Resources

Around 320,000 tonnes of edible fresh fruit and 1.3 million tonnes of edible fresh vegetables and salad are wasted in UK homes each year, worth an estimated £3.8 billion. Approximately £2.2 billion of this is wasted because it is not eaten in time.

It is good practice for local authorities to regularly monitor and evaluate their services and schemes to assess performance, identify problems, make changes, design new approaches and ultimately improve efficiency and effectiveness. The Monitoring and Evaluation Guide has been updated in 2023 to provide practical advice and tips on how to do this.

In September 2022, WRAP commissioned online consumer research into the current attitudes and behaviours of UK citizens in relation to home textiles, including what’s influencing consumers to make a home textiles purchase, through what routes are they buying and disposing of home textile items and what are their in-use habits in relation to those items. 

Around 70% of the food wasted in the UK is produced by citizens in their own homes, with over 4.5 million tonnes of food that could have been eaten being thrown away by UK households every year.

Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. During the month-long celebration, it has been observed that the amount of food that is thrown away increases, with WRAP’s insights suggesting more food goes to waste over this period than at other times of the year.

Around 70% of the food wasted in the UK is produced by citizens in their own homes, with over 4.5 million tonnes of food that could have been eaten being thrown away by UK households every year. Inherently this is a result of consumers purchasing too much food.

Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. During the month-long celebration, research has suggested leftover food waste is expected to go up from an average of 2.7 kilograms per person, per day, to 4.5 kilograms.

This webinar aims to help LAs get ready to introduce separate food waste collections.

It covers the resources WRAP has available to help LAs assess their options when introducing food waste collections, plan for service changes, how to implement and support communications guidance and assets.

In the 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy for England, textiles was highlighted as a priority waste stream for which the ‘polluter pays’ principle should be invoked and Defra committed to review and consult on the potential of an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme and product standards for the fashion and textiles industry.

In this report, we gather evidence on the food waste attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of UK households through a series of citizen surveys carried out during 2022. The publication is part of the largest and longest running series of its kind, having been undertaken by WRAP since 2007.  

The latest results cover a period when the UK began to settle into a ‘new normal’ after all Covid-19 restrictions ended in February 2022, followed immediately by an evolving cost-of-living crisis. It was another year of adjustment in the daily routines of many UK citizens, including working patterns, feelings of time pressure and eating habits, which all appear to influence food waste.
 

WRAP and Recycle Now's recycling tracker provides insights into UK citizen’s attitudes towards recycling as well as a greater understanding of their recycling related behaviours. It is an annual survey of UK citizens that gathers evidence on recycling attitudes, knowledge, and behaviour. It is the largest and longest running of its kind, having been undertaken by WRAP since 2004.

With government plans to introduce mandatory kerbside collections for films and flexibles by 2027 there is a growing need for a consistent terminology to effectively communicate to citizens. Between March 2020 and October 2022 WRAP undertook three rounds of citizen testing to measure the clarity and effectiveness of a wide range in terminology, with a clear preference presenting itself, as well as key principles for communicating positive recycling behaviour.