Mr Will Forster

Mr Will Forster

Liberal Democrat — Woking

Speaking in the House of Commons on 15 July 2025

Debate

Beer Duty

Contribution

My hon. Friend is right to promote his amazing community hub and pub in Barnstaple. I pass on my best wishes to Beer Matters for its award. A lot of us have concerns about the EPR rules. Under the current EPR rules, glass packaging used in pubs is wrongly classified as household waste, even though it is collected and recycled via private commercial contractors. EPR is meant to fund the cost of removing packaging from household waste streams—not from businesses that already pay for their recycling. This means that brewers and pubs face duplicate charges for the same glass, despite it never entering the household. DEFRA has acknowledged that the policy is wrong and that it was never intended to be implemented in this way. It has committed to the industry to find a solution, but no fix has yet been delivered, and it has pressed on with the scheme regardless. Reducing beer duty would mean less tax per pint in principle, but, in practice, it would bring a great benefit.

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