Food waste falls by 7% per person in three years

The UK is making significant steps in reducing its food waste, with total food waste levels falling by 480,000 tonnes between 2015 and 2018 – a 7% reduction per person and equivalent of filling London’s Royal Albert Hall ten times.

The new data comes from sustainability not-for-profit Wrap’s latest Courtauld Commitment 2025 Milestone Progress Report, which sets our progress in food waste reduction since 2007. It reveals that households and businesses are now tackling the problem at an accelerated rate, with a greater rate of progress from 2015 to 2018 than over the preceding five years.

Looking back to when Wrap began work on household food waste, a total of 1.4 million tonnes of food has been saved from going to waste each year in our homes compared to 2007 levels – enough each year to fill 150,000 food collection trucks which, if placed end to end, would stretch from London to Prague.

More to do – across the whole food chain

The report shows that UK households still waste 4.5 million tonnes of food that could have been eaten, worth £14 billion every year (£700 for an average family with children). The volume of food still wasted equates to ten billion meals. A reduction of 4% in the supply chain also shows good overall progress from businesses, but Wrap says many more businesses need to step up their action on food waste to help halve global food waste by 2030.

The significant decrease in household food waste can be attributed to a range of factors including heightened public awareness through Wrap’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign, clearer labelling on food packaging, and more local authorities offering residents separate food waste collections.

Marcus Gover, WRAP CEO, “This great news means we are starting to wake up to the reality of food waste, but we are too often turning a blind eye to what is happening in our homes. We are all thinking about what we can do for the environment and this is one of the most simple and powerful ways we can play our part. By wasting less food, we are helping to tackle the biggest challenges this century – feeding the world whilst protecting our planet.”

However, while the most significant drop in household food waste since 2010, Wrap’s latest annual citizen survey found that despite more of the public being aware of the issue of food waste, less than half of the population (39 per cent) connect wasting food at home with the impact this has on the environment.

Based on self-reported estimates for the most commonly wasted foods (potatoes, bread, chicken and milk) it appears around one in three people would still be classified as being high food wasters.