Valpak vs Ecoveritas is not a feature comparison, it is a choice between a compliance scheme and an independent data company. Valpak registers you as a member and buys your recycling evidence. Ecoveritas does neither on purpose, so its numbers carry no stake in what you buy.
This page sets out what each one actually does for a producer, where the two genuinely overlap, and the single question that decides between them.
What each company actually is
Both companies were born in the UK, both turn messy packaging data into a filed return, and both now work well beyond Britain. Read their websites side by side and the words look almost interchangeable. The legal shape underneath is not.
Valpak is the scheme itself
Valpak started in 1997, the year the UK's packaging waste regulations arrived, and became a Reconomy company in 2018. It runs a packaging compliance scheme.
You join as a member, Valpak registers you with the appropriate environment agency, and it buys the recycling evidence your tonnage obliges you to fund.
That evidence has a name worth knowing before you compare quotes. A Packaging Recovery Note, or PRN, is the certificate a UK reprocessor issues to prove a tonne of packaging was recycled.
Producers fund PRNs in proportion to what they put on the market, so the size of your obligated tonnage sets the size of the bill. If you want to see how that bill is built up, we walk through how to calculate EPR fees separately.
Ecoveritas is deliberately not a scheme
Ecoveritas was established in 1999 and is structurally independent. Their registration and reporting page puts the difference bluntly. "As an independent data company, we don't trade PRNs or operate compliance schemes, so our insights and reports are completely impartial."
They measure, they calculate, and they will handle your registration and reporting. The evidence market is simply not their business.
The clearest way to see the split is to lay a UK packaging year out in order and mark who does what.
Side by side on the things that decide it
The comparison below starts with the rows where the two companies genuinely diverge, then moves out to the ground they share. Every cell is each company's own current wording, checked in August 2026.
| What to compare | Valpak | Ecoveritas |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Packaging compliance scheme, a Reconomy company since 2018 | Independent packaging data company, established 1999 |
| Runs a compliance scheme | Yes, you join it as a member | No, and they say so in writing |
| Buys your recycling evidence | Yes, automatic PRN purchasing for members | No, they do not trade PRNs. They price the options instead |
| Registration and filing | Registers members with the environment agency, and the whole submission can be outsourced to their data team | Guides your team through registration or manages it for you, and submits reports on your behalf |
| UK regulatory expertise | In-house, because they are the scheme | Through the Veolia x Ecoveritas alliance |
| Packaging data work | Data Management team, 65 million SKUs in their database | Collection, supplier chasing and weight validation, 2 million-plus SKUs with unique packaging metrics |
| Recyclability | Recyclability Assessments | Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) |
| UK Plastic Packaging Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Other waste streams | WEEE, batteries, textiles, CBAM, hazardous waste and a long list beyond | Packaging first, with WEEE and battery calculations alongside |
| International reach | Expertise across 195 countries, 3,200 data submissions a year worldwide | 30-plus countries where they manage global EPR data reporting |
| EU PPWR | Supports the whole journey through to generating compliance documentation | Obligation assessment, a conformity report and a report template |
| Software you can log into | Members area and a Data Insights platform | my.ecoveritas, with a free account advertised |
| Price | Not published, consultation-led | Not published, plans sit behind a free signup |
| Best for | Producers who want one provider holding the whole obligation, evidence included | Producers who want the measurement kept separate from the sale of the evidence |
Valpak runs the scheme and buys the evidence
Valpak's own pitch to members leads on the part most producers dread, which is dealing with the evidence market at all.
Their packaging compliance page states that "Valpak members benefit from automatic PRN purchasing and recycling evidence, with more PRNs bought from UK reprocessors than any other scheme." Read that as their claim rather than an audited fact, but the model behind it is plain enough.
In practice you never touch the PRN market.
Your tonnage becomes an invoice, registration with the environment agency happens through the scheme, and a certificate of compliance lands at the end of it.
Members either supply packaging weights or hand the entire submission to Valpak's data team.
The breadth is the real pitch
Packaging is one line on a much longer menu. Valpak also sells compliance services covering:
- WEEE, batteries and textiles, the other producer responsibility streams a consumer brand tends to pick up as it grows.
- UK Plastic Packaging Tax and the Green Dot licence, the two levies that sit closest to packaging data.
- CBAM, REACH and RoHS, for businesses importing goods or chemicals into scope.
