Resources
WRAP and UK food businesses have agreed some common guidelines for measuring and reporting on food surplus and waste, consistent with the global Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard (FLW Standard)
- Food and drink
- Reducing and preventing food waste
- Measuring and reporting food waste
- Food Waste Reduction Roadmap
- Hospitality and food service
Note: From 31 March 2023, WRAP will archive Love Your Clothes due to a change in funding priorities and following feedback from our Textiles 2030 Citizen Working Group. The focus will instead be on providing businesses and brands with straightforward citizen messaging.
- Textiles
- Textiles sourcers, producers and designers
Re-use occurs when items are used again for their original purpose. It can involve checking, cleaning and repairing items before they are passed on to a new owner. Local authorities can develop services to facilitate re-use or support existing re-use organisations and community groups to deliver their own activities.
- Collections & recycling
- Collections and sorting
- Kerbside collection
- HWRCs & bring sites
- Re-use
- Waste management and reprocessors
- Local Authorities
Distributing unwanted or surplus food via ‘food banks’ and redistribution charities puts food that would otherwise have been wasted to good use.
Both residents and business in the community can donate to such schemes.
- Food and drink
- Reducing and preventing food waste
- Surplus food redistribution
- Non-governmental organisations
WRAP carried out research in 2012/13 to test communications aimed at:
- building awareness of the negative aspects of food waste; and,
- influencing behaviours to prevent food waste and increase the use of local authority food collection services.
This section of the Household Waste Prevention Hub provides a summary overview of the research report’s recommendations.
- Collections & recycling
- Service design
- Communicating with residents
- Collections and sorting
- Kerbside collection
- Organics
- Local Authorities
This section of the Waste Prevention Hub describes the extent of food waste in the home and how it can be prevented.
WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) campaign contains useful reference material that local authorities can draw on to promote food reduction in their area.
- Food and drink
- Reducing and preventing food waste
- Measuring and reporting food waste
- Household food waste
- Local Authorities
There are a number of existing tools and benefits calculators which can be used to predict and monitor the impact of waste prevention activities. The tools use different information and methodologies to generate the results. Some offer a predictive indication of the potential impact of a service or activity to inform decision making whilst some will provide a retrospective impact based on activity information. The most appropriate tool for a local authority will depend on their specific monitoring and evaluation needs.
- Waste management and end markets
- Reducing and preventing food waste
- Measuring and reporting food waste
- Local Authorities
- Reducing and preventing food waste
- Measuring and reporting food waste
- Surplus food redistribution
- Food Waste Reduction Roadmap
- Consumer behaviour
- Re-use & recycling
- Local Authorities
There are various ways to approach measuring the impact of a service or waste prevention activity. The appropriate approach to adopt will depend on the service/activity being measured and the time and resources available for monitoring. Common approaches are outlined below with more detail available in the monitoring and evaluation guidance section.
There are also a number of measurement tools available which will indicate the impact of an intervention, during the planning and/or delivery stages.
- Reducing and preventing food waste
- Measuring and reporting food waste
- Local Authorities
Monitoring and evaluating waste prevention scheme performance is something that all local authorities should be doing as a matter of routine. Not only does it enable assessment of whether schemes are performing as expected, it also helps diagnose problems, design new approaches and ultimately improve efficiency and effectiveness.
- Measuring and reporting food waste
- Local Authorities
This section provides links to WRAP’s communications guidance. It provides both general and specific waste prevention communications guidance as well as case studies and pilots on successful communications activities.
- Collections & recycling
- Communicating with residents
- Collections and sorting
- Kerbside collection
- Organics
- Local Authorities
Defra’s Framework for Sustainable Lifestyles (published October 2011) set out an approach to understanding and influencing behaviour. The framework provides evidence-based insights on the motivations and barriers to action and approaches to influencing behaviour.
- Food Waste Reduction Roadmap
- Household food waste
- Local Authorities