Environment and sustainability

Publishing date: November 2025

Company commitment and targets

Wetherspoon recognises the risk of climate change. The separate ‘strategic report – environmental matters’, contained in the annual report, outlines the assessment performed by the company in establishing the climate-related risks and opportunities identified to date, the risk rating applied to each and the company’s mitigation plan. The disclosure and supporting document are reviewed annually by the board.

Wetherspoon is committed to operating ethically and sustainably and to finding ways, over time, to reduce carbon emissions. Recycling is promoted throughout the business, along with ways to reduce energy consumption.

It is the company’s aim to:

increasingly minimise its environmental impact and reduce carbon emissions.
minimise energy consumption and maximise efficiency.
promote efficient purchasing to minimise waste and allow for material-recycling.
adopt efficient waste-management strategies, to maximise reuse and recycling and to minimise general waste.
minimise any emissions or effluents which may cause environmental damage.

Net-zero emissions

The company has committed to achieving net-zero emissions in the UK and Ireland by 2050 and, if possible, will reach this goal sooner.

In January 2023, the company committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for all pub operations and the global supply chain, in line with avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

Agreeing on science-based targets will ensure that the company follows a credible and scientifically verified carbon-reduction pathway.

Under SBTi, Wetherspoon commits to:

reduce absolute scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions 80% by FY2033 from an FY2019 base year.
reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions 59% with the same time frame.
reduce absolute scopes 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions 90% by FY2050 from an FY2019 base year.
reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain by FY2050.

Progress made against these targets is detailed on p5.

Governance and responsibilities

See: J D Wetherspoon environmental matters report (within annual report)

The board of directors is responsible for the company’s overall climate change strategy, including oversight of environmental initiatives.

It receives regular updates, including progress made towards various initiatives.

The finance director, Ben Whitley, has overall responsibility for achieving the company targets and implementation of the plan. Sustainability, including climate change, is discussed regularly by the management board at several senior company meetings.

The assessment, mitigation and monitoring of sustainability and climate-related risks are included in the risk management process, looking at short-, medium- and longer-term risks as part of the overall and relative significance to the business.

The company has four environmental working groups, focusing on waste and recycling, supply chain, data and reporting and operations/property. The groups track the company’s progress against environmental targets, including its carbon-reduction targets which have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Initiatives discussed by the groups

are communicated to the wider business via environment champions assigned to each pub. These champions are responsible for communicating energy, environment, waste and recycling best practice. All company employees receive regular training and updates on environmental matters.

Each pub has an energy and recycling champion, responsible for both reducing consumption at his or her pub and communicating top tips and initiatives to staff.

These energy and recycling champions help to encourage changes in behaviour, like using fire-up/ power-down guides to ensure that pubs are efficient and minimise energy consumption when closed.

All company employees receive training and regular updates on environmental matters.

Executive and employee ‘climate action incentives’

Wetherspoon’s employees and directors receive bonus payments based on performance against a range of targets, including sales performance, profit performance and standards of quality and compliance. In addition, employees with over 18 months’ service receive free shares in the company.

The company has made a commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and will, if possible, reach this goal sooner. The sales and profit bonuses

of all employees are affected by the company’s ability to reach these targets through areas such as energy-savings, waste management and supply-chain efficiency.

In recent years, pressure has been applied increasingly for companies to specifically incentivise directors on the achievement of climate-related targets. A company, and/or its directors, does not require a specific incentive to ‘do the right thing’.

Indeed, an excessive focus on achieving specific financial or other targets can be counter-productive. There’s no evidence that introducing the type of targets preferred by institutional investors and pressure groups actually works – and there is considerable evidence that attempting to reach ambitious financial, or other, targets in isolation is harmful.

Wetherspoon considers it more important for directors to take account of employees and customers’ views than those of institutional shareholders. Shareholders should be listened to with respect, yet caution should be exercised in implementing short-term shareholders’ views. It should also be understood that modern institutional shareholders may have a serious conflict of interest, since they are often concerned with their own quarterly portfolio performance, whereas corporate health often requires objectives which lie five, 10 or 20 years in the future.

Zero Carbon Forum

The company is a member of the Zero Carbon Forum (ZCF), a non-profit-making organisation supporting the hospitality industry to define and implement a roadmap to net-zero emissions, collaboratively and at pace.

Environmental issues, including climate change, cannot be tackled in isolation and require an integrated and co-ordinated approach.

Carbon Action Plan

The company has a carbon action plan, updated at least annually, detailing the various initiatives being planned or under way to reduce carbon emissions.

