How PeprCheck Works Out Your RAM Rating
PeprCheck applies the government’s RAM rules to every part of your packaging and rates each part Green, Amber or Red. RAM is the recyclability assessment methodology, PackUK’s test of how recyclable household packaging is.
From 2026/27 that rating changes your pEPR fee: Red pays more, Green pays less. The 2025/26 fees are flat, so the rating doesn’t change them.
A part you can’t show evidence for is rated Red automatically, under GOV.UK’s RAM guidance ↗︎
What RAM Looks At
Each part is followed from the bin to new material. At every step it gets Green, Amber or Red, and the lowest result counts: one Red anywhere makes the part Red.
- 1
Collection
Do most councils collect it from homes? If few councils collect a kind of packaging, it can’t rate well, however well it’s made.
- 2
Sorting
Can the sorting line spot it and send it to the right material? Size, colour and labels matter here. A part that’s too small gets lost, and black plastic is hard for the machines to see.
- 3
Reprocessing
Can it be recycled into good material again? Coatings, inks, glues and mixed materials can stop that, or lower the quality of what comes out.
An Example
Illustrative example
A glass jam jar with a glued paper label, a steel lid and a hessian cover.
- Jar and label
- Green
- The label is glued on, so it’s assessed with the glass.
- Steel lid
- Green
- It comes off and is big enough to be sorted on its own.
- Hessian cover
- Red
- There’s no established way to recycle it.
Most of the jar is Green, but the cover is Red. Taking the cover off, or swapping it for one that can be recycled, is the kind of change you can test before you make it.
How PeprCheck Helps
PeprCheck gives each part of your packaging a RAM rating and the reason for it, alongside your pEPR fee. You don’t need to work through the methodology yourself. Describe the parts, or start from a photo or a spec sheet.
PeprCheck asks the design questions that decide the rating, like the colour of the plastic or how the label is attached, and shows how much each answer could move your fee. Compare it with another design to see what a change would do before you talk to your supplier.
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