Labelling key to food waste reduction

A new report released today (24 June) from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has provided new insights on how to reduce household waste, allowing the industry to target its activity and enable customers to save money.

The report, 'Household Food & Drink Waste: a product focus report', highlights that two million tonnes of household food is discarded because it is not ‘used in time’ – half of which is thrown away whole or in unopened packaging, costing UK consumers £2.4 billion a year. 

As well as identifying problem areas, the report provides recommendations for future industry plans.

This report has been published today to coincide with Love Food Hate Waste’s 10 Cities campaign, which encourages people in major urban centres to get thinking about what they waste and actions they can take to reduce this and save money.

Report findings

According to WRAP’s findings, a third (660,000t) of the two million tonnes of wasted food was thrown out because it had passed its date label, while foods being judged by consumers to have ‘gone off’ (mouldy, stale, etc.) were responsible for most of the remaining 1.3 million tonnes.

Indeed, there has been much debate surrounding the removal of best-before dates from food packaging. The governments of Sweden and the Netherlands recently called for the EU to remove these dates from certain foods, suggesting that they play a role in food wastage.  

The report notes that progress has been made around clarifying date labels and storage guidance to keep food fresher for longer, under WRAP’s Courtauld Commitment, but the level of waste shows more needs to be done in these and other areas.

It also highlights how spreading best practice across a sector could lead to significant waste reductions. Using the dairy sector as an example, a change from ‘use by’ to ‘best before’ for most hard cheeses could be applied to suitable yoghurts. This could help reduce the £130 million of yoghurts thrown away each year, saving consumers money and reducing the impact on the environment.

Report recommendations

Using insight to target industry and consumer action was instrumental in helping to reduce household food waste by 21 per cent from 2007-2012.  The new 'Household Food & Drink Waste: a product focus report' builds on this by identifying new areas to tackle, through focusing on why and when food waste occurs.

The report’s three main recommendations are:

• To ensure the packaging design and storage guidance helps consumers keep food fresher for longer and build upon the work of Love Food Hate Waste’s Fresher for Longer initiative;
• To maximise the length of shelf life and use a ‘best before’ date on perishable foods, where possible;
• And to accelerate the roll out and increase public awareness of the ‘freeze before date mark’ label (replacing ‘freeze on day of purchase’).

Portion control

Given that 90 per cent of waste occurs in amounts of more than 50 grammes (g) – the weight of an average tomato – and a third in amounts more than 400g – the weight of a small loaf of bread – the report suggests there is an opportunity to tackle a large volume of waste by finding new ways of helping consumers to buy and use the amounts they need.

Packaging innovation and product development also have a role to play in reducing waste. Over the last seven years, the role of packaging to minimise food and drink waste has evolved significantly – including vacuum packaging and the use of novel materials to extend shelf life, such as resealable and portion packs.

The report sets out recommendations including the introduction of a range of pack sizes, that are still value for money, and offering smaller multipacks that will help meet the needs of changing demographics.

David Moon, Head of Food Sustainability at WRAP, said: “A significant amount of work has already been undertaken by the sector to introduce innovative approaches to keep food fresher for longer, but with 4.2 megatonnes of edible food thrown away each year from the home, more needs to be done. These valuable insights will enable the food industry to target their interventions in the areas that will deliver the greatest reduction in food waste and save consumers money.”

Resources Management Minister Dan Rogerson added: “Everyone has a role to play in reducing food waste and we are determined to support food retailers, industry and consumers in their efforts.

“By providing valuable insight this report will inform our work with industry to improve products, packaging and practices which can help consumers to save money and avoid waste.”

Love Food Hate Waste

The report has been published today to coincide with Love Food Hate Waste’s 10 Cities campaign, which encourages people in major urban centres to get thinking about what they waste and actions they can take to reduce this and save money.

The campaign will help the food and drink sector meet the Courtauld target to reduce household food waste by five per cent by 2015 against a 2012 baseline.

Love Food Hate Waste is also calling for everyone to get thinking about what they throw away and what they might be able to do instead to ensure that ‘good’ food doesn't go to waste.

The campaign will work in partnership with local authorities and retailers including Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, The Co-operative Food, Central England Co-operative and M&S.

Minister for Natural Resources and Food in Wales Alun Davies said: “In Wales we have ambitious targets to reduce the amount of waste that we produce, and tackling household and commercial food waste are key to this. Resource efficiency not only brings environmental benefits, but the potential of real cost savings for businesses and consumers.”

Read the full WRAP report and find out about WRAP’s food waste reduction scheme in Wales.