FEATURE: 6 ways to prove sustainable pubs aren’t just greener, they’re more profitable

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As Ed Robinson, head of sustainability at Wells & Co pub group, says: “When done right, sustainability is good for business; sustainability = efficiency = cost-cutting, it’s that simple. For example, operators who work to first audit and then reduce the food waste and electricity, gas and water consumption in their sites can score a win-win for planet and profit, reducing their carbon footprints while boosting their P&Ls.”

Young’s & Co sustainability manager Aimee McDonald echoes that view: “For us, sustainability is not just about reducing our environmental footprint, it is about building a resilient business for the future. As the hospitality industry continues to evolve, we see sustainability as an opportunity to support our people, strengthen our communities and create long-term value in a changing world.”

Here, we take a look at some of the most impactful sustainable practices being deployed by pubs around the UK, with the aim of providing inspiration for your own sustainability journey.

1. Managing waste

One of the most effective sustainable initiatives that is also simply good business practice, is reducing waste.

Ardent Pub Group head of people operations Patrick Campbell says: “For any pub operator just beginning their sustainability journey, one thing that is relatively straightforward to put in place and makes an immediate, visible difference is a proper waste management system with a credible partner. This sounds basic, but getting it right – separating food waste, mixed recycling and general waste, and actually tracking the breakdown – changes how your whole team thinks about waste.”

Ardent works with B-Corp certified First Mile, which is committed to zero landfill and, through its portal, enables Ardent to monitor its waste streams in real time.

“We’ve set ourselves an internal target of over 80% recycling. The key to embedding this on the ground is clear, simple visual aids – posters and stickers on bins, back-of-house notice boards – so the right habits become second nature for the team,” says Campbell.

At the Pig’s Head in Clapham Old Town, the kitchen strives to limit food waste in various ways, such as writing the menu daily so dishes can be built around surplus ingredients; making as many snacks and garnishes as possible from products that would otherwise be disposed of (eg, potato skins into hash browns, unused sourdough into crostini and breadcrumbs, pickling leftover stems and leaves to make sauerkraut, puréeing vegetable stems to make green sauce); and having a food bin dedicated to scraps from customers’ plates to enable monitoring of how much goes uneaten.

The Pig’s Head has partnered with Quantum Waste for recycling, with 81.4% of waste collected recycled, and the remaining 18.6% incinerated to produce energy.

When it comes to reducing drinks wastage, investing in a modern dispense system can make all the difference.

For example, Heineken SmartDispense can save up to 18,000 pints of water, beer and chemicals a year using a 10-tap outlet on a three-pint pull.

And it’s not just food and drink wastage you should be thinking about: when the current ownership took over he Pig’s Head, almost 30 tonnes of catering equipment, fixtures and fittings were diverted from industrial recycling and found new homes through social media, with the pub refurb achieved using second-hand furniture.

2. Reducing single-use packaging

“If I had to pick one initiative that has moved the needle most – both environmentally and commercially – it would be our approach to eliminating single-use packaging from our drinks offering,” says Ardent’s Campbell.

The accumulation – and subsequent need to dispose of – heavy glass bottles is common to every pub across the land, but it’s not an issue for Ardent anymore thanks to partnerships with wine keg supplier Uncharted Wines and water filtration system supplier Belu.

In 2025 alone, 556 wine kegs removed nearly nine tonnes of glass and close to a tonne of cardboard from Ardent’s waste stream, at no detriment to the quality of the wine served.

Belu supplies water filtration systems across all three of Ardent’s pubs, which over the past 12 months have delivered over 14,000 litres of filtered water to customers.

“These are the kind of changes guests actually notice and appreciate,” adds Campbell.

Reducing single-use materials and unnecessary packaging at Ardent also extends to a “straws on request policy”, and sourcing from Fresh Connect and Ethical Butcher, two suppliers that deliver in reusable containers.

At the Pig’s Head, six wines are offered on tap, sourced in 20-litre recyclable KeyKegs. A single KeyKeg replaces 27 glass bottles.

Rather than selling bottled mineral water, the pub also sells bottomless still and sparkling filtered water for £1.50 per table, with the profits donated to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (so far this has raised more than £27,500).

And it’s not only wine and water where more sustainable options exist: the Pig’s Head buys its house spirits from 58&Co and The Sustainable Spirits Company, which deliver in three-litre recycled pouches that are then decanted into reusable glass bottles on site.

Big brands like Bacardi, Smirnoff and Cointreau are also available through ecoSPIRITS – a closed-loop distribution system that replaces individual glass bottles with reusable totes, each one the equivalent of six standard bottles.

Once empty, the totes are collected, cleaned, refilled and returned, with one tote removing the need for around 1,000 glass bottles in its lifetime.

3. Reducing energy use

It goes without saying that reducing energy usage is a win-win for your business and the planet.

That’s why Young’s is installing technologies like solar panels and cellar management systems across its estate.

As an example, Heineken’s Cellar Manager and Remote Manager systems can deliver a 30% reduction in cellar electricity usage.

Young’s & Co sustainability manager Aimee McDonald says: “We know that lasting progress depends on behaviour as much as infrastructure, so working in partnership with Zero Carbon Forum, we have supported our pub teams to focus on two key areas: overnight energy use and kitchen preparation. Since 2022, this targeted approach has helped us save more than £700,000 and reduce carbon emissions by 497 tonnes.”

Monitoring energy usage so you can identify when consumption rises is vital.

