Food Waste: key facts, policy and trends in the UK - Parliamentary briefing

A House of Commons Library Briefing has just been released which includes some key food waste facts and trends; an explanation of the impacts of food waste; food waste policy and legislation; information on the UK voluntary initiatives in place to tackle food waste; and a summary of proposals for change.

In case of interest it can be found here: 'Briefing Paper Number CBP07552: Food Waste'

Defra statistics show that 15 million tonnes of food and drink was wasted in the food chain in 2013 in the UK. The highest proportion of food waste (around 7 million tonnes­–nearly half) was produced by households, but there was a 15% reduction in household food waste between 2007 and 2012.

After households, the manufacturing sector produced around 3.9 million tonnes of food waste; followed by the hospitality sector (around 0.92 million tonnes). The grocery, retail and wholesale sectors (which includes supermarkets) wasted around 0.25 million tonnes.