Many wholesalers will be significantly better off as the result of a judicial review looking at the way the Waste Packaging Regulations are interpreted.
Until the decision, wholesalers were deemed to have a responsibility for recycling bottles they sold to pubs, clubs and other licensed premises.
But the Court decided that where bottles such as beer were for a single customer rather than bottles which serve many customers such as spirits the obligation for recycling was with the pub or club that sells them.
John Murphy, deputy director general of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, said the decision was excellent news for wholesalers, because they would no longer have to pay for recycling the bottles. He said many wholesalers had already been in touch with their compliance organisations about decreasing their obligation this year as a result of the judgment.
However, because of the complex calculations required, it was too early to say how much wholesalers would save.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency, which operates the Waste Packaging Regulations on behalf of the government, said the judgment would have implications for other lines sold in the same way, such as cans of drink, and single-serve plastic tubs of milk.
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