UK government to reduce packaging fees for pubs and restaurants

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced new rules to exempt glass bottles sold directly to hospitality venues from Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees.

These changes will take effect in April 2027. The EPR scheme currently requires companies to pay fees to cover the costs of collecting and recycling household packaging waste. Because some glass containers sold to pubs and restaurants were previously classified as household packaging, producers and businesses sometimes paid twice for the same recycling.

The new rules will stop this double-counting by removing the classification of these specific bottles as household waste. Defra says the move will lower costs for the glass industry and hospitality businesses. The department estimates that businesses could save up to 6p per beer bottle and 10p per wine bottle. For a typical pub, these changes could result in annual savings of nearly £900.

Industry representatives from the British Glass and the British Beer and Pub Association welcomed the decision as a fairer approach to packaging fees. However, some representatives noted that the policy should ensure that small and medium enterprises, such as the 12,000 publicans running leased and tenanted pubs, also receive these benefits. Other businesses, such as the social enterprise Belu, argued that the government should also address how the scheme impacts social enterprises that fund charitable work.