As part of the plan, the company is working with suppliers, building designers, equipment providers, employees and other business partners to minimise any impact.

Carbon measurement

The company measures and reports on carbon emissions across three separate areas (or scopes), summarised as follows:

Scope 1 direct emissions – these are carbon emissions which the company makes directly, eg from running boilers and emissions from company vehicles, excluding logistics (deliveries).
Scope 2 indirect emissions – these are carbon emissions from the generation of electricity, steam, heating or cooling which the company purchases for use.
Scope 3 indirect emissions – these are carbon emissions from all food, drinks and other products purchased by the company, the transportation of goods and materials (logistics), waste disposal and employee commuting.

The company has been recognised for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and is listed in the 2024 FT-Statista Europe’s Climate Leaders list, highlighting companies which, over a five-year period, have achieved the greatest reduction in emissions.

Note: The SBTi is a partnership among the Climate Disclosure Project, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature to drive ambitious climate action. It enables companies to set science-based emissions reduction targets.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

GHG emissions	Scope 1	Scope 2	Scope 3	Fuel (car)	Intensity	Total
Unit	Tonnes CO2e	Tonnes CO2e	Tonnes CO2e	Tonnes CO2e	Tonnes CO2e/ £m revenue	Tonnes CO2e
2025	36,410	80,008	740,987	797	403.3	858,202
2024	26,431	58,280	708,625	967	390.3	794,303
2019 – base year	47,358	94,016	1,295,991	1,034	790.8	1,438,399

The 2019 data in the table above is calculated by taking consumption data and converting it using conversion factors published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. The data relied heavily on assumptions and averages. Since then, the company has improved data accuracy alongside reduction efforts. The company has chosen not to revise its 2019 baseline figures and, instead, is focused on improving accuracy of reporting year by year. The 2024 data was previously calculated using the above method, but, since then, more accurate information has been obtained. Therefore, the 2024 data has been updated.

Definitions:

Scope 1 – direct emissions (from controlled sources, such as fuels used in pubs, hotels and at head office; also includes emissions from company vehicles, excluding logistics)
Scope 2 – indirect emissions (from purchased sources, such as the generation of electricity used in pubs, hotels and at head office)
Scope 3 – indirect emissions (which occur in a company’s supply chain, but are not from sources which the company owns or controls)

Reducing scopes 1 and 2 emissions

The company is focusing on two main areas to achieve reductions, along with the added incentive of reducing the impact of any future energy price fluctuations:

reducing energy consumption
improving energy-efficiency

Reducing energy consumption

The company’s target is to reduce annual electricity, gas and water consumption through a combination of operational initiatives and the introduction energy-efficient technology. This approach will also reduce carbon emissions.

Each pub has an energy and recycling champion, responsible for both reducing consumption at

his or her pub and communicating top tips and initiatives to staff.

These champions help to encourage changes in behaviour, like using fire-up/power-down guides to ensure that pubs are efficient and minimise energy consumption when closed.

Each pub receives a weekly report, detailing the amount of electricity and gas consumed, including tips on how this can be reduced.

Employees receive training in this area, along with an energy, environment and recycling guide

which provides employees, among other things, with information about when equipment should be turned on/off.

Improving energy-efficiency

Several pieces of energy-saving technology are now installed as standard in any new pubs and, over the following years, will be retro-fitted in pubs across the estate. These include:

free-air cellar-cooling systems (cools the cellar by bringing in outside air, when external temperatures are low enough).
LED lighting with movement-detecting sensors, using 50% less energy, on average.
Lossnay heat-recovery systems (extraction system which recovers heat energy from the building, then uses it to warm up the incoming fresh air).

Solar panels have been installed in three pubs. Installation is planned, over the next 12 months, at head office and further pubs.

Cheetah extraction management systems are installed in about 80% of pubs to control kitchens’ ventilation. Smart electricity meters have been fitted in around 92% of pubs and are being installed, where possible, in those remaining. Gas AMRs are installed in around 85% of pubs – these record gas consumption data remotely, in a similar way to smart electricity meters.

The company consistently trials new ideas and energy-saving technology to reduce consumption and CO2 emissions, including the following:

electricity usage data-reporting (by individual circuits)
solar panels
rainwater-harvesting systems
ground-source-heat pumps
wind turbines
light tubes
building energy management system (BMS)
voltage-optimising equipment

Reducing scope 3 emissions

Scope 3 emissions are the largest contributor to the company’s overall carbon emissions. Carbon emissions have been allocated to every product sold, including food, drinks and hotel rooms. An initial assessment was carried out in 2019 and, over time, this data’s quality will improve.

