Press releases
- Eye-tracking software monitors shopping habits as Food Waste Action Week trial spells out the benefits of buying loose.
- If all apples, potatoes, and bananas were sold loose in the UK it could prevent 60,000t of food waste, cut plastic packaging by 8,800t and save more than 80,000t CO2e each year.
Marking the midway point in Food Waste Action Week, new Love Food Hate Waste report shows shoppers would like more opportunities to buy unpackaged fruit and veg.
With food waste costing £1,000 for an average household of four every year1, Love Food Hate Waste releases parody video with Gino D’Acampo this Food Waste Action Week to help shoppers save money by shopping for loose produce.
- WRAP data reveals 60,000 tonnes of household food waste could be prevented every year if produce was sold loose and not packaged2 – the equivalent of over 8.2 million shopping baskets full, enough to fill 6,500 waste trucks.
UK households are encouraged to ‘choose what you’ll use’ and embrace buying loose fruit and veg to help tackle food waste.
‘Choose What You’ll Use.”
WRAP’s food waste prevention brand, Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) announces fourth annual Food Waste Action Week (FWAW) – the UK’s largest food waste behaviour change campaign aiming to cut household food waste, reduce shopping bills and save the planet.
NEW DATES
Food Waste Action Week 2024 will now take place from the 18th – 24th March.
- Food waste costs a four-person household around £1,000 per year in food bought, but not eaten.
- 6.4 million tonnes (Mt) of food and drink thrown away in our homes in 2021 of which 4.7Mt could have been eaten: 12% of the 40Mt we buy every year.
- Potatoes, cooked leftovers (home-made/pre-prepared meals), and bread top the UK’s wasted food table. UK households throw away 300,000t of meat and fish a year, costing £3.2 billion.
- Industry and retailers cut their operational food waste, reduce carbon footprint of food, and improve water-use - but action by brands and retailers now critical to cut household food waste.
- Independent evaluation of WRAP’s work shows reduction in UK annual greenhouse gas emissions of almost 5M tonnes CO2eq (2019/20).
- Food: Food Waste Action Week in 12 countries; ‘Best Before’ dates removed from thousands of products; world-leading Scope 3 protocol launched.
- Plastics: Colombian Plastics Pact launches; UK Plastics Pact members cut ‘problem plastics’ by 84%; Resource Action Fund saves 11,500t of plastic from landfill.
- Textiles: 115 signatories to Textiles 2030 including clothing companies, brands and retailers, trade bodies and recycling & recuse organisations; WRAP report informs textiles Extended Producer Responsibility.
- Circular economy: WRAP’s seven strategies for G7 emissions; Circular Economy Fund helps manufacturers produce more products with recycled content and so saved more than 8,200 tonnes CO2.
To coincide with Food Waste Action Week, which runs until Sunday, WRAP is highlighting two recent reports which look at citizen food waste in and out of the home, respectively.
- UK householders could unlock a long weekend of free time a year – by embracing Food Waste Action Week’s ‘Win. Don’t Bin’ theme.
- Jordan Banjo joins forces with Love Food Hate Waste to help households to reduce their food waste.
- To mark this year’s week of action, Love Food Haste Waste is calling time on food waste by using a giant egg timer to bring to life the time people could get back by using up their uneaten food – saving them money as well.
- New research* from WRAP shows that almost half (48%) of people say portion size is the main reason they leave food when eating out - with on average almost 15% of main courses left uneaten.
- Despite cost-of-living meaning we are now eating out less than pre-lockdown, food left on plates has increased since 2020.
- Arla Foods and Tesco announced as latest sponsors
- Partner toolkit and campaign assets now available to download