CCAs, ESOS & Reporting Across Food & Drink
The sector Climate Change Agreements and who is actually in scope for ESOS and SECR, plus packaging producer responsibility: the scoping questions every audit answers first.
10 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead · Last reviewed July 2026
Food and drink is energy-intensive enough that the UK tax system treats it specially: through the sector's Climate Change Agreements, a qualifying site can claim a substantial discount on the Climate Change Levy in exchange for committing to efficiency targets. But the compliance landscape is also where audits most often embarrass themselves, by prescribing schemes to businesses that aren't in scope for them. This lesson covers the CCA machinery as it stands, who actually falls under ESOS and SECR at food-and-drink company sizes, and the packaging levy that increasingly sits alongside the energy bills.
In this lesson
- 01The CCA deal, as it stands
- 02ESOS and SECR: check the size before writing the section
- 03Packaging producer responsibility
- 04The auditor's angle
- 05Sources and further reading