Carbon measurement has developed significantly in recent years.

The report completed in 2019 relied heavily on assumptions and averages. Since then, the company has improved data accuracy alongside reduction efforts. The company has chosen not to revise its 2019 baseline figures and, instead, is focused on improving accuracy of reporting year by year.

Where possible, the company is working directly with suppliers of food and beverage products to obtain accurate product life-cycle carbon data, rather than relying on general assumptions. For instance, emissions from chips – previously estimated using an industry average of 2.87 (t CO2e/t) – were updated to a more accurate figure of 0.694 (t CO2e/t) for the specific product used, through collaboration with McCain.

The company recognises that further improvements are needed, particularly in areas such as capital spend and property project works, which will be a focus in the coming years.

Reducing scope 3 emissions will ultimately rely on a partnership approach with UK and worldwide suppliers and on their own plans to reduce carbon emissions.

1A small number of UK pubs, where electricity is supplied by the landlord, is excluded.

Progress made

Total emissions have been reduced by 49%, when compared with the base year (2019).

In the last year, total emissions have risen by 8%.

Over the same period, intensity of emissions (tonnes CO2e/£m revenue) increased by 3.33%.

See table below:

	Change in year*		Change since SBTi base year (2019)
	Tonnes CO2e	%	Tonnes CO2e	%
Scope 1	+9,979	+37.75	-10,948	-23.12
Scope 2	+21,728	+37.28	-14,008	-14.90
Scope 3	+32,362	+4.57	-555,004	-42.82
Total emissions	+63,899	+8.04	-580,197	-40.34
Intensity (tonnes CO2e/ £m revenue)	+13.0	+3.33	-387.5	-49.00

*Financial year August 24–July 25, compared with August 23–July 24

Environmental taxation

In the financial year ending July 2025, the company has contributed £16.8 million (2024: £12.8 million) to government environmental schemes as outlined below:

	2025	2024	2023
	£000s	£000s	£000s
Climate change levies	13,918	10,243	11,100
Landfill tax	0	2	2
Fuel duty	1,900	2,000	1,900
Extended producer responsibility (EPR)	816	0	0
Plastic packaging tax	119	510	449

Electricity costs

Electricity costs are made up of commodity charges (energy itself) and non-commodity charges (government levies, taxes, network and system costs).

The impact of these non-commodity charges can vary, depending on several factors, including capacity banding and location.

In 2025, two new charges have been introduced:

Nuclear RAB levy – to help to fund nuclear infrastructure.
EII support levy – a charge on electricity suppliers which funds support for energy-intensive industries (EIIs) to help them to remain competitive.

There are 12 other non-commodity charges included in our electricity bills:

The balancing and settlement code (BSC) sets the rules for balancing electricity production and consumption in Great Britain and settles costs when actual usage differs from contracts.
Balancing services use of system (BSUoS) charges are fees set by the national grid to cover the cost of balancing the UK’s electricity transmission system.
Contracts for difference (CfDs) guarantee low-carbon electricity generators a fixed price for their power, giving stability to developers while protecting consumers from high costs.
Capacity market (CM) charges fund payments to providers who guarantee electricity supply when needed.
Electricity distribution losses are the unavoidable energy lost between the network and consumers, caused by technical limits and issues like theft or meter errors. These costs also cover expenses which the industry faces when energy suppliers go out of business.
Distribution use of system (DUoS) charges are fees for using the distribution network, helping to pay for its building, running and maintenance.
The feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme pays households and businesses for the renewable electricity which they generate and export to the grid.
The hydro benefit charge helps to reduce high electricity distribution costs in north Scotland by spreading them across all UK consumers.
The renewables obligation (RO) requires electricity suppliers to source a share of their supply from renewable generation.
Transmission use of system (TNUoS) charges cover the costs of building and running the high-voltage transmission network, with costs varying by location and usage.
Transmission losses are the energy lost as electricity travels across the national grid.
The climate change levy (CCL) is a tax on business energy use to encourage efficiency and cut carbon emissions.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity underpins food production and strengthens agricultural resilience to shocks which can cause crop failure. However, many species of plant, animal and microorganism are disappearing.

The increasing loss of biodiversity means that plants and animals are more vulnerable to pests and diseases, which can put food security at risk.

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) legislation requires Wetherspoon to consider biodiversity as part of site selection, design, development and ongoing management.

Wetherspoon is developing a biodiversity policy and company approach in this area.

