Resources

The UK Plastics Pact is transforming the way that the UK makes, uses and disposes of plastic. 

Over halfway to our 2025 targets, the Roadmap sets out the specific milestones and activities which are critical if we are to achieve our goals in the years remaining.

A consistent methodology for businesses to measure and track progress in reducing supply chain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

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.

The research looked at: 

• If packaging extends the shelf life of fruit and vegetables;
• If selling items loose enables households to buy an appropriate amount for their needs; and
• How people make decisions about when to throw away fruit and vegetables, and what role does a ‘Best Before’ date have on these decisions.

Ground-breaking research into the relationship between plastic packaging and five fruit and vegetable items frequently wasted at home, as well as the impact of date labels and storage temperatures, reveals significant opportunities to reduce both food waste and plastic packaging.

Our third Annual Report provides the most complete picture of action on tackling plastic packaging waste in the UK. It combines aggregated Pact member data from right across the supply chain, with examples of members progress against the targets. This enables us pinpoint where specific action is needed.

So, three years in, what does the picture look like?

Protecting critical water resources for food supply, for nature and for local communities.

 A new Roadmap towards Water Security for Food & Drink supply.

24 November 2021, 1400-1500 GMT

There has never been a better time for forward thinking businesses to get ahead of regulation. There is a business imperative to collaborate, innovate and find ways to create both impact and commercial opportunity. The challenge is to go beyond targets by delivering practical changes that go beyond ‘greenwash’.

The UK in partnership with Italy hosted the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) from 31 October to 13 November 2021, with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching Net Zero by the middle of the century. As the global food system contributes around 30% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, changing the way we grow, process and consume food will be a central plank of delivering a Net Zero future.

The United Nations Food Systems Summit took place in September 2021, outlining the effects of our current food system and what can be done to improve it in a way that delivers benefits to people and planet. To do this, we need to understand where to act across the world, how to deliver change rapidly and - crucially - cost-effectively. The scale of the change needed is monumental.

Co-hosted by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Resources Institute (WRI) and WRAP this online event explored and debated what needs to be done and how. A new report on how to deliver a Net Zero food system for one large economy - the UK, was published on the day of conference: UK Food System GHG Emissions.

Total UK food & drink consumption footprint and pathway to a 50% reduction by 2030. 

New research shows:

• How food system greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have changed from 2015 to 2019.
• Where GHG emissions ‘hotspots’ remain in the UK food system (including in supply chains overseas).
• Priority areas for action in the short term to help achieve the targeted reduction by 2030.

WRAP works with governments, businesses and citizens to create a world in which resources are used sustainably. Read our April 2020-21 annual review to learn more about our mission to accelerate the move to a sustainable, resource-efficient economy.