Reducing Food Waste Saves UK £100 Million in 3 Years

The UK’s Waste and Resources Action Programme saved about  £100 million (approx $360 million USD) and thousands of tons of waste over three years, according to its new report.  

In May of 2013, the Courtauld Commitment 3 (CC3) initiated a campaign to reduce waste across the UK by recruiting over 50 food and beverage manufacturers and retailers. Participation was voluntary and included global brands Nestle and Coca-Cola.

The goals were to decrease packaging waste and household food waste, and reduce the carbon impact within the industry through 2015. They achieved most of them.

• The group reached their goal, reducing product and packaging waste by 3%. This saved the industry 219,000 tons of waste, with the estimated food value at £100 Million.  

• They missed the mark in reducing household food waste. It actually increased from 7 million tons in 2012 to 7.3 million tons in 2015.

• The recovery and recycling rate increased by 4% (or approximately 89,000 tons) over the three years. This, along with the decreased packaging waste, helped reduce the carbon impact.

Read the report.