"These findings are staggering in their own right, but at a time when global food shortages are in the headlines this kind of wastefulness becomes even more shocking"
Joan Ruddock, Environment Minister
Banbury, England, UK: Its official! UK households are loosing £10 billion a year due to needlessly waste food. This is £2 billion higher than previously estimated according to new research published today by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).
The research is probably the most comprehensive study of its kind ever carried out and reveals that the average household throws out £420 of good food a year. For the average family with children it’s higher at £610 – money which could have helped pay household bills.
More than half the good food thrown out in the UK, worth £6 billion a year, is bought and simply left unused or untouched. For example, each day 1.3 million unopened yoghurt pots, 5,500 whole chickens and 440,000 ready meals are thrown away in the UK. In fact £1 billion worth of wasted food remarkably is still “in date”. Not only are there financial losses to householders but it costs local authorities £1 billion a year to dispose of the food waste.
The two main reasons for throwing out food are that it gets forgotten and is left unused together with the fact that we serve up too much and don’t use leftovers, according to WRAP.
Preventing the waste of good food is estimated to prevent 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents being emitted each year. Another contribution to mitigating climate change and the equivalent of taking 1 in 5 cars off of UK roads.
Launching the report The Food We Waste today, Liz Goodwin, Chief Executive of WRAP, described the findings as “shocking”.
“Food waste has a significant environmental impact. This research confirms that it is an issue for us all, whether as consumers, retailers, local or central Government. I believe it will spark a major debate about the way food is packaged, sold, stored at home, cooked and then collected when it is thrown out.“
She continued:
“What shocked me the most was the cost of our food waste at a time of rising food bills, and generally a tighter pull on our purse strings. It highlights that this is an economic and social issue, as well as about how much we understand the value of our food. Tackling the problem of food waste will be at the heart of WRAP’s work over the next three years.”
Julia Falcon of WRAP’s campaign, Love Food Hate Waste, added:
“This report shows we could all be saving money and time by making better use of our food. We’ve found there’s a real demand for quick and easy ideas and Love Food Hate Waste can help with tips which turn into good habits in the kitchen.”
The Food We Waste Report:
WRAP says that the study is believed to be the first of its kind in the world, consisted of a detailed survey of households and a physical analysis of their waste.
A representative sample of 2,715 households in England and Wales was interviewed, and several weeks later, 2,138 of them had their waste collected for analysis - with their signed consent.
The research was designed so that WRAP could quantify the amounts and types of food waste being produced, but also made links between this and the attitudes displayed by, and disposal options available to the household.
Environment Minister Joan Ruddock said:
“These findings are staggering in their own right, but at a time when global food shortages are in the headlines this kind of wastefulness becomes even more shocking.
“This is costing consumers three times over. Not only do they pay hard-earned money for food they don’t eat, there is also the cost of dealing with the waste this creates. And there are climate change costs to all of us of growing, processing, packaging, transporting, and refrigerating food that only ends up in the bin.
“Preventing waste in the first place has to remain a top priority. WRAP’s advice on the changes everyone can make to ensure they cut their own waste – and their own bills – makes sense all round.”
Further information
For more information on the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, visit: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
Established as a not-for-profit company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on http://www.wrap.org.uk