Even though your company's UK turnover is less than £2 million, you may still find that you're obligated if you're part of a group. If the combined turnover of all the companies in the group is more than £2 million, all the companies within the group will become obligated.

To be obligated, you must own the packaging you handle.

• Example: Company A undertakes contract packing for Company B. Company B provides Company A with 100 tonnes of their own brand packaging, retaining ownership of this packaging. Company A is not obligated because they do not own the packaging. Company B needs to pick up the obligation for this packaging.

The responsibility for recycling packaging is shared by all the producers in the packaging chain. To be obligated you must perform one or more of the following

Activity Raw material manufacturer Converter Packer / Filler Seller Importer	Example A manufacturer of sheet steel to be made into packaging A manufacturer of steel cans A company filling cans with food A retailer selling canned goods to the end users A wholesaler importing canned goods from Europe

Remember: You may fall into more than one category.

To be obligated under the regulations, a business must handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging and/or packaging materials during the previous calendar year. Companies registering in 2002 will need to return data for packaging handled in 2001.

When working out if you handle 50 tonnes of packaging, include:

• imports of packaging or packaging materials
• special producer packaging