Food waste in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Food waste in the United Kingdom is a subject of environmental, economic and social concern that has received widespread media coverage and been met with varying responses from government. Since 1915, food waste
has been identified as a considerable problem and has been the subject of ongoing media attention, intensifying with the launch of the "Love Food, Hate Waste
" campaign in 2007. Food waste has been discussed in newspaper articles, news reports and television programmes, which have increased awareness of it as a public issue. To tackle waste issues, encompassing food waste, the government-funded "Waste & Resources Action Programme
" (WRAP) was created in 2000.
A significant proportion of food waste is produced by the domestic household
, which, in 2007, created 6,700,000 tonne
s of food waste. Potatoes, bread slices and apples are respectively the most wasted foods by quantity, while salads are thrown away in the greatest proportion. A majority of wasted food is avoidable, with the rest being divided almost equally by foods which are unavoidable (e.g. tea bags) and unavoidable due to preference (e.g. bread crusts) or cooking type (e.g. potato skins).
Reducing the amount of food waste has been deemed critical if the UK is to meet international targets on climate change, limiting greenhouse gas emissions, and meet obligations under the European Landfill Directive
to reduce biodegradable waste going to landfill
. Equally great emphasis has been placed on the reduction of food waste, across all developed countries
, as a means of ending the global food crisis
that leaves millions worldwide starving and impoverished. In the context of the 2007–2008 world food price crisis, food waste was discussed at the 34th G8 summit
in Hokkaidō
, Japan. UK prime minister Gordon Brown
said of the issue "We must do more to deal with unnecessary demand, such as by all of us doing more to cut our food waste".
In June 2009, then Environment Secretary Hilary Benn
announced the government's "War on waste", a programme aimed at reducing Britain's food waste. The proposed plans under the scheme include: scrapping best before and limiting sell by labels on food, creating new food packaging sizes
, constructing more "on-the-go" recycling points and unveiling five flagship anaerobic digestion plants. Two years after its launch, the "Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign is claiming it has already prevented 137,000 tonnes of waste and, through the help it has given to over two million households, has made savings of £300 million.
Food waste was identified as a problem in the UK as early as World War I. Combating food waste was one of the initial goals of the Women's Institutes (WI), set up in 1915, and remains a subject of their campaigns. Rationing was adopted during World War I, although it was voluntary, from February 1917; it was only between December 1917 and February 1918 that rationing began, in stages, to be made compulsory. As well, there is no evidence to suggest that by 1918 fines were imposed on either individuals or businesses for wasting food, though legislators in the US at least considered passing laws restricting the distribution of food in order to cut waste, the breach of which was to be punishable with fines and even imprisonment.
For World War II, rationing came into effect almost immediately and there were greater restrictions; from 8 January 1940 ration books came into use and most foods were rationed. By August 1940, legislation was passed that made the wasting of food a prisonable offence. Posters encouraged kitchen waste to be used for feeding animals, primarily swine
but also poultry
.
Many of the methods suggested by current campaigns to prevent food waste have taken inspiration from those of World War II. Despite this, it remains debatable whether the waste campaigns and rationing, during and post WWII, achieved any long-term change in people's attitudes towards waste; WRAP's report on domestic household waste found older people to waste as much avoidable waste as younger people. Further, as early as 1980, only twenty five years after all foods were "de-rationed", a journal article published that year found significant levels of waste at home, in restaurants and in sectors of the food industry
. However, the rising amount of food waste could also be attributed to a change of lifestyle, for instance the buying of produce which has a shorter shelf life, which would involuntarily lead to more food being thrown away.
By the late 1990s, things had worsened, and the food manufacturing sector was estimated to be generating over 8 million tonnes of food waste annually. A documentary in 1998 revealed tonnes of edible food being discarded at a Tesco
store, provoking a renewed response on the issue of food waste. In 2000, the government created the Waste & Resources Action Programme
(WRAP), a government-funded, not-for-profit company that advises on how to reduce waste and use resources efficiently. In 2007, WRAP launched the "Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign and returned food waste to the forefront of the news and public agenda. Two years later, the "Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign is claiming to have prevented 137,000 tonnes of waste being sent to landfill and saved £300 million.
