This article is regularly updated with the latest sustainability developments across the sector.
SEPTEMBER
Marston’s to expand EV charging across pub estate
Marston’s has partnered with electric vehicle charge point operator Believ to expand EV charging across more than 100 pubs and hotels.
The pub and hotel operator already has 542 chargers across 195 sites through its partnership with Osprey Charging Network, which it said is the largest rapid and ultra-fast EV charging network in the UK pub sector.
Since 2018, Marston’s EV-enabled pubs have supplied enough power to keep vehicles on the road for more than 150m miles, saving more than 33,600 tonnes of CO2.
The new partnership with Believ will add a mix of Standard, Standard Plus and Ultra-Rapid charge points, designed for both overnight hotel stays and shorter pub and restaurant visits.
At least one accessible charging bay will be included at participating sites, with the rollout fully funded by Believ.
Marston’s energy manager Chris White said the partnership would help the business extend its charging network to new sites “for the benefit of our guests and the communities we serve”.
St Austell named Green Large Organisation of the Year
St Austell Brewery has been named Green Large Organisation of the Year at the Green Awards UK.
The award recognises organisations demonstrating leadership and measurable impact in sustainability, and follows the brewer and pub operator being named Best Sustainable Pub Company at the Publican Awards earlier this year.
The recognition comes after the launch of St Austell’s long term sustainability strategy, Crafting a Brighter Future, which was unveiled last year alongside the company’s first major rebrand in decades.
The strategy covers areas including carbon emissions, waste reduction across pubs and offices, local supply chains, people and communities.
Sustainability manager Emily Coon said the award was a “powerful endorsement” of the progress made across the business, adding it showed teams were embedding sustainability “into the way we operate every day”.
Vault City targets energy self-sufficiency with solar investment
Vault City Brewing has installed 400 solar panels at its Edinburgh brewery as part of plans to become electrically self-sufficient.
The 222kWp system, installed by CleanEarth Energy at the brewery’s BioCampus site, is expected to generate 175,400kWh of clean electricity each year.
The project is forecast to save the sour beer producer almost £33,000 annually, while reducing Scope 2 emissions by an estimated 33 tonnes of CO2e each year.
Vault City is also working with Brew Resourceful and Fermcraft to maximise its use of solar energy by scheduling cooling to coincide with peak solar generation.
Refrigeration accounts for 44.7% of the brewery’s energy use, and the business aims to power 100% of its refrigeration energy using solar during the summer months.
Co-founder Steven Smith-Hay said the project showed how sustainability and commercial responsibility could work together, adding: “We want Vault City to be an example of what a modern brewery can look like.”
Shepherd Neame pub named community sustainability hero
A Shepherd Neame pub in Surrey has been named UK Community Sustainability Hero at the PubAid Community Pub Hero Awards 2026.
The Old House at Home in Dormansland, run by licensees Julia and Michael Foxwell, was recognised for its work to make sustainability part of everyday pub life.
Initiatives at the pub include securing funding from Surrey County Council’s Active Travel Programme for a staff e-bike, an e-bike charging point and a free public bike repair station.
The pub also reuses coffee grounds as fertiliser, collects pet fur for birds to use as nesting material, turns spent beer into a natural slug deterrent and uses outdoor furniture made from reclaimed scaffold boards and poles.
East Surrey MP Claire Coutinho, who nominated the pub, said it was “a brilliant example of how a rural pub can combine community spirit with fresh thinking on sustainability”.
Heineken cuts Manchester Brewery emissions intensity by 42%
Heineken UK has cut CO2 emissions intensity at its Manchester Brewery by 42% following a £28.2m investment in large scale heat pump technology.
The project has also reduced on-site natural gas consumption by 33%, helping to cut the brewery’s reliance on fossil fuels and strengthen energy resilience.
The heat pump network, commissioned in June 2025, is the first retrofit of its kind at this scale within Heineken’s global operations.
Manchester is the group’s largest UK brewery, producing around 2.5m pints a day of brands including Foster’s, Cruzcampo and Heineken.
The project was supported by £3.7m from the Government’s Industrial Energy Transformation Fund and forms part of the group’s Brew a Better World sustainability strategy.
