Drinks trade pushes back on ‘flawed’ EPR

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 28 February, 2025

The UK’s leading drinks trade associations have written to the government highlighting deep concerns over the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPR) scheme, while calling for a meeting with Defra.

Directed to Steve Reed, Secretary of State at Defra, the letter outlines what the trade’s leading voices describe as a “flawed” scheme, with the implementation “unviable”.

Co-signed by the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), UKHospitality (UKH) and the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), the united front folds in the wine, spirits, beers, cider and hospitality sectors, all of which will be heavily impacted by EPR.

Read more: Nearly two thirds of SMEs see tax as biggest challenge

Among the key issues highlighted to Defra ministers is the current lack of confirmation over final costs, with businesses set to start accruing liability for fees from the start of the 2025-2026 financial year – now just six weeks away.

Furthermore, the letter calls on government to resolve the non-household exemption, with businesses selling into hospitality liable for an EPR fee for many direct and all indirect sales, despite hospitality businesses already paying commercial contracts for waste collection.

The signatories have also pushed for the encouragement of recyclable materials, arguing that fees for glass are far too high and thus set to discourage use of this highly recyclable form of packaging.

Defra’s estimate for EPR fees for glass has risen from an initial level of £110-£215 per tonne to £240 per tonne, equating to an average hike of 12p per bottle of wine, 5p on a bottle of beer and 18p on a bottle of spirits (Defra estimates). However, without confirmation of final costs until at least July, the trade argues, it will be very difficult to pass on additional costs to consumers.

The Wrap 2025 Report outlines just under 2.5 million tonnes of glass sold in the UK each year, of which 85% are drinks bottles, equating to a collective EPR cost to drinks and hospitality businesses of £0.5bn on 2.1 million tonnes of glass.

A release from the WSTA additionally states: “The confusion and escalating costs attached to EPR come at time when the drinks trade is facing further unexpected costs imposed at the Budget, such as employers’ National Insurance Contributions and increases in the national living wage, as well as another excise duty increase.”

Miles Beale, WSTA CEO, added: “EPR fees are another nail in the coffin for UK businesses whose profits – and any growth – have been drained by a barrage of added tax levies and increased costs, which will hit hard especially for SMEs who have limited reserves.

“The lack of clear information regarding costs means businesses can’t plan effectively – or at all. We want an urgent meeting with Defra ministers to discuss delaying the scheme until it is fit for purpose – without which, there is a real risk that some businesses won’t survive.”

Chief executive of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, added her voice: “Hospitality is being hit twice as hard by this ill-thought through scheme. Businesses are being forced to shoulder unknown and incorrectly applied EPR fees through the supply chain, while also paying for commercial waste collection.

“We have made clear to Defra the need to resolve this issue, through applying exemptions to products consumed and disposed of within hospitality venues. With less than six weeks to go, urgent action is essential.”

Final EPR fees should become known from July 2025, with the first invoices landing from October 2025.

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