Deforestation

Deforestation is usually a result of agricultural expansion (eg more space for farming), wood-logging or wood-harvesting and infrastructure expansion (eg space for roads and buildings). The main driver of the expansion of agricultural land is the production of commodities like cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber and some of their derived products, such as leather, chocolate, tyres and furniture.

Deforestation reduces biodiversity, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion. It also increases forest fires and disrupts the water cycle.

The aim of the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) is to promote the consumption of deforestation-free products to reduce the emissions and biodiversity loss associated with deforested, converted and degraded land.

Under the EUDR, any products bought, or exported, from the EU market must not have originated from deforested land or practices which have contributed to forest degradation after 31 December 2020.

In December 2024, the European Union granted a 12-month additional phasing-in period, making the law applicable on 30 December 2025 for large and medium companies and on 30 June 2026 for micro and small enterprises.

In the UK, UK Deforestation Legislation (UKDR), introduced through the Environment Act 2021, is planned for implementation in 2025.

Wetherspoon is working with suppliers to check that all purchasing is responsible and within the legislation’s parameters.

Water use and conservation

Water usage is monitored across all pubs and head office.

A target has been set to reduce water consumption by more careful use, the reduction of wastage and the installation of more efficient equipment (where possible), including:

data management systems which help to pinpoint unexpected changes in water consumption – which may indicate a change in behaviour or a supply leak
water-efficient dishwashers and glasswashers
low-flow or push-button taps, along with toilets requiring less water to flush
all pubs to have a smart water meter installed

UKHospitality’s environmental sustainability pledges

In October 2022, UK Hospitality, the hospitality industry trade body, published its 10 environmental sustainability pledges, outlining how it intends to support businesses in the hospitality sector on their journey to reach net zero by 2040.

Its pledges, and Wetherspoon’s position and progress on each (where applicable), are as follows:

1. Deliver on 2040 net-zero aims for the sector

The company has committed to achieving net-zero emissions in the UK and Ireland by 2050 and will, if possible, reach this goal sooner.

2. Roll out the UKH Environmental Sustainability Guide to members, focusing on providing SMEs with tips, templates and best-practice resources

The company has developed an environmental, energy and recycling guide for all employees, including information, checklists and resources.

3. Eliminate unnecessary single-use packaging by 2025

The approach at Wetherspoon focuses on two areas:

removing unnecessary single-use plastics which can be avoided
waste management of plastics – aiming for 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable

Several steps have been taken to reduce single-use plastics’ use, including the removal of plastic straws (December 2017), the removal of single-use portion pots and cling film, complimentary water fountains in all pubs as an alternative to plastic bottles and the segregation and separate recycling of plastic milk cartons.

4. Reduce food waste by 50% by 2030

Waste reduction targets have been set. Several initiatives have been implemented to reduce food wastage (which includes preparation waste and plate waste), including a review of portion sizes and the availability of some meals in a smaller portion size, suiting those customers seeking a lighter meal.

Any unwanted, yet fit-for-consumption, food is donated to charity.

1. Incorporate sustainability skills in relevant training courses and promote the appointment of site-based sustainability champions

Environment, energy and recycling champions are being introduced in all pubs, hotels and at head office.

Employees receive training in this area, along with an energy, environment and recycling guide which provides employees, among other things, with information about when equipment should be turned on/off.

2. Support the government’s sustainability agenda across the Hospitality Sector Council’s food strategy and tourism recovery plan

Promote sign-up to the Courtauld Commitment and Plastics Pact

The Courtauld Commitment 2030 is a voluntary agreement enabling collaborative action across the entire UK food chain to deliver farm-to-fork reductions in food waste, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water stress which will help

the UK food and drinks sector to achieve global environmental goals.

The UK Plastics Pact brings together businesses to tackle plastic waste by creating a circular economy for plastics, capturing their value by keeping them in the economy and out of the natural environment.

The company has not, at the current time, formally signed up to either commitment.

4. Facilitate engagement across supply chains to reduce environmental impacts

Scope 3 is the largest contributor to the company’s overall emissions, representing an estimated 89%

of total output. Making reductions will rely, ultimately, on a partnership approach with our UK and worldwide suppliers and on their own plans to reduce carbon emissions. Engagement and work in this

area are already under way.

5. Promote the roll-out of EV-charging points across the sector

The majority of Wetherspoon’s pubs and hotels does not have public car-parking. EV-charging points have been installed in two car parks, with further installations being considered.

Work with the Hospitality Sector Council

to align industry objectives and share best practice among businesses

6. Incorporate sustainability skills in relevant training courses and promote the appointment of site-based sustainability champions