Will pubs pay less for glass bottles? The packaging fee cut explained

Glass drinks bottles sold straight from producers to pubs, restaurants and other licensed venues will no longer carry packaging waste fees from April 2027, the government announced on 11 November 2026. It says the change ends double charging for recycling the same bottle and could save a pub selling 10,000 beer bottles and 3,700 wine bottles up to £870 a year. So the question landlords and restaurant owners are asking is a simple one. Will my drinks actually get cheaper, and when? Here is what changes, who gets the saving first and what it means for the way a hospitality business plans and funds the year ahead. Smart Funding Solutions is a broker, not a lender. We search the market and arrange business finance from £10,000 to £20 million.

01What has the government announced on glass packaging fees?

The announcement covers the packaging scheme known as extended producer responsibility, or EPR. Under it, the businesses that make and fill packaging pay towards the cost of collecting and recycling it. The changes announced by the Environment Secretary, Dame Angela Eagle, are these.

• A glass exemption for hospitality. From April 2027, glass drinks containers sold directly from producers to pubs, restaurants and other licensed hospitality venues will no longer be liable for EPR fees.
• Savings per bottle. The government puts the saving at up to 6p on a beer bottle, between 4p and 6p depending on size, and up to 10p on a wine bottle.
• Lower fees for easy to recycle packaging. Businesses will be consulted on cutting the fees for the most recyclable packaging, such as glass and paper, by up to 40% a year.
• More reviews to come. A call for evidence on reuse is due in December 2026, and a call for evidence on the fees manufacturers pay is planned for early 2027.

None of this changes what a pub pays today. It is a cost that should ease from the spring of 2027, so it belongs in next year's budget rather than this winter's cash flow.

02Why were pubs paying twice for the same bottle?

Under the scheme rules, the bottle a drink is sold in is classed as household packaging by default, unless the supplier can show it went to a business that was the final user. That means producers have been paying household waste fees on bottles that are emptied behind a bar and then recycled through the pub's own commercial waste collection, which the pub already pays for. That is the double charge the government says it is removing.

The fees are not small for drinks makers. In the first year of the scheme, 2025 to 2026, the base fee for glass was £192 a tonne. Costs like this can find their way into drinks prices, and the British Beer and Pub Association says the changes could cut cost pressures on brewers by tens of millions of pounds.

03Will pubs and restaurants see the savings straight away?

Not directly. The government is clear that any savings land with the business responsible for the EPR fees, such as the drinks manufacturer, rather than with the pub itself. A pub only benefits if its suppliers pass the saving on in their prices, and that is a matter for your next supply negotiation.

The trade body has also raised a gap. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, warned that the 12,000 publicans who run leased and tenanted pubs must be included, or "over a quarter of Britain's pubs will not equally benefit from this important change." If you are tied to a pub company for your drinks, ask how it will treat the saving.

Our report on hospitality venue closures shows why every penny counts, and our earlier hospitality update covers the jobs and wage pressures behind it.

04Does EPR apply to my hospitality business?

For most pubs and restaurants, no. GOV.UK guidance says a business is an obligated producer only if it supplied or imported more than 25 tonnes of packaging in the UK in the previous year and has an annual turnover of £1 million or more. Only large producers, with more than 50 tonnes and turnover over £2 million, pay waste disposal fees.

The picture is different if you make or bottle drinks yourself. A brewpub, craft brewer, distillery or wine producer that crosses those limits pays the fees and is the business that gains from the exemption. See our pages on brewery finance, distillery finance and packaging business finance, and the brewery funding case study.

05What other costs are pubs and restaurants facing in 2026?

The packaging saving is welcome but small next to the big lines in a hospitality budget. Wages, energy, business rates and VAT still decide whether a venue makes money. Our guide to the £18,000 small business rate relief threshold explains the business rates changes, and if a quarterly bill is the pinch point, restaurant VAT funding and VAT loans spread the cost.

Borrowing is a little dearer too. The Bank of England raised Bank Rate to 4% on 5 November 2026, so variable rate loans and overdrafts cost more than they did in October.

06How can a pub or restaurant fund the gap until April 2027?

The saving arrives next spring. The quiet months after Christmas arrive first. These are the routes we most often arrange for venues.

• Card takings. A merchant cash advance is repaid as a share of card sales, so repayments fall in a quiet January. See merchant cash advance for restaurants and try the MCA calculator.
• Short gaps. Short term business loans and working capital loans cover a known shortfall over a few months.
• Gaps that come back each year. A revolving credit facility lets you draw, repay and draw again.
• Stock. Stock finance pays for drinks and food stock ahead of a busy period.
• Kit. Cellar cooling and fridges can be spread with refrigeration finance, and a coffee offer with coffee machine finance.
• A refresh. Fit out and refurbishment finance funds a new bar, kitchen or garden.

Our guides to pub and bar loans, restaurant loans and hospitality business loans set out what lenders look for, and the gastro pub and pub group case studies show real deals.

07Is it a good time to buy a pub or restaurant?

Lower packaging costs from 2027 make the sums slightly better for drinks led venues, but lenders judge a purchase on the trading figures, the lease or freehold and your experience. If you are buying the freehold, see pub mortgages. For a restaurant, read buying a restaurant, and for the full journey our guide on how to buy, fund and open a pub.

08What does it mean for your funding?

The glass exemption is a small cost cut that arrives in April 2027 and reaches most pubs only through supplier prices. It will not fix this winter's cash flow. If you need to cover a quiet January or invest before the spring, put a facility in place while your December takings are strong, and build a week by week cash flow forecast to size it. Our guide to how much your business can borrow explains how lenders work it out. Fees depend on the lender.

Use Instant Quotes to see which lenders could fit your venue in minutes, with no credit check, or talk to a broker about your plans for 2027.