Resources

This document contains an overview of statistics on food surplus and waste in the UK.

The following organisations have committed to the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap and the Target, Measure, Act principles.

Our annual UK Surplus Food Redistribution data indicates solid progress in 2022 with approximately 170,000 tonnes of surplus food being received by redistribution organisations, equating to 400 million meals with a value of more than £590 million.

The effects of climate change are becoming ever more visible and damaging, and the security of our food supply is being tested to its limits. 

Taking action through Courtauld 2030 is more important than ever.

A ground-breaking, industry wide roadmap and toolkit that:

• Allows businesses to measure and report consistently and with confidence.
• Helps food businesses take targeted action to reduce waste in their own operations, their supply chain and from consumers.
• Helps the food sector deliver against Courtauld Commitment 2030 targets.
• Helps the UK deliver its part in delivering the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.

• Target: Emphasising that best practice is to set a target that ‘meets or exceeds’ SDG target 12.3.
• Measure: Clarifying that ‘measure’ means ‘measure and report to WRAP.’
• Act: There are now separate milestones for each of the three action areas of operational food waste, collaborative action and citizen food waste so that progress can be tracked, and relevant action taken to accelerate progress further if required.

Transforming the food system is critical in the fight against climate change. We need to act now.

During the current Cost of Living challenges, WRAP’s Guardians of Grub campaign shows Hospitality and Food Service sector operators how to reduce costs and their impact on the planet by reducing wasted food. This webinar highlights the free resources that businesses can use to tackle food waste, including information posters, how-to guides, and a free calculator to record the changes being made.

To meet the Courtauld Commitment 2030 food waste target and UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, collaborative and concerted efforts to reduce food waste are required. Redistributing surplus food is one of the best ways that businesses can help to reduce the amount of food that ends up as waste.

The Resource Action Fund (RAF) was an £18 million fund, provided by Defra to support resource efficiency projects, with the goal of diverting, reducing, and better managing waste. The funding supported organisations in England which aimed to reduce waste and make better use of materials.

This Implementation Resource has been created to supplement WRAP’s Guidance on Labelling for Redistribution (the Guidance), which outlines how long different foods can be expected to be suitable for redistribution after the ‘Best Before’ date, the associated date labelling and storage instructions and the processes required by food businesses and redistribution organisations within the UK to ensure that surplus food is safely redistributed.

Highlighting progress made in the third year of the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap:

• 251,000 tonnes of food worth £365 million saved from waste.
• 670,000 tonnes of GHG emissions potentially avoided.
• 145 million meals redistributed.
• Major opportunities for greater impact remain – industry action focused on Hospitality and Food Service sector and whole chain collaboration.

'Waste is a problem throughout the whole food supply chain. That's why Waitrose are engaging with our suppliers to reduce food waste in the supply chain.'