Thank you for contacting me about food waste.
Food waste is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and 70 per cent of UK food waste occurs in our homes. The majority of this is food that could have been eaten and is worth approximately £14 billion. I am aware that milk, potatoes and bread are the most commonly wasted foods.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is committed to seeing less food being wasted, investing £2.6 million in 2022. This funding has supported the Courtauld 2030 Commitment, a voluntary agreement with the food industry with a target to halve food waste by 2030.
Ministers support consumer campaigns delivered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to reduce and prevent food waste. These include Love Food Hate Waste, which helps citizens reduce their food waste and make the connection with climate change.
Further, businesses are required to follow the food and drink waste hierarchy. This lays out a prioritised list of options to reduce waste, from preventing surplus and waste arising to redistributing to charities and commercial redistributors. Businesses are helped through the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap which sets out a plan to reduce food waste and increase redistribution through a Target, Measure and Act approach. By measuring and acting on waste, businesses can take targeted action and more surplus will be redistributed.
The Government recently consulted on options to improve the reporting of surplus and waste by large food businesses in England. This consultation has closed and I look forward to reading the Government’s response in due course.
Finally, nearly £13 million has been awarded to over 250 redistribution organisations across the country since 2018 for the provision of warehousing, vehicles, fridges and freezers. Ministers believe that these projects will continue to reduce food waste and deliver safe discounted food.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.