Overview
This post explains how Business Central supports food and beverage sustainability for UK manufacturers in 2026. It separates what the system does today from the gaps, so you can plan where a specialist tool fits.
Key Takeaways
- Business Central tracks lots and expiry dates, and FEFO picking sends the earliest-expiring stock out first, which means less stock expires on the shelf.
- Item tracing links each lot back to its suppliers and forward to its customers, which means you keep a documented chain for recalls.
- Sustainability Management records Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, plus water and waste, through journals and purchase documents.
- UK rules keep moving. Packaging EPR fees now vary by recyclability, and Plastic Packaging Tax rose to £228.82 per tonne on 1 April 2026.
- Blockchain traceability, live-traffic route planning and automatic EPR filing are not standard Business Central features.
- Accurate item data, such as expiry dates, packaging weights and materials, underpins every report.
Why Sustainability Matters for UK Food and Beverage Manufacturers
WRAP estimates that the UK generates about 10.2 million tonnes of food waste a year. Food manufacturing accounts for about 1.4 million tonnes of that, or 13%, based on data for 2021 and 2022.
The edible share of manufacturers’ waste came to 706,000 tonnes in 2021. WRAP valued that food at £0.85 billion at 2021 prices, so the cost lands directly on your margin.
The UK’s voluntary Food and Drink Pact aims to halve post-farm-gate food waste per person by 2030, against a 2007 baseline. Customers also ask suppliers for waste and emissions data, because supplier emissions count in their own Scope 3 totals. Our Food and Beverage page shows how we help manufacturers meet those requests.
What Has Changed since Our 2025 Post
We published the first version of this post in May 2025. Since then, both Microsoft and UK regulators have moved on.
Microsoft has expanded Sustainability Management, and its release plan now lists water and waste tracking, scorecards and Copilot help with emissions estimates. Some listed items were still awaiting release when we checked, so confirm what your version includes. Our April 2025 release breakdown lists the sustainability features that arrived with version 26.
UK rules changed too. Revised packaging EPR rules have applied since April 2025, and fees now vary by recyclability. We also removed claims from the original post that Business Central does not support as standard. The section on gaps below explains which ones.
Cut Food Waste with Expiry Tracking and FEFO
Spoiled and expired stock is one of the most direct sources of waste in a food business. Business Central helps because you can give each item a tracking code that records lot numbers and expiry dates.
For FEFO picking, you also turn on Pick According to FEFO on the location and make bins mandatory. Business Central then sorts picks so the earliest expiry leaves first. If two lots share an expiry date, it picks the lower lot number.
Turn on Strict Expiration Posting on the item tracking code as well. Then expired lots drop out of picks, so nobody ships them by mistake.
Demand planning matters as much as picking. Business Central includes a sales and inventory forecast feature that uses machine learning on your sales history. It helps you avoid overbuying, but accuracy depends on your data, so treat it as a guide.
Move Surplus Stock before It Becomes Waste
WRAP reports that redistribution organisations received about 210,000 tonnes of surplus food in 2024, worth around £870 million.
Business Central has no standard link to Too Good To Go or similar apps. You can still record discounted surplus sales through price lists and post donations to a dedicated account. Then your reports show how much stock you diverted from waste.
If your volumes justify it, a partner can build a connector to your redistribution platform.
Trace Every Lot from Supplier to Customer
Traceability protects your customers and your brand. Item tracing in Business Central follows a lot back to the suppliers and materials behind it, and forward to the customers who received it.
That matters in a recall, because the system already holds the links between lots, suppliers and customers. You can also hold certifications, such as Fairtrade or Red Tractor, as item attributes. Our guide to food manufacturing ERP covers more of these controls.
Record Emissions, Water and Waste
Sustainability Management is the built-in module for environmental data. Start by setting up a chart of sustainability accounts, and give each one an emission scope: Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3 or Water/Waste.
Then post entries through sustainability journals or purchase documents. You can type values in by hand or use formulas that calculate emissions from figures such as fuel or energy use.
Reporting comes built in. The Track Item of Concern report shows inbound and outbound emissions, including CO2e, CO2, CH4 and N2O. Excel reports, analysis views and embedded Power BI dashboards cover the rest. Our Power BI for Business Central page explains how to build your own.
Scope 3 needs supplier data. Microsoft’s release plan says you can import emission factors through open APIs, and that Copilot can estimate footprints when a factor is missing. Check which of these features your version includes.