In 2005, facing "limited information about the amounts and types of food waste produced", WRAP launched a "major research programme" which would lead to the publishing of "The food we waste report" on 8 May 2008. Believed at the time to be "the first of its kind in the world", the report interviewed 2175 householders and collected waste from 2138 of them.
Since the developments of 2007-8, food waste has continued to be a subject of attention, discussed in almost every major UK newspaper, often with issues such as climate change and famine in African nations. To reduce the impact of the aforementioned, food waste has been among the topics of discussion at recent International Summits
; food waste was debated during the 34th G8 summit
in Hokkaidō
, Japan, as part of the discussion on the 2007–2008 world food price crisis
.
In June 2009, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn
announced the "War on waste", new government plans aimed at reducing Britain's food waste. Planned is the removal of "best before" labels and the limiting of "sell by" labels on foods. New food packaging sizes
are planned to be introduced, coming as EU rules on packaging sizes are lifted and people are increasingly living alone. Five flagship anaerobic digestion plants that will demonstrate "cutting-edge technology" are to be built before the end of March 2011; they will together receive a grant of £10 million from WRAP's "Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Programme". Liz Goodwin, WRAP Chief Executive Officer, said of the five projects: "These projects are truly ground-breaking. Between them, they demonstrate how anaerobic digestion can help the UK efficiently meet the challenges of reducing carbon emissions and improving sustainable food production."
The single largest producer of food waste in the United Kingdom is the domestic household. In 2007, households created 6,700,000 tonne
s of food waste – accounting for 19 per cent of all municipal solid waste
. Potatoes account for the largest quantity of avoidable food disposed of; 359,000 tonnes per year are thrown away, 49 per cent (177,400 tonnes) of which are untouched. Bread slices account for the second food type most disposed of (328,000 tonnes per year), and apples the third (190,000 tonnes per year). Salad is disposed of in the greatest proportion - 45 per cent of all salad purchased by weight will be thrown away uneaten.
Much of the food thrown away could have been avoided (4,100,000 tonnes, 61 per cent of the total amount of food waste) and with better management could have been eaten or used. Unavoidable foods, such as vegetable peelings and teabags, account for 19 per cent of the total, with the remaining 20 per cent being unavoidable through preferences (e.g. bread crusts) and cooking types (e.g. potato skins). However, the vast majority of consumers (90%) are unaware of the amount of food they throw away; individuals who believe their household wastes no food were shown to be throwing away 88 kg of avoidable food per year.
The amount of food waste produced by a household and its occupants is affected by several factors; WRAP found the most impacting factors to be: firstly the size of the household, followed by the age of the individual occupants and finally the household composition (e.g. single occupant household). The other factors: job status, lifestage, ethnicity and occupation grouping of individuals were found to have less correlation between the amount of avoidable waste.
Regarding household size, the relationship is not proportional (two occupants do not dispose of twice as much food waste as one occupant); single-occupancy households, on average, throw away 3.2 kilograms (7.1 lb): per week the least food waste by weight but the most proportionately. This disproportional wastage has been partially attributed to food packaging sizes being largely inappropriate for people living on their own. Families with children (under the age of 16), on a per household per week basis, are shown to waste the most food by weight (7.3 kilograms (16.1 lb)); when taken individually however, members of a family that includes children waste the least food (1.8 kilograms (4 lb)). Contrary to both previous research and conventional wisdom, the report discovered that older people waste as much avoidable food as younger people (1.2 kg per person per week); in terms of mean average cost and weight of food waste, older people do waste less, although for retired households this may be because they are smaller.
Other sectors also attribute to the amounts of food waste. The food industry
produces large amounts of food waste, with retailers alone generating 1,600,000 tonnes of food waste per year. Supermarkets particularly have been criticised for wasting items which are damaged or unsold (what the industry calls 'surplus food'), but that often remain edible. However, exact statistics for the amount of food wasted by supermarkets is mostly unavailable; although a few voluntarily release data on food waste, it is not required by law. Similarly, limited information is available on amounts generated by the agricultural sector
. Before a reversal of European Union
policy in 2008, which came into effect on July 1, 2009, misshaped or 'wonky' fruit and vegetables could not be sold by retailers and were required to be thrown away.
