PRN / PERN

PRNs are the currency of the UK's packaging producer-responsibility system. Accredited reprocessors issue a Packaging Waste Recovery Note for each tonne of packaging waste they recycle; accredited exporters issue the export version, the PERN, for tonnes shipped to overseas reprocessing. Obligated producers buy these notes as evidence of meeting their recycling obligations, so PRN/PERN prices float with supply and demand per material.

For the plastics trade the mechanism matters twice. It adds a revenue stream on top of the material price — an accredited exporter's economics include the PERN. And it adds accountability: accreditation requires evidencing that overseas reprocessing meets equivalent standards, aligning commercial incentive with the compliance chain this site describes. Sellers of scrap should know whether their buyer is accredited, and where the PERN value sits in the offered price.