- ESOS, SECR, carbon footprinting, life cycle assessment and Environmental Product Declarations, the reporting side of a sustainability team's year.
- Deposit return, waste collection, hazardous waste and IT recycling, the physical end of the job.
For a company juggling four or five obligations, consolidating them with one provider and one account manager is a genuine saving in coordination, not just in invoices.
Scale and what comes with it
Valpak's own numbers describe a large operation. More than 4,000 businesses helped since 1997, 65 million SKUs in the packaging database, expertise across 195 countries and 3,200 data submissions filed worldwide each year.
The structural point to weigh is simple and not a criticism. Because Valpak both measures your tonnage and supplies the evidence that tonnage obliges you to buy, both halves of the job sit with one company.
Plenty of producers want exactly that. Some would rather the two were held apart, which is where Ecoveritas comes in.
Ecoveritas stays out of the evidence market on purpose
Ecoveritas built their whole positioning on the sentence a compliance scheme cannot write.
"We're structurally independent, so we have no conflicts of interest and no reason to recommend anything other than what's right for you." Paired with their line about not trading PRNs or operating schemes, that is a deliberate commercial choice, not an accident of size.
What the independence actually buys you
The claim only matters if it changes the work, and on their service pages it does:
- A number with no seller attached. Whoever eventually sells you evidence, the tonnage they are quoting against was not calculated by them.
- Advice on the buy without being the seller. Their registration and reporting service includes evaluating PRN market options and membership costs, so you still get help choosing, from someone with nothing in the trade.
- Registration and filing either way. In their words they "either guide your team through the registration process or manage it on your behalf", including registrations across multiple countries or product categories.
- The upstream grind. More than 20,000 supplier data requests issued and processed each year, weight validation, and 2 million-plus SKUs carrying unique packaging metrics.
Who they usually work with
The client list skews large. Ecoveritas cite 70-plus clients with combined turnover above £50 billion, more than 250 annual returns across packaging, WEEE and battery calculations, and 30-plus countries where they manage global EPR data reporting.
The honest limit sits in the same place as the strength. Because they are not a scheme, the obligation itself still has to be discharged somewhere, and in the UK that route runs through a partner.
How Ecoveritas covers UK compliance without being a scheme
Click "UK Compliance" on the Ecoveritas site and you land on a page about an alliance rather than a product. It is headed "Two specialists. One alliance."
The division of labour is spelled out. Ecoveritas "handles the full upstream data journey, collection, supplier engagement, weight validation and impartial reporting", described as "structurally independent, with no compliance agenda".
Veolia then "applies their specialist regulatory and compliance expertise on top."
Their stated reason for keeping it that way is the same one running through everything else. Because both organisations work independently, they argue, producers "can be confident the analysis is entirely on their side, with no other agenda in the room". No date is given for when the alliance began.
The trade in plain terms
Valpak gives you a single contract, a single account manager and one place to call when something breaks.
The alliance gives you separation between the party measuring your packaging and the party advising on compliance, at the cost of two organisations in the room instead of one.
What you can find out about price before you talk to anyone
Neither company publishes a price, which is normal at this end of the market and still frustrating when you are building a budget. Both start with a conversation, Valpak through an enquiry form, an obligation test or a free PPWR consultation, Ecoveritas through a form to arrange an assessment.
There is one practical difference. Ecoveritas advertises a free account on my.ecoveritas with "no credit card required to get started", with subscription offers and pricing plans shown after signup.
You can get inside the software before a sales call even though you cannot read a price on the website. Valpak's platforms sit behind member login.
Since neither number is public, the useful move is to force the same shape out of both quotes:
- Split the data work from the evidence cost. Ask which part of the fee is service and which is PRN spend passed through.
- Ask how PRN cost is billed. Inside the membership fee, or invoiced separately as the market moves.
- Price it per country, not as one international bundle, so you can see what each market really costs.
- Ask what changes when you add a stream or a market, because that is where a cheap first year stops being cheap.
If a published price is the thing you actually want, the self-serve end of this market does exist. Repax lists its tiers openly, with a free plan and paid plans from €29 a month as of July 2026.
It is also our own product, so read that as a pointer rather than a recommendation on a page about two other companies.
Match the choice to what you are short of
Most producers are not choosing on features, they are choosing on whichever resource they are missing. Find the line that sounds like your year.
- Short of time, and you want the obligation gone. Valpak. One membership covers registration, evidence and the certificate of compliance.
