Handing out a polystyrene cup at an event: who commits the offence and what the penalties are in England, Scotland and Wales

Ask who is liable when a polystyrene cup reaches a bar and the answer depends on which nation the bar is in. England, Scotland and Wales each wrote their own text, and the three differ on who commits the offence, who enforces it and what the penalty is. Our guide to what the UK single-use plastic rules ban covers which products are caught. This article covers what follows when one is supplied. It reads the texts as they stand on 26 October 2026 and is not legal advice.

England

The Environmental Protection (Plastic Plates etc. and Polystyrene Containers etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 October 2023. Regulation 1(3) says they extend to England and Wales and apply in relation to England only.

Under regulation 5, a person who, in the course of a business, supplies or offers to supply a single-use polystyrene cup, or a single-use polystyrene food or drink container, is guilty of an offence. Regulation 2 defines supply as supply whether by way of sale or not, so a cup handed out free is covered. The defined cup is one made wholly or partly from expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene and not designed or intended to be re-used.

Regulation 3, on plastic plates, trays and bowls, applies to supply to an end user. Regulation 5 does not use those words. In our reading, a polystyrene cup sold from one business to another is therefore within regulation 5. The GOV.UK guidance fits that reading: it lists food and drink containers made of expanded and extruded polystyrene among the banned items and says there are no exemptions to the ban on them, while for plates, bowls and trays it exempts supply to another business. The guidance does not name cups.

On the penalty, regulation 5(2) says a person guilty of the offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine, and states no amount. Regulation 9 and Schedule 1 add civil sanctions. A local authority, which regulation 2 defines as the regulator, may impose a fixed monetary penalty of £200 under the 2023 Regulations, or a compliance notice, once it is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the offence was committed. The notice of intent must offer the chance to discharge the penalty by paying £100 within 28 days of receiving it, and the person can make representations within the same 28 days. Schedule 1 also provides for stop notices, enforcement undertakings, non-compliance penalties and enforcement cost recovery notices.

Regulation 6 gives a defence to a person who took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence. Where the defence rests on information supplied by another person, regulation 6(4) asks whether it was reasonable to rely on it, having regard to the steps taken, and those which might reasonably have been taken, to verify it and to whether there was reason to disbelieve it. Regulation 7 sets the time limits: an information may be tried if it is laid within twelve months after the date on which evidence sufficient, in the opinion of the prosecutor, to justify the proceedings comes to the prosecutor's knowledge, and no proceedings may be brought more than three years after the offence.

GOV.UK says local authorities carry out inspections and that inspectors can visit a shop or store, make test purchases, speak to staff and ask to see records. It says a business that breaks the law could be fined and ordered to cover the cost of the investigation, and that an appeal can be made within 28 days of getting a fine.

Scotland

The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 came into force on 1 June 2022 and, under regulation 1(2), extend to Scotland only.

Regulation 3(1) makes it an offence for a person who, in the course of a business, supplies, offers to supply or has in their possession for supply any of the listed products, which include single-use expanded polystyrene beverage cups. Two features go further than the English text. Possession for supply is caught, so stock held ready for a bar is within the offence on its wording. Regulation 3(2) also makes it an offence to use expanded polystyrene to manufacture the cups. Regulation 2 defines the cup as a cup for beverages, including any cover or lid, that is made wholly or partly from expanded polystyrene and is single-use, and supply again means supply whether by way of sale or not.

The penalty on conviction is a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (regulation 3(5)). Regulations 16 to 18 add fixed penalty notices, and the revised text carries an amendment note saying they were inserted from 31 March 2025 by S.S.I. 2025/28. An enforcement officer who has reason to believe an offence has been committed may give a fixed penalty notice, but not more than 14 days after the day of the offence. The fixed penalty is £200 under the 2021 Regulations as amended in 2025, with a discounted amount of £100 if it is paid within 14 days of the notice, and otherwise it is payable within 28 days. The notice must explain that the person is not required to accept the offer and may be prosecuted instead.

Enforcement sits with local authorities, which under regulation 14 may authorise a person in writing to exercise the powers of entry and examination in regulation 15. Regulation 12 adds that where a body corporate, a Scottish partnership or an unincorporated association commits an offence with the consent or connivance of, or through neglect by, a relevant individual such as a director, manager or partner, that individual commits it as well. Regulation 13 gives a defence to a person who took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence.

Wales

In Wales the ban is in the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Act 2023. Section 2 makes a product prohibited if it is listed in the Table in the Schedule and no exemption applies. The Table lists cups, with the exemption that a cup not made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene is not prohibited, so a cup made of that material is.

Section 5 is drawn around the consumer. A body corporate, partnership, unincorporated association or sole trader commits the offence by supplying a prohibited product to a consumer who is in Wales, which includes arranging delivery to an address in Wales, or by offering to supply it to a consumer on premises in Wales. Supplying means selling the product or providing it free of charge, and offering includes displaying it or keeping it on the premises so that a consumer can reach it. A consumer is an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside their trade, business or profession. On that wording, and in our reading, a sale of polystyrene cups from one business to another is outside section 5 itself, while cups handed to the public at a bar or stall in Wales are inside it.

Section 5(7) gives a defence to a person who exercised all due diligence and took all reasonable precautions. Section 6 makes the offence punishable on summary conviction by a fine, with no amount stated. Section 7 lets a local authority, meaning a county council or county borough council in Wales, investigate complaints, bring prosecutions and take other steps to reduce offences in its area.

Section 17 let the Welsh Ministers make civil sanctions by regulations, and the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Civil Sanctions) (Wales) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 December 2023, with local authorities as the regulator. The fixed monetary penalty is £200 under those 2023 Regulations. A notice of intent must say that liability can be discharged by paying 50 per cent of the penalty within 28 days of receiving it. If a final notice follows, the penalty is payable within 56 days, and after that the amount payable rises by 50 per cent. The Regulations also provide for variable monetary penalties, compliance notices, stop notices and enforcement undertakings.

What it means for an event organiser

The three texts agree on the core: a polystyrene cup supplied in the course of a business is an offence, local authorities enforce it, and each gives a due diligence defence. They differ on who is caught. England and Scotland catch a business supplying at any point in the chain on their wording, Scotland adds possession for supply and manufacture, and Wales is drawn around supply to a consumer. Each text also defines single-use in its own words, so, in our view, a claim that a polystyrene cup is reusable should be tested against the definition of the nation where it is supplied.

An organiser running events in more than one nation is working with three sets of wording. In our view the practical rule is the strictest one: no expanded polystyrene cups in any stock, in any nation. Regulation 6(4) in England points to the steps taken to verify information from a supplier, and in our reading a written statement of the material of a cup order is the kind of step it has in mind, though the sources do not say so.

On the product side

The reusable event cups on this site give polypropylene as their material, and the paper festival cups page describes printed paper pint and half-pint cups. Neither page mentions polystyrene. A free sample cup can be ordered to see the cup in hand, and a quote can be asked for by choosing the cups, then the quantities and delivery options.

Where this stands

This was checked on 26 October 2026. The pages read show no known outstanding effects on the English and Scottish regulations or on section 5 of the Welsh Act. The one pending change on the Welsh Schedule adds wet wipes from 18 December 2026 and does not touch cups. The Welsh civil sanctions Regulations are held on legislation.gov.uk in their original form only. The GOV.UK guidance was last updated on 7 October 2024.