Ardent has partnered with Cap Energy, which has installed monitors to track energy usage at an appliance level in all of its pubs.

The system has already proven its worth, alerting pub staff to a faulty air-condenser unit, which was then swiftly fixed.

Moving from gas appliances to energy-efficient electric is another way of reducing energy consumption.

By moving from gas appliances as much as possible (only the central heating and a hybrid gas/charcoal grill are powered by gas) to electrical equipment, the Pig’s Head has been able to reduce its gas use by 150,000 kWh in the first year, a reduction of over 27 tonnes of CO2e emitted annually.

Pub group Fuller’s has also been converting its kitchens to electric and switching to 100% renewable electricity.

Fuller’s sustainability champion Alice Monteath says: “We now have 55 sites with kitchens that are primarily run by renewable electricity. We’ve also improved the efficiency of our boilers and installed heat recovery systems at some venues that take the heat created by the site and reuse it to heat the hot water.”

4. Sourcing

Reducing food and drink miles by sourcing more locally is a good sustainable business practice – on both a planet and people level.

As Wells & Co’s Ed Robinson says: “Hospitality businesses that invest in community events, local suppliers, inclusive spaces and employment opportunities often become woven into the social fabric of an area, rather than simply operating within it.”

Therefore, Wells & Co tries to source produce as locally as possible while working collaboratively with all of its suppliers to find more sustainable ways to operate.

“No business is an island,” says Robinson, which is why Wells & Co hosts the Independent Family Brewers of Britain sustainability forum twice a year.

The company has also undertaken the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s (SRA’s) Food Made Good standard, one result of which is that it now only serves fish species that are rated 1-3 in the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide or certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. (Ratings 1-2 are ‘best choice’, 3-4 are ‘OK/improvements needed, and 5 is ‘fish to avoid’.)

Like Wells & Co, Young’s has also received the top three-star rating in the Food Made Good Standard by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), largely because of its commitment to sourcing locally and seasonally. For example, Young’s supports community allotments; uses sea vegetables, wild mushrooms and nettles foraged in Norfolk; and sustainably sourced seafood.

At the Pig’s Head, the kitchen works primarily with regenerative farms and buys whole native-breed animals to butcher on-site.

Director Jack Ross explains: “We built a butchery room at the rear of our kitchen. We do this as it limits deliveries, reduces our ‘spend per kg’, and is a great recruitment tool as it’s rare for a restaurant to butcher whole animals.”

The pub also works with wholesale greengrocer Shrub’s network of small-scale growers in Kent and Sussex that use regenerative, organic and biodynamic farming methods.

Most wines on the pub’s extensive list are organic or biodynamic, and 30% are English, while many of its premium spirits are carbon neutral.

5. Reducing paper

Changing your menu regularly in line with what produce is available is the most sustainable way for a pub kitchen to operate but that can mean getting through a lot of paper.

Operators can cut down on the amount of paper they use is by switching to digital menus.

For example, mobile ordering specialist wi-Q offers a solution whereby guests scan a QR code on the table, which then enables them to view the full menu on their phone. Because wi-Q connects to the PoS and integrates with major payment systems, they can then browse, filter, order, add any special requests and pay using their mobile device while the pub operator can easily make menu changes in the wi-Q back office.

Wi-Q calculates that in the last year digital menus across its clients’ venues helped avoid the use of around 180,000 sheets of paper, equivalent to roughly 22 mature trees.

Another place where paper is often wasted in high volumes is in the washroom, yet, according to professional hygiene brand Tork, 67% of people want washroom managers to prioritise sustainability.

In order to reduce environmental impact, Tork recommends measures like controlling consumption with one-at-a time dispensing, and avoiding landfill through recycling schemes like Tork PaperCircle, whereby used paper towels are collected and recycled into new tissue products

Reusing washable cloths rather than relying on single-use disposable paper products like centre feed is another way in which the Pig’s Head is trying to reduce its environmental impact.

Director Ross says: “Using our previous business as a comparison, our new system of reusing cloths has reduced our use of centre feed by 2,496 rolls annually.”

6. Community/Charity

Sustainability is much more than caring for the physical environment, it’s also about doing social good in your community.

Wells & Co head of sustainability Ed Robinson says: “Hospitality businesses are often far more than commercial venues – they are social hubs. Good venues become the natural gathering place for friendships, events, celebrations and everyday human connection.”

To that end, the Wells & Co team tries to do what it can to support people and the environment in its local communities.

For instance, the company is the founding sponsor of a community-driven campaign to protect the River Great Ouse while, at a central level, it has been supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust for many years and it also runs Charlie’s Charity as a central fund to boost the money raised by staff across its pubs for individual causes.

Wells & Co is now in the middle of its four-month-long Big Community Switch On campaign to “make our communities better”.

“From charity quizzes to family fun days, our pub teams will be picking local charities and organisations to support, getting their locals involved and creating as large a positive community impact as they can,” explains Robinson.

Fuller’s pubs have raised more than £1m for Special Olympics GB – which provides opportunities for year-round, all-ability sports programmes for athletes with intellectual disabilities – since 2018.

The group also worked with Special Olympics and the Licensed Trade Charity to launch a guide for managers on recruiting team members who are neurodiverse or have intellectual disabilities.

And in the past 12 months, Young’s has raised over £300,000 through a range of fundraising drives, supporting causes like Wooden Spoon, the Ocean Conservation Trust and Wrap Up London’s unwanted coat collection.