- Short of people to chase packaging data. Either. Valpak's data team will take the whole submission, Ecoveritas will run the collection and validation.
- You need the number to hold up in front of someone who did not sell you anything. Ecoveritas. An auditor, a retailer's supplier data request or your own finance director is exactly the audience their independence is aimed at.
- You have obligations well past packaging. Valpak, comfortably. WEEE, batteries, textiles, CBAM and the energy reporting regimes are all on one menu.
- You report in a lot of countries. Both go wide, so compare the actual list. Valpak claims expertise across 195 countries and 3,200 submissions a year, Ecoveritas 30-plus countries for managed global EPR data reporting.
- You want to see the software before you speak to sales. Ecoveritas, via the free my.ecoveritas account.
- You want a price on a web page. Neither. Both are contact-led, and no amount of clicking changes that.
The question underneath all seven is short. Do you want one provider holding the whole obligation, evidence included, or do you want the measurement kept separate from the sale of the evidence? Answer that honestly and the shortlist picks itself.
If neither shape is quite right, the field is wider than these two. There is a longer rundown of UK packaging EPR software, plus separate pages on Valpak alternatives and Ecoveritas alternatives.
Frequently asked questions about Valpak and Ecoveritas
The questions producers ask most when they are weighing these two, answered as briefly as the facts allow.
Is Valpak or Ecoveritas better for EPR compliance?
Neither is better across the board, because they are different kinds of provider. Valpak is a packaging compliance scheme, so it can register you, buy your recycling evidence and hand you a certificate of compliance.
Ecoveritas is an independent data company that does not trade PRNs or run schemes, so its reporting carries no stake in what you buy. Pick on which of those two properties you need.
What is the main difference between Valpak and Ecoveritas?
Valpak sells the evidence as well as the scheme. Ecoveritas deliberately sells neither, and states that this is what keeps its reports impartial. Everything else, the data collection, the recyclability work, the plastic tax support and the international reporting, overlaps heavily.
Does Valpak or Ecoveritas buy your PRNs?
Valpak does. Members get automatic PRN purchasing and recycling evidence, and Valpak says it buys more PRNs from UK reprocessors than any other scheme.
Ecoveritas does not trade PRNs at all. They will evaluate PRN market options and membership costs with you, then leave the transaction to someone else.
Is Ecoveritas a compliance scheme?
No. Ecoveritas describes itself as an independent data company and states plainly that it does not operate compliance schemes. In the UK it covers the regulatory side through the Veolia x Ecoveritas alliance, where Ecoveritas handles the upstream data and Veolia adds the compliance expertise.
Who actually files your packaging return?
Either company can. Valpak members can outsource the entire data submission process to Valpak's data management team, and the scheme handles registration with the environment agency.
Ecoveritas will guide your team through registration or manage it on your behalf, and submit reports for you across multiple countries or product categories.
How much do Valpak and Ecoveritas cost?
Neither publishes a price, as of August 2026. Both quote after a conversation, so the only way to compare is to ask each for the same breakdown, service fee separated from PRN spend, priced per country rather than as one bundle.
Ecoveritas does advertise a free my.ecoveritas account, with plans revealed after signup.
Do both companies work outside the UK?
Yes, and this is the row where the headline numbers diverge most. Valpak cites expertise across 195 countries and 3,200 data submissions filed worldwide each year, including multi-national registration and fully outsourced data management.
Ecoveritas cites 30-plus countries where it manages global EPR data reporting, spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, and Africa and the Middle East.
Does either one handle EU PPWR and the Declaration of Conformity?
Both address the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, but stop at different points.
Valpak says it supports every stage of the PPWR journey, from understanding obligations through to generating compliance documentation.
Ecoveritas offers a PPWR obligation assessment plus data support that produces a conformity report and a report template, and does not claim to issue the EU Declaration of Conformity itself.
If the declaration is your deadline, ask each of them in writing who signs what, and hold the answer up against an EU Declaration of Conformity checklist.
Which one suits a mid-sized UK producer?
Ecoveritas's published client profile skews to large brands and retailers, 70-plus clients with more than £50 billion in combined turnover, so a mid-sized producer should confirm the fit and the minimum engagement early.
Valpak's 4,000-plus customer base spans a wider range of sizes.
If your packaging obligation is modest and you mainly need UK packaging EPR filed correctly, ask both for a quote scoped to your actual tonnage rather than to their flagship service.
