ecosurety are independent and Valpak are part of a group?

It matters for what each can sell you, not for whether your submission is accepted. Valpak "became a Reconomy company in 2018", which is where the wider waste and carbon catalogue comes from. Ecosurety are independent, a B Corp since 2020, and publish impact reports.

Is one of them better for a small producer?

Both say they serve small businesses, so the answer sits in the quote rather than the pitch. Ecosurety offer membership for "a small business or a global brand" with a choice of support levels. Valpak waive the UK Green Dot licence fee for members.