Heineken UK corporate affairs director Sonia Thimmiah said the progress in Manchester showed “how global brewers can decarbonise” while playing a leadership role in the transition to net zero.
Marston’s signs renewable electricity partnership
Marston’s has appointed SQE as its strategic electricity partner in a 24 month deal to support renewable electricity use across its pub estate.
Under the partnership, SQE will supply around 140GWh of lower carbon electricity annually to Marston’s estate of more than 1,300 pubs, bars and inns across the UK.
The agreement is designed to help the pub company increase access to renewable electricity, improve cost control and strengthen energy resilience.
It will also provide Marston’s with advanced forecasting, consolidated billing and site level data across its estate.
Marston’s energy manager Chris White said the business needed a partner that could support its ambition to increase the amount of renewable electricity used “at a price that works for our business and our operators”.
He added the partnership would give Marston’s better forecasting, more responsive support and greater visibility of performance at site level.
AUGUST
Robinsons Brewery secures Silver Carbon Literacy status
Robinsons Brewery has been accredited as a Silver Carbon Literate Organisation by The Carbon Literacy Project.
The family owned brewery and pub company was recognised for its work to build a low carbon culture across its brewery, head office and pub operations.
Robinsons first began its Carbon Literacy work in 2023 and has since trained more than 30% of its 258 person brewery and head office support team.
The business has also embedded Carbon Literacy into performance management and business reporting, with energy, water, waste and carbon indicators tracked across its managed pubs, brewery, packaging centre and head office.
Actions linked to the programme include environmental awareness training, nitrogen generation for beer top pressure, planned carbon dioxide capture and reuse in the brewery, utility tracking across managed pubs and greater reuse of materials in pub refurbishments.
Managing director William Robinson said the accreditation had helped the business turn sustainability “from an ambition into practical action”.
Robinsons has committed to reaching net zero by 2040.
JULY
Signature Brew and Groove Armada launch regenerative lager
Signature Brew has partnered with Groove Armada and Wildfarmed to launch a Czech-style pale lager brewed with regeneratively farmed malted barley.
Do It Right, which is rolling out to pubs, bars and venues in kegs and cans, has been brewed using grain from Wildfarmed’s network of growers.
The farming practices focus on improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, reducing water pollution and cutting carbon.
Signature Brew co-founder Tom Bott said the collaboration with Wildfarmed had created “something that’s bigger than a beer collaboration”.
He added: “Wildfarmed exists to improve the world through better farming practices, while Signature Brew exists to make the live music experience better through exceptional beer.”
Wildfarmed and Groove Armada’s Andy Cato said the lager would directly support farmers “who are restoring soils and nature”.
Punch collects 138kg of litter in latest community clean
Punch Pubs & Co has collected 138kg of litter during its latest community clean-up at the Washlands area in Burton upon Trent.
More than 50 volunteers took part in the clean, including representatives from Molson Coors and Biffa, with 42kg of the collected waste set to be recycled.
The initiative forms part of Punch’s wider sustainability work, with more community cleans planned for 2026.
Since its first community clean in 2024, Punch has collected 785kg of waste.
Punch strategic corporate affairs, external relations and ESG lead Jon Dale said the events reflected the company’s commitment to “building a more sustainable future”.
JUNE
Pub tenants save up to £3,100 with energy tool
Pub tenants and franchisees across Stonegate, Wadworth, Punch, Fuller’s, St Austell, Everards and Shepherd Neame are being offered access to an energy and carbon reduction tool designed to help cut waste and bills.
Developed by the Zero Carbon Forum, the tool helps publicans identify where energy is being wasted and highlights simple actions to reduce costs, often without capital investment.
The initial rollout to 525 sites in England was funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, with pub groups now extending access to more tenants and franchisees.
The tool’s survey takes around 10 minutes to complete, with most savings coming from reducing overnight energy waste and making small operational changes.
Zero Carbon Company chief executive Mark Chapman said some sites were saving up to £3,100 a year, adding: “The results show that some of the biggest savings come from simple changes.”
Mark Holden, company director at Inn Cornwall, said the tool could help the business save £5,400 a year across its sites.
Liberty Wines powers warehouse with rooftop solar
Liberty Wines, which supplies pubs, restaurants, hotels and retailers across the UK and Ireland, has generated 376MWh of clean electricity in 10 months after installing a rooftop solar system at its Basingstoke warehouse.