. For councils, the cost of food waste comes from its collection and disposal as a part of the waste stream; this is especially an issue for councils that run separate food waste collections.
Food waste is generally considered to have a damaging effect on the environment
; a reduction in food waste is considered critical if the UK is to meet obligations under the European Landfill Directive
to reduce biodegradable waste going to landfill and favourable considering international targets on climate change, limiting greenhouse gas emissions
. When disposed of in landfill, food waste releases methane
, a relatively damaging greenhouse gas, and leachate
, a toxin
capable of considerable groundwater pollution
. The food supply chain accounts for a fifth of UK carbon emissions; the production, storage and transportation of food to homes requires large amounts of energy. The effects of stopping food waste that can potentially be prevented has been likened to removing one in five cars from UK roads.
Internationally, food waste's effect on the environment has been an issue. Ireland is facing fines of millions of euro
s if the amount of biodegradable
waste it sends to landfill does not fall below the maximum quantity set by the European Union's Landfill Directive
. By 2010, the same directive will impose fines of £40m a year across England, rising to £205m by 2013, if its own targets on biodegradable municipal waste are not met; the amount of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill in 2010 must be 75% of that sent in 1995, by 2013 it must be 50% and by 2020 it must be 35%.
In the context of the 2007–2008 world food price crisis
and potential food shortages, food waste is an important and impacting issue. The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) identified food waste as being a critical problem, a view shared by a Cabinet Office
report on food; it said that doing nothing to solve it would lead to severe food shortages, which may trigger food price climbs of up to 50%. With a third of food purchased in the UK never eaten, the country was singled out in the report. UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner
said that: "Over half of the food produced today is either lost, wasted or discarded as a result of inefficiency in the human-managed food chain. There is evidence within the report [The Environmental Food crises: Environment's role in averting future food crises] that the world could feed the entire projected population growth alone by becoming more efficient while also ensuring the survival of wild animals, birds and fish on this planet."
To reduce the food waste produced (often unintentionally or unavoidably, due to lifestyle) by consumers, advisory campaigns and articles have put forward varying advice and suggestions. The following strategies: planning before food shopping, understanding food date labels and using leftovers in other meals, are universally agreed to be effective in preventing food waste.
Planning, before food shopping, and knowing what purchases are necessary is among ways of reducing food waste; buy one, get one free
(BOGOF) offers have been criticised for encouraging customers to purchase food items that are eventually thrown away; as part of its own campaign on food waste, supermarket retailer Morrisons
is to offer “One Free to Freeze” as a replacement for BOGOFs, with hopes that these promotions will encourage customers to plan ahead.
Understanding food storage
and food date labels
is an important, but currently problematic, measure; in 2008, research by the Food Standards Agency
(FSA) showed that food dates were poorly understood by consumers; only 36 per cent of people interpreted a best before date as a use by date and only 55 per cent correctly interpreted use by dates. Food date labels are planned to undergo radical changes as part of the "War on waste".
Leftover foods can and are encouraged to be used in other meals; currently this is not widely undertaken due to a "lack of confidence". Specialist cookbooks and waste campaigns include recipes which are designed to incorporate typical leftovers and require minimal cooking skill.
Sectors of the food industry
(manufacturing and retail) have pledged to reduce the amount of food they directly waste, and additionally what they cause households to waste indirectly. This is planned to happen through a combination of: effective labeling, pack size range, storage advice and packaging that extends the duration of food freshness. The latest initiative in May 2009, rather than a new policy, is seen as an expansion to ongoing attempts to reduce the wider food packaging
. The aim is to cut UK household food waste by 155,000 tonnes (2.5% of total waste) before the end of 2010 by helping UK households prevent food going to waste.
"Food charities", the most widely known being "FareShare
", distribute surplus food from the food industry among disadvantaged people in the communities. As of 2006, three of the 'Big Five' supermarkets – Marks & Spencer
, Sainsbury's and Tesco
– are working with FareShare and similar charities to reduce the amount of waste they produce going to landfill.
