Wasted food now costs UK homes £10 billion, new study reveals
The cost of needlessly wasted food to UK households is £10 billion a year, £2 billion higher than previously estimated according to new research published today by WRAP.
The research gives detailed new insights into the nature and amount of food waste thrown away in the UK and is believed to be the most comprehensive study of its kind ever carried out.
It 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.
Researchers found that more than half the good food thrown out, 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. The study revealed that £1 billion worth of wasted food is still “in date”. It costs local authorities £1 billion a year to dispose of food waste.
Stopping the waste of good food could avoid 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents from being emitted each year – the same as 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 added:
“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, said:
“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.”
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.”
Editor's notes:
The Food We Waste Report:
This study which 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.
Key Facts from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign:
- In the UK we are throwing away one third of the food we buy. That’s like one in three bagfuls of food shopping going straight in the bin.
- We throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year in the UK, when most of this food could have been eaten. (Its not just peelings and bones –its good food).That’s equivalent to filling Wembley Stadium with food waste 8 times over!
- In terms of environmental impact – producing, storing and getting the food to our homes uses a lot of energy. The carbon impact of food waste is enormous. Tackling it would provide a carbon benefit equivalent to taking 1 in 5 cars off of UK roads.
- Most of the wasted food reaches landfill sites where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
- High economic cost – at least £10bn worth of food that could have been eaten is thrown out every year.
- We throw food out for two main reasons: food gets forgotten and is left unused; we serve up too much and don’t use leftovers.
- For more information on the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, visit: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
Generic Notes:
- WRAP helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and helping to tackle climate change.
- 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 www.wrap.org.uk
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press.office@wrap.org.uk
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