UK prepares a mandatory report of food waste
Defra Minister, Rebecca Pow, has confirmed that the Government will consult this year on introducing regulations to make the public reporting of food waste volumes mandatory for businesses of a certain.
This consultation was postponed because of the pandemic and businesses will be given at least a year after regulations are passed, to embed measurement techniques and build confidence in their data, before they are required to report. So, subject to consultation, relevant businesses will report food waste in 2024, for food waste measured in the 2023/2024 financial year, informs the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA).
Currently, in the UK about 9.5 million tonnes of food, worth £19 billion are wasted every year. "According to the most recent report by the charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the UK produced around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in 2018. It is estimated that 70% of this total was intended to be consumed by people, with 30% classified as “inedible parts”. Broken down by sector, this waste was comprised of:
6.6 million tonnes (70%) from households.
1.5 million tonnes (16%) from manufacturers.
1.1 million tonnes (12%) from hospitality and food service (HaFS).
0.3 million tonnes (3%) from the retail industry.
WRAP estimated that this waste had a value of over £19 billion a year and would be associated with more than 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. It has said that of this waste, 6.4 million tonnes could have been eaten—the equivalent of over 15 billion meals.
The report then considered changes in food surplus and waste over time. WRAP said that there has been around a 15% reduction in total food waste between 2007 and 2018, with 11.2 million tonnes of food waste reported in 2007 compared to 9.5 million tonnes in 2018. It stated that this total included a reduction of household waste of 18%, with 8 million tonnes reported in 2007 compared to 6.6 million tonnes in 2018.
WRAP concluded in its report that the UK is currently on a trajectory to meet the UN’s SDG 12.3, assuming that the current rates of progress are maintained", according to a report published by the British Parliament.
In February 2021, WRAP published the results of a series of surveys into UK adults’ attitudes to and behaviours around food waste during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Four surveys were undertaken in total (in April, May, September, and November 2020) and each had over 4,000 respondents.
Overall results from the surveys showed a decrease in reported levels of food waste. In November 2019, the self-reported level of the amount of food wasted was 24.1%; in November 2020 this had decreased to 18.7%. The lowest level of food waste, 13.7%, was reported in April 2020, during the first national lockdown.
In April 2020, 79% of respondents undertook new food management behaviours. These included:
41% of respondents said they undertook more pre-shop planning than before, such as checking the fridge and cupboards.
35% of respondents said they managed food better at home, such as checking use-by dates.
30% of respondents started using up more leftovers. The report said that respondents continued with these behaviours in the months following the first lockdown.
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