The majority of UK authorities (some have varying or specific policy) collect food waste together with municipal waste
; estimates made in 2007 put the amount of food waste collected separately, for either composting
or anaerobic digestion
, at only 2% of what is available. Where food waste is collected separately, it is usually incorporated into an existing garden waste collection. If applicable, separate collections for garden and food waste typically run on intervening fortnightly weeks to those of municipal waste and share infrastructure and transport.
It has been suggested that given its proportion of the waste stream and the lack of distinct collections, food waste is not currently being targeted appropriately. However proposals by the European Union
, which would require local authorities to provide separate collection of food and garden waste, have been met with opposition; critics of the proposals argue that local authorities understand the specific needs of the areas they serve, and that they should decide waste policy. Advocates of the proposals say that it will ensure energy is not wasted in sorting biodegradable waste
from other materials.
Figures from WRAP revealed the most efficient method of collecting food waste to be separate collections, followed by mixed green and food waste on a weekly basis. A mixed fortnightly collection was shown to be the worst performing. This was considered confirmation of earlier suspicions that, if carried out correctly, separate collections can result in less wastage of biodegradable waste. A widespread pilot scheme for separate food waste collection, involving nineteen English local authorities, achieved success and 'high levels of satisfaction' from households.
One option for separating food waste at source is the in-sink food-waste disposer (FWD). It was invented in 1928 and is used in 50% of households in the USA, 34% in New Zealand, 20% in Australia and increasingly in some European countries, notably Sweden. A FWD has no blades or knives, it has a grind chamber, the floor of which is a spinning disc with lugs spin the waste against the perforated wall of the chamber, particles exit when they are small enough. measured particle size distribution and found 98% <2mm. They also measured settleability and found the ground waste would be carried/resuspended easily in conventionally designed sewers. estimated the Global Warming Potentials (100 year) of options for food waste management were landfill +740 kgCO2e/t food waste, incineration +13, centralised composting -14 and that anaerobic digestion was about -170 kgCO2e/t food waste whether it was kerbside collected and transported by truck or FWD to sewer to AD at a wastewater treatment works. In a follow-up paper, analysed data from Surahammar, Sweden comparing the time when there were no FWD with the present when 50% of households have FWD. This study verified laboratory etc. work published earlier by other workers. They found there was no increase in wastewater treatment works' cost, nor the volume of wastewater but that there was a 46% increase in biogas.
Composting, the purposeful biodegradation
of organic matter
by microorganism
s, is among the most simple ways of treating food waste and thereby preventing it being sent to landfill. Since all biodegradable materials will eventually oxidise
to become compost
, the process can be undertaken at home with no running costs, although equipment can accelerate the process. Most components of food waste are putrescibles and will be broken down in a compost, however some exceptions will not (e.g. cooked foods and feces) and can attract vermin
. The effectiveness of composting food waste depends on the available space (or storage capacity in the case of a compost bin) and the method of composting. Unlike in landfill, where it is mixed with other (non-biodegradable) materials, food waste decomposing
in a compost does not release harmful gases. Similarly to compost created from other waste sources, composted food waste can be used to return nutrients to the soil if spread on the garden (see uses of compost).
Anaerobic digestion
(AD), the breaking down of biodegradable material by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen, is recognised as an effective method of waste disposal, with the potential to address the food waste problem nationally. AD technology has a small environmental impact, producing less greenhouse gas emissions than composting. However, although the process is well established in the water industry
, it is less so within the waste sector. Despite this, the AD industry is being (and planned to be further) expanded by local councils and retailers to deal with food waste; several local authorities in the UK are planning to build anaerobic digestion plants, with the largest, to be located in Selby
, due to operate from 2010. Supermarket chains Tesco
and Sainsbury's are both adopting AD technology to dispose of their waste, while Tesco's head of waste and recycling said: "As renewable energy technologies now become mainstream, there is no excuse for sending waste to landfill that could actually be put to positive use." AD technology remains an experimental field though, and there is potential for advancements to increase efficiency.
