BDO takeaway packaging - when do catering and retail fall into responsibilities?

The biggest mistake businesses make is to treat takeaway packaging purely as a sales item, rather than as a source of separate environmental responsibilities. In practice, it is the coffee cups, salad containers, lunch boxes and other disposable packaging handed out to the customer that very often triggers obligations in BDO. It is not just the waste from the premises itself, but the obligations relating to single-use plastic packaging products. Official sources from BDO and Business.gov.co.uk make it clear that if a trader operates a catering, retail or wholesale unit and offers such packaging or sells food and beverages in such packaging, he or she must charge the customer a consumer fee and later show this data in the BDO system.

Which takeaway packages give rise to obligations in BDO?

Two types of packaging are most important: disposable drinks cups, including their lids and caps, and food containers intended for direct consumption without further preparation, dispensed as a takeaway. Official government material indicates that it is these single-use plastic products that are subject to mandatory reduction in use and that the trader must charge the consumer when dispensing them. In practice, this means that the topic is not only about „pure plastic”, but more broadly about single-use plastic packaging being packaging under the SUP regulations. For the catering and trade, the most important conclusion is simple: if a customer leaves the premises with a drink or prepared food in a disposable packaging covered by this scheme, an environmental obligation arises, not just the simple sale of the packaging.

How much is the fee and how does it link to BDO?

The rates are now clear and officially defined: £0.20 per drinks cup and PLN 0.25 per food container. This is a charge levied on the end user when the product is released in such packaging. However, what is more relevant from an entrepreneur's perspective is that the topic does not end at the cash register. BDO points out explicitly that entrepreneurs offering single-use plastic cups and containers have reporting obligations in the BDO system, and the relevant data is shown in the report on products, packaging and the management of their waste. This means that a catering establishment or shop cannot limit itself to collecting a few pennies from the customer - it must also keep data that will later allow the number of packaging issued to be correctly accounted for in BDO.

What does a caterer or shop need to do to avoid making a mistake?

The safest approach looks like this: firstly, you need to establish whether the take-away packs being dispensed actually fall into the categories covered by the obligation. Secondly, you need to collect the charge correctly at the time of sale. Thirdly, you need to collect data for the annual report in BDO. In addition, official sources remind that trade and catering should offer customers alternatives to single-use plastic packaging. In practice, the biggest mistakes come from two oversimplifications: either the company does not recognise at all that takeaway packaging falls under SUP and BDO, or it collects the fee but does not keep any structured records needed for the report. And it is the report submitted to 15 March for the previous year shows later whether the subject has been handled correctly

Frequently asked questions

hese you want to check whether your company's takeaway packaging triggers obligations with BDO and how to correctly account for fees and reporting, Ekopro Group provides assistance. On a day-to-day basis, we support entrepreneurs in topics related to BDO, SUP, charges for cups and containers, packaging obligations and environmental reporting. Feel free to contact us We will help you establish responsibilities and sort out the takeaway packaging in your business.