Pubs and bars could pay twice for waste disposal

The disposal of thousands of tonnes of packaging could be paid for twice by pub and bar businesses, UKHospitality has said. 

According to the trade body, due to ill-thought through and complex Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules, venues may face charges for both household waste and commercial waste streams on the same item of packaging. 

EPR intends to hold relevant businesses responsible for the end-of-life consequences of packaging ending up in household waste streams.

However, in many pub and bar businesses, UKHospitality says that packaging deemed as household waste will actually never make it out of a venue and will be disposed of commercially. This means firms will be paying both a commercial waste fee and incurring an EPR charge. 

Defra’s policy intends to have a single point of compliance for packaging, but the ‘double counting’ of charges seemingly contradicts this intention.

What can be done about it?

In a letter to Steve Reed, the Defra secretary of state, UKHospitality is calling for:

• The introduction of a clear and simple route for demonstrating packaging is non-household, and therefore exempt from EPR charges. For example, beer or wine bottles sold to customers for consumption on premise but then collected and disposed of commercially.
• The supply chain to be allowed to calculate the proportion of packaging provided to hospitality customers.

"At a time when hospitality businesses are facing rising costs in almost every area of their business, a double penalty of being incorrectly levied a EPR fee and paying for commercial waste disposal is the last thing the sector needs," says Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality.

"We understand that tracking packaging is complex, but there needs to be a clear and simple route for both wholesalers and hospitality businesses to demonstrate when packaging is non-household. It’s unfair to expect hospitality businesses to pick up the bill twice, just because an issue is complicated.

"Empowering the supply chain to help provide data-driven solutions, as part of a simpler, clearer process, would be a sensible way to avoid double-charging, something Defra has acknowledged it wants to avoid."

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