UK Households Throw Away Less Food, Report 13% Reduction in Food Waste

UK households are throwing away less food and have shown a 13 percent reduction in the food waste generation, according to a data published by the government agency, Waste and Resource Action Programme (Wrap). The agency was reporting on the progress of the food waste generation during the last three years.

Major part of the reduction seems to have come from households not throwing away as much still-edible food as they were three years previously. But wasting less food products is still not helping people, as due to inflationary pressures, monthly household budgets are still the same, says the report.

The figures disclosed by Wrap show that there was an estimated 7.2 million tonnes of household food waste in the UK in 2010, down 13% from the 8.3 million tonnes thrown away in 2007. The reduction in food waste could be influenced by positive changes in shopping, product packaging, food price inflation, changes to household incomes and how leftover food is collected from homes, Wrap said in the report.

But despite the significant fall in the food waste generation, the UK households are still throwing away edible food worth £12 billion a year. Super market deals and celebrity chefs also play a major part in encouraging people to go for elaborate purchasing of perishable items.

The reduction in food waste could be influenced by positive changes in shopping and to products and packaging, as well as food price inflation, changes to household incomes and how leftover food is collected from homes, Wrap said in the report.

"The fall in household food waste since 2006/07 from 8.3 million tonnes to 7.2 million tonnes per year was very welcome and probably due to a range of factors. However, there was a big job still to be done given the food we waste in homes alone is worth £12bn a year, and food wasted throughout the supply chain was 'significant' at a time when food security was a major global issue," says Dr. Liz Goodwin, Chief Executive of Wrap.

The British retailers are initiating many steps to provide more information to consumers on food storage and use of leftovers and offering a wider range of portions such as half-loaves of bread, says the British Retail Consortium.