Press releases

Invictus Games athlete and TV Presenter JJ Chalmers is partnering with Recycle Now to encourage the nation to ‘Step It Up’ this Recycle Week

• For further information or to arrange an interview with JJ Chalmers, please contact Rachel Avery [email protected], 07540513407

Over half (55%) of UK households put one or more items that could be recycled into the general rubbish – the Week of action asks the UK to be even more brilliant at recycling

UK recycling saves 18 million tonnes of CO₂every year – national Recycle Week (20^th – 26^th September)

WRAP reports on Meat in a Net Zero world first year results, with progress across all action areas and new supporters in key sectors.

• Appointment cements WRAP’s growing focus on climate change and Net Zero, following Courtauld 2030’s focus on reducing emissions.

Karen Fisher, Special Advisor at WRAP, has been appointed to a pivotal new role as the organisation’s Head of Climate Action Strategy.

• A first Plastics Pact for Asia - collaboration between WWF India and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), supported by WRAP and funded by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI).
• India generates 9.46 million tonnes of plastic waste annually of which 40% goes uncollected. Nearly half of all plastics used in India is for packaging, mostly single use.

• WRAP identifies a 20% potential increase in profits for UK farms through minimising food surplus and waste.
• Collaboration with Ribena and their growers unearths much higher levels of blackcurrant waste than previously thought, and opportunities to tackle this.
• An estimated 3.6 million tonnes of food goes to surplus and waste in UK agriculture, worth £1.2 billion.

• Positive food management behaviours adopted during lockdown led to a 43% decline in food waste, but as the UK reopens household food waste is rising.
• With three in 10 people now classified as ‘high food wasters’, Love Food Hate Waste urges the public to remember that Wasting Food Feeds Climate Change.
• Businesses should focus on how they can help prevent food waste in the home and nudge people towards habits that stop waste from happening.

The Walmart Foundation has awarded nearly US$750,000 to WRAP, the UK’s leading sustainability charity delivering behaviour change interventions (BCIs), to develop new interventions to slash household food waste in the UK and Canada, in a partnership with the National Zero Waste Council in Canada.

• World-leading Courtauld Commitment 2030 sets 50% greenhouse gas target for 2030.
• Pioneering work under Courtauld Commitment keeps UK on track to cut carbon, slash food waste and ease water insecurity.
• Associate Membership expands Courtauld with opportunity for hundreds of UK businesses to fulfil their sustainability goals.

Marcus Gover, WRAP CEO “The National Food Strategy is one of the most important reviews of our food system in decades. It highlights the huge challenges we face in transforming our food system into one that supports healthy citizens, and a healthy planet. It will inspire difficult conversations by raising uncomfortable issues that we all need to address as individuals, businesses, and Governments today.

“Action is critical now if we hope to protect our world from the effects of climate change and feed ourselves. We must transform our food system to dramatically reduce the negative impact food production has on the environment, and into one where we all have more sustainable diets. WRAP’s practical work with businesses and other partners embodies the holistic approach to change across supply chains described in the Strategy, and we’re proud to be a part of this transformation.

“We are putting greenhouse gas reduction at the very heart of the Courtauld Commitment and our work on sustainable food, and will be unveiling a new GHG industry target next week. This, together with minimising food waste and better water stewardship, will help towards the National Food Strategy’s ambition of an efficient, carbon neutral food system.”

• Surplus food redistributed in 2020 topped 92,000 tonnes with food worth £280 million - the equivalent of 220 million meals - saved from waste.
• Grants* totalling almost £12m have helped drive the largest annual increase in food redistribution since records began.
• Work still needed to capture surplus food – WRAP’s new redistribution Best Practice puts the focus on retailer ‘own label’ food in the supply chain.