The wine distributor installed a 521kWp solar array made up of 1,005 panels, which powers the warehouse and its electric vehicle fleet, offsetting 63% of the site’s energy use and cutting electricity costs by £86,480 since being commissioned.
The project was developed to meet strict insurance requirements linked to storing flammable stock, with safety features designed to reduce panel voltage to safe levels during maintenance or emergency access.
Liberty Wines is also using the system’s monitoring platform to assess whether adding a battery could further improve energy efficiency.
MAY
St Austell Brewery launches plantable beer mats
St Austell Brewery has launched biodegradable, plantable beer mats across its South West pub estate to mark the release of its latest impact report.
The seed embedded mats feature a QR code linking guests to the brewer and pub operator’s sustainability work across its breweries, pubs and drinks wholesale business.
Across its 45 managed pubs, St Austell now operates on 100% renewable electricity, while total waste has fallen by 49% since 2023. General waste has reduced by up to 40% year on year, recycling rates have doubled and all food waste is now diverted from general waste streams.
The brewer has also cut food delivery miles by 33% and increased the use of locally landed fish on pub menus by 20%.
Sustainability manager Emily Coon said the mats were designed to make sustainability “feel part of everyday experiences rather than something distant or abstract”.
The company, which was named Best Sustainable Pub Company at the 2026 Publican Awards, has committed to reaching net zero ahead of the UK’s 2050 target.
Young’s receives three stars in SRA’s Food Made Good Standard
Young’s Brewery has received the top three star rating in the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Food Made Good Standard for 2026.
The group, which operates more than 280 pubs, was recognised for its work across sourcing, community impact and environmental responsibility.
The assessment highlighted Young’s seasonal menus and procurement approach, including locally sourced ingredients, sustainably sourced seafood and support for community allotments.
Its waste reduction work was also recognised, including pub level monitoring, dishes designed to use whole ingredients, used coffee ground donations and recycling cooking oil into biodiesel.
Young’s sustainability manager Aimee McDonald said: “We’re incredibly proud to receive the top three star Food Made Good rating, which recognises our ongoing commitment to improve our environmental footprint.
“Sustainability at Young’s is not a single initiative but a long term commitment, embedded in how we source, operate and support our communities.”
MARCH
Stonegate removes more than 90,000 single use bottles
Stonegate Group has removed more than 90,000 single use bottles from its waste stream as part of a wider circular economy programme across its estate.
The initiative includes trials of refillable spirits vessels at Slug & Lettuce sites and an expanding bottle reuse scheme across more than 100 venues.
The company also reported zero waste to landfill, an 18% reduction in energy use since 2023 and a 14% fall in water consumption since FY21.
Chief executive David McDowall said: “I’m really pleased with the progress we are making on our sustainability journey. Working in partnership with our suppliers allows us to make genuine progress while operating more efficiently.”
St Austell Brewery hits 100% food waste diversion across managed pubs
St Austell Brewery has confirmed that 100% of food waste from its 45 managed pubs is now diverted from general waste into anaerobic digestion or redistributed through food sharing app Olio.
The milestone follows the launch of its Operation Segregation initiative in 2025, which introduced improved waste sorting, staff training and clearer site signage.
The programme has helped deliver a 16% drop in general waste and a 49% reduction in total waste since 2023.
Sustainability manager Emily Coon said: “Operation Segregation is all about cutting waste at the source and ensuring valuable materials don’t end up where they shouldn’t.”
FEBRUARY
Beartown Brewery invests in refurbished barrels to cut costs and carbon
Cheshire based craft brewer Beartown Brewery has invested in 200 refurbished plastic beer barrels as part of efforts to cut costs and reduce its environmental impact.
The barrels were acquired from a brewery that had ceased trading and refurbished before being added to Beartown’s existing fleet. The brewer estimates the move will avoid around £10,000 a year in keg rental costs while the lighter barrels could also help reduce fuel loads on regional deliveries.
A spokesperson for Beartown said the move was a practical step for the business, adding: “Sustainability isn’t something we talk about lightly. It’s about taking real, measurable steps that improve how we operate day to day.”