New figures published by the UK government's waste reduction body WRAP have revealed a sharp fall in home food waste, a result that is being attributed to the success of retailers' work to change customers' behaviour.
Total UK domestic food waste fell by 13 per cent, the equivalent of 1.1m tonnes, between 2006/07 and 2010, WRAP reported.
All the major food retailers are delivering WRAP’s Love Food, Hate Waste campaign by providing advice on food storage and use of leftovers, offering a wider range of portion sizes and making the best use of packaging, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said.
'This reduction is all the more important because food waste has such a large environmental impact and costs people hard-earned money,' said BRC head of environment Bob Gordon. 'The scale of the reduction shows retailers are right to support customers in tackling the biggest source of food waste – the home. Previous WRAP figures showed eight times more food waste coming from homes than from stores.
'Not all food waste is avoidable – bones and peelings for example – but the scale of the waste reduction achieved shows retailers successfully educating and encouraging customers to change the way they buy and manage food,' Gordon continued. 'It's also good to see local authorities taking more responsibility. Rising numbers of separate collections are making more households aware of their food waste and the need to tackle it.
'Retailers are working to take these gains further but also to make progress in areas such as the assessment and reduction of the whole-life environmental impact of products,' he added.
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