The regulatory brain
Every number Oblifee shows you comes from one place: the regulatory brain. It is a continuously monitored dataset of the rules, fees, thresholds and guidance that govern packaging, electricals and batteries across every market Oblifee covers. The modules do not each keep their own copy of the rules - they all read the brain, live, and carry its confidence label and citation onto every figure.
What it is
The brain is a separate, read-only dataset. Oblifee's product database holds your data - products, packaging, volumes, markets. The brain holds the world's data - the regulations. The two never mix:
- The product reads the brain; it never writes to it and never copies regulatory facts into its own tables.
- Rates are read live, with their citations and confidence statuses attached.
- If the brain says a figure is an estimate, every screen that shows it says so too. That rule is load-bearing.
This separation is deliberate. It means a rule is defined once and answers everywhere, an update to the brain reaches every module at once, and no module can quietly disagree with another about what a rule says.
What it holds
| Fact type | Example |
|---|---|
| Jurisdictions | The markets themselves - name, region, currency, status, regulator. |
| Schemes | The producer responsibility schemes operating in a market. |
| Fee rates | The fee per tonne or per item for a material, with eco-modulation multipliers. |
| Obligations | Registrations, reports, fee payments, plans and thresholds, with deadlines. |
| Materials | The material categories a stream recognises. |
| Design & labelling | Recyclability criteria and on-pack labelling requirements. |
| Change log | Reviewed regulatory changes, surfaced as News. |
| Sources | The official pages each fact is watched against. |
Facts are organised by stream - packaging, weee, batteries - so each module reads the
stream it needs. See Sources & monitoring for the full stream list.
How it feeds the modules
Your data goes in once. The modules combine it with the brain to produce your position, obligations and reports - and each result is stamped with how sure the brain is and where the rule came from.
Why it matters
Three properties fall out of having a single, cited, monitored brain:
- Traceable. Every figure links to the source rule. Compliance you cannot trace is compliance you cannot defend.
- Honest. Every figure is labelled confirmed, illustrative or estimate, so you always know how far to lean on it. See Confidence & citations.
- Current. The brain is monitored so the rules stay live, and material changes reach you through the News feed.
:::info Oblifee cites; it does not advise The brain cites the rules and labels its confidence. It does not give legal advice - you and your advisors make the final call. See What Oblifee is not. :::
Where to go next
- Sources & monitoring - how the brain is kept current.
- Confidence & citations - the labels on every figure.
- News & changes - the regulatory change log.
- Coverage - which markets and streams the brain holds.