The UK Government will next year exempt glass drink containers supplied to pubs, restaurants and licensed hospitality venues from extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) fees, Defra has announced.
The department said the decision responded to industry concerns that some businesses were effectively facing double charges on their recycling obligations, covering both commercial waste service costs and pEPR fees. The changes are expected to apply to fees calculated from April 2027 for glass containers sold directly from companies to hospitality groups.
The pEPR regime began invoicing companies last year to cover the costs of managing the recycling and treatment of waste materials supplied to businesses and consumers. With a review of fee structures already in place, the government said it had chosen to address concerns raised by the British glass packaging industry directly, and would also examine additional market engagement around how the regime is managed.
Defra said businesses would also be consulted on the fees they pay for packaging waste, so that easy-to-recycle packaging such as glass and paper costs less while hard-to-recycle packaging such as some plastics costs more. It said this could reduce fees for the most recyclable packaging by up to 40% per year.
The department linked the exemption to efforts to ensure pEPR supports more sustainable business and consumer practices without undermining the overall case for the scheme. It stated that the government remains committed to the principle that producers should contribute towards the costs of managing packaging waste and help reduce it, noting that £1.4bn has already been provided to councils through the scheme to improve recycling services. It added that pEPR must operate fairly and not disproportionately affect some industries and hospitality businesses.
Upcoming consultations
Defra said it would launch a call for evidence in December on mechanisms to support scaled-up commitments for reusing packaging as a means of curbing waste and plastics use. A separate market engagement early next year will see the pEPR administrator PackUK seek feedback on the fees placed on manufacturers covering treatment costs, aiming to understand how to encourage the use of easier-to-recycle materials.
The announcement also comes amid market pressure on glass production and packaging, including two investigations by the independent Trade Remedies Authority into imported glass containers from China and Turkey. Following a recommendation from the authority, a provisional anti-dumping measure on Chinese imports was imposed on 9 September, and both investigations remain ongoing.
Environment secretary Dame Angela Eagle said the decision had been taken in response to calls from the packaging and hospitality sectors on charges imposed on recyclable products, adding that the changes back the glass industry and pubs while ensuring efforts to reduce waste.
Industry response
British Glass said the policy change was welcome but noted the reforms would not take effect until the start of the third year of the pEPR regime, which runs from April 2027 to March 2028. Executive director Nick Kirk said the government had listened to concerns raised by glass manufacturers and that the proposed changes began to address some unintended consequences of pEPR and better recognise the environmental benefits of glass. He welcomed measures addressing glass packaging supplied to the hospitality sector, while noting the need to understand the full impact of the proposed exemption.
Andy Bagnall, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, called the announcement a "significant first step" to ensure drink containers used by hospitality were not facing double-charging. He said soft drinks businesses take their recycling responsibilities seriously and that a successful scheme can raise recycling rates and cut waste, but that unfair cost allocation undermines its effectiveness, adding the sector looked forward to working with Defra on a solution for indirect supply.
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said the direction of travel would be warmly welcomed and that the measures could reduce cost pressures on Britain's brewers by tens of millions. She stressed that the 12,000 publicans running leased and tenanted pubs as SMEs must also be included, otherwise more than a quarter of Britain's pubs would not equally benefit from the change.