Meet UK Packaging Rules
Two packaging rules affect most food and beverage manufacturers. The first is packaging extended producer responsibility, or EPR. Since April 2025, large producers pay fees for the household packaging they supply, according to the House of Commons Library.
Large means a turnover above £2 million and more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year. Fees were flat in the first year, but they now vary by recyclability, so red-rated packaging costs more than green.
The second is Plastic Packaging Tax. GOV.UK sets the rate at £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026 for plastic packaging components with less than 30% recycled plastic. You must register once you manufacture or import 10 tonnes or more in 12 months.
Both rules depend on the same data. Hold packaging material, weight and recycled content against each item, for example as item attributes, and export it for your returns.
Meet Waste and Carbon Reporting Rules
Since 31 March 2025, workplaces in England with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees must separate food waste from general waste. Micro-firms have until 31 March 2027, according to GOV.UK.
SECR, the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting rules, requires large UK companies to report energy use and emissions in their annual reports. Check the current thresholds with your accountant if you are unsure whether you qualify.
Business Central does not file any of these returns for you. It gives you one place to hold the underlying data, so your team spends less time chasing spreadsheets.
What Business Central Does Not Do
Some tools mentioned in older articles, including our own, are not standard Business Central features. Blockchain traceability is one. Live-traffic route planning, predictive maintenance for refrigeration and automatic eco-labels are others.
Where you need those, connect a specialist product. Tecvia works with specialist partners instead of building custom code that you would then have to maintain. Our product arm, Bee Solved, builds connectors and extensions when a real gap remains. Read why Business Central users choose Tecvia to see how we work.
If a supplier promises a feature, ask to see it working in a live demo, not only on a slide.
How to Start: A Practical Order of Work
Work in this order, because each step feeds the next.
- Clean your item data. Add lot tracking, expiry dates, packaging materials and weights.
- Turn on FEFO and Strict Expiration Posting for your food locations.
- Set up sustainability accounts and journals for energy, fuel, water and waste.
- Add supplier data, then ask your largest suppliers for emission factors.
- Build Power BI or Excel reports for waste, emissions and packaging by product.
- Review the outputs with the person who owns your EPR, Plastic Packaging Tax and SECR returns.
Start with one site or product family. Then expand when the data proves reliable.
What This Means for Your Business
Sustainability work in food and beverage pays back through less waste, faster customer audits and fewer surprises from regulators. Business Central gives you the data foundation, but it does not replace specialist tools or a compliance owner.
Consider an illustrative calculation. Say you write off £100,000 of expired stock each year. If better rotation avoids 10% of it, you save £10,000 a year. Use your own figures to size the opportunity.
Get Help with Food and Beverage Sustainability
Tecvia helps UK food and beverage manufacturers set up lot tracking, FEFO picking and sustainability reporting in Business Central. Get in touch with Tecvia to book a free review of your traceability and waste controls.
You can also read about our Business Central features, or see how our implementation approach supports phased rollouts. Operations leaders may find our page for Operations Directors and Managers useful too.
FAQs
Yes. Sustainability Management records Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions, plus water and waste, through sustainability journals and purchase documents. You can report on CO2e and individual gases with built-in reports and Power BI. Check which newer features your version includes.
Yes. Turn on Pick According to FEFO on the location, make bins mandatory and post items with expiry dates. Business Central then picks the earliest-expiring lot first. Strict Expiration Posting also keeps expired lots out of picks.
It can hold the data that both rules need, such as packaging material, weight and recycled content. Microsoft’s release plan lists EPR reporting support, but it says some listed features are not yet released. You still submit returns through the official government services, so confirm what your version supports.
Not as a standard feature. You can record discounted surplus sales and donations with price lists and dedicated accounts. If your volumes justify it, a partner can build a connector.
No. Business Central traces lots and serial numbers back to suppliers and forward to customers. That gives you a documented chain from supplier to customer. If a customer demands blockchain records, a specialist product can connect to Business Central.
Packaging EPR, Plastic Packaging Tax and Simpler Recycling all apply. EPR fees vary by recyclability, and Plastic Packaging Tax is £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026. Simpler Recycling requires workplaces in England with 10 or more full-time staff to separate food waste. Check GOV.UK for your thresholds.
WRAP estimates that food manufacturing produces about 1.4 million tonnes of food waste a year, or 13% of the UK total. About 706,000 tonnes of that was edible food in 2021. WRAP valued it at £0.85 billion at 2021 prices.
Sustainability Management arrived with the 2024 release wave 1, and Microsoft has expanded it since. Our April 2025 release breakdown lists further additions. Always check your own version for the features you need.
