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Lords to investigate how the EU prevents food waste

By Annie Kane | 19 November 2013 | Add a Comment

 

The House of Lords EU Sub-Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy, will tomorrow (20 November) investigate how the European Union is preventing food waste ahead of its 2020 target to reduce food waste by 50 per cent.

Starting tomorrow morning, the sub-committee will take evidence from charities working on ‘environmental and food poverty causes’, as well as from representatives from the food packaging industry. 

The inquiry forms part of an investigation to establish a ‘common understanding of the issue [of food waste], identify and scrutinise proposed EU-level solutions, consider their implications, and identify any areas for further research’.

According to the European Commission, the 27 members states of the European Union throw away 89 million tonnes of food every year (with the UK throwing away almost five per cent of this, according to WRAP figures).

Specific ‘areas of concern’ that the inquiry will cover include:

  • Why is food waste a significant issue to be tackled and how does it fit with ‘wider objectives of sustainable, inclusive and smart economic growth’?
  • How should food waste be defined and how can it be monitored?
  • What are the principle causes of food waste in the EU?
  • What role can EU regulation and guidance play in preventing it?
  • What economic drivers are in place to prevent food waste and what further efforts would be desirable?
  • How realistic is the European Commission's aspiration to halve food waste by 2020?
  • What are the economic, social and environmental implications of food waste prevention?

Industry representatives

In the first evidence session – starting tomorrow at 10.30 am – the committee will hear how food waste is defined and ‘the difference between food waste at the end of the supply chain and food loss at earlier stages’, and will take into account current food safety regulations and whether they ‘inhibit charities from redistributing unsold food to those in need’.

Evidence will be presented to the committee by: Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive Officer of food redistribution charity, FareShare; Tim Burns, Evidence and Policy Manager at anti-litter campaigners, Keep Britain Tidy; and Jeanette Longfield MBE, Co-ordinator of food and farming charity, Sustain.

Lindsay Boswell, FareShare CEO, said: “Ultimately we want more parts of the food industry to work with us so we can divert more surplus food to charities and help feed more people. To do this we need to work with more businesses in the manufacturing sector as that’s where a lot of the surplus is.

"If we have the opportunity, we would also like to point out the fact that there are financial incentives for businesses to give to other parts of the waste hierarchy, such as Anaerobic Digestion, but these same incentives do not exist for redistributing surplus food to charities and feeding hungry people.”

At 11.30 am, the committee will hear from Jane Bickerstaffe, Director of the Industry Council for research on Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN); Simon Oxley, Member of INCPEN Board (representing Marks & Spencer); Alan Davey, Director of Innovation at LINPAC Packaging; and Dick Searle, Chief Executive of the Packaging Federation on ‘what contribution packaging can make to ensure food stays fresh for longer’. The speakers will also consider whether the European Commission’s target of a 50 per cent reduction in food waste by 2020 is ‘realistic or whether it would be better to have a less ambitious but legally binding target’.

The evidence sessions can be followed live on Parliament TV.

It is expected the committee will report to the house, with recommendations from both the oral and written representations, in ‘late March 2014’. The report will receive responses from the government and the European Commission, and may also be debated in the house.

The food waste prevention inquiry marks the latest investigation into waste, following on from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee investigation into the ‘potential economic benefit of waste’ last week (12 November).

Read more about the House of Lords Agriculture, Fisheries, Environment and Energy EU Sub-Committee.