UK Government ‘Should Do More To Tackle Food Waste’

The Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee has published a report calling on the government to do more to reduce Britain’s food waste and to encourage appropriate recycling of any food that does end up in the bin.

According to the chair of the committee Neil Parish, UK households throw away £10 billion of food every year, at an average annual cost of £200 per person. The committee has made a number of recommendations on how to improve the situation, including ensuring that food that is thrown away is disposed of in the best way possible.

“Once it is thrown away the best way to deal with food waste is to recycle it by sending it to anaerobic digestion or composting,” Mr Parish commented.

He added that sending it to landfill or waste incineration without energy recovery is the worst way to handle this kind of waste.

The committee also stressed that there needs to be greater awareness among consumers of the true cost of food waste, financially, environmentally and socially. Mr Parish said that it is “a scandal” that so much food is going to the bin when there are so many people going hungry.

Another of the recommendations is for supermarkets to relax their rules about wonky veg to make sure that perfectly edible produce isn’t rejected purely for its appearance.

There is a growing push in the UK to invest in more anaerobic digestion plants. Last month the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association suggested that a research centre for the technology should be established in the UK to help ensure the country is a leader in biogas technology.

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