We all like turkey sandwiches, and some of us even guzzle cold sprouts, but Morrisons has introduced recipe cards to reduce the 230,000 tonnes of food wasted over Christmas.

Around a third of the food bought by UK consumers ends up in the rubbish bin, according to the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

And over Christmas, when the volume of food wasted increases by an astonishing 80 per cent, that means 230,000 tonnes of food, worth £274 million, will be thrown away.

In an attempt to reduce this figure, Morrisons has created a series of leftover food recipe cards to encourage people to recycle surplus Christmas food to make new meals.

The average household spent £169 on food and drink for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day this year, according to a report by Stockholm Environment Institute - The Carbon Cost of Christmas.

Morrisons’ seven recipe cards - in-store until January 6 - cover all food sectors. Extra fruit and vegetables feature in curried parsnip soup and banana and mincemeat muffins. Unfinished cheeseboards can also be turned into cheesy bubble and squeak with roasted tomatoes. Recipes and leftover top tips are also available on Morrisons website www.morrisons.co.uk

The UK throws away 6.7mt of food each year, and most of it could have been eaten. This equates to at least 15mt of carbon dioxide and costs each household on average £400 every year.