Incinerating
waste has traditionally been viewed as a method with the main purpose being the destruction of the waste involved. Recovering the energy generated from this process has become of greater importance, and all incineration facilities in England now operate as energy-from-waste
plants (with many operating as combined heat and power
facilities). Critics question the safety of the pollutants emitted during the process and argue that, as incinerators require constant levels of waste to operate, it encourages more waste. However, the levels of emissions from the incinerating process has been greatly reduced by developments in technology and legislation.
Food waste
Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. As of 2011, 1.3 billion tons of food, about one third of the global food production, are lost or wasted annually. Loss and wastage occurs on all steps in the food supply chain...
has been identified as a considerable problem and has been the subject of ongoing media attention, intensifying with the launch of the "Love Food, Hate Waste
Love Food, Hate Waste
Love Food, Hate Waste is a campaign, launched by the Waste & Resources Action Programme in 2007, with the aim of reducing the amount of food waste in the United Kingdom. The campaign has been promoted and circulated by many green sites...
" campaign in 2007. Food waste has been discussed in newspaper articles, news reports and television programmes, which have increased awareness of it as a public issue. To tackle waste issues, encompassing food waste, the government-funded "Waste & Resources Action Programme
Waste & Resources Action Programme
WRAP works with businesses, individuals and communities to help them reap the benefits of reducing waste, developing sustainable products and using resources in an efficiency way....
" (WRAP) was created in 2000.
A significant proportion of food waste is produced by the domestic household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
, which, in 2007, created 6,700,000 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of food waste. Potatoes, bread slices and apples are respectively the most wasted foods by quantity, while salads are thrown away in the greatest proportion. A majority of wasted food is avoidable, with the rest being divided almost equally by foods which are unavoidable (e.g. tea bags) and unavoidable due to preference (e.g. bread crusts) or cooking type (e.g. potato skins).
Reducing the amount of food waste has been deemed critical if the UK is to meet international targets on climate change, limiting greenhouse gas emissions, and meet obligations under the European Landfill Directive
Landfill Directive
The Landfill Directive, more formally Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste, is a European Union directive issued by the European Union to be implemented by its member states....
to reduce biodegradable waste going to landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
. Equally great emphasis has been placed on the reduction of food waste, across all developed countries
Developed country
A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue...
, as a means of ending the global food crisis
2007–2008 world food price crisis
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2008 creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject...
that leaves millions worldwide starving and impoverished. In the context of the 2007–2008 world food price crisis, food waste was discussed at the 34th G8 summit
34th G8 summit
The 34th G8 summit took place in on the northern island of Hokkaidō, Japan from July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo ; and Nago, Okinawa . The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders...
in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, Japan. UK prime minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
said of the issue "We must do more to deal with unnecessary demand, such as by all of us doing more to cut our food waste".
In June 2009, then Environment Secretary Hilary Benn
Hilary Benn
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central since 1999. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007 and as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...
announced the government's "War on waste", a programme aimed at reducing Britain's food waste. The proposed plans under the scheme include: scrapping best before and limiting sell by labels on food, creating new food packaging sizes
Food packaging
Food packaging is packaging for food. It requires protection, tampering resistance, and special physical, chemical, or biological needs. It also shows the product that is labeled to show any nutrition information on the food being consumed....
, constructing more "on-the-go" recycling points and unveiling five flagship anaerobic digestion plants. Two years after its launch, the "Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign is claiming it has already prevented 137,000 tonnes of waste and, through the help it has given to over two million households, has made savings of £300 million.
History
For World War II, rationing came into effect almost immediately and there were greater restrictions; from 8 January 1940 ration books came into use and most foods were rationed. By August 1940, legislation was passed that made the wasting of food a prisonable offence. Posters encouraged kitchen waste to be used for feeding animals, primarily swine
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
but also poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
.
Many of the methods suggested by current campaigns to prevent food waste have taken inspiration from those of World War II. Despite this, it remains debatable whether the waste campaigns and rationing, during and post WWII, achieved any long-term change in people's attitudes towards waste; WRAP's report on domestic household waste found older people to waste as much avoidable waste as younger people. Further, as early as 1980, only twenty five years after all foods were "de-rationed", a journal article published that year found significant levels of waste at home, in restaurants and in sectors of the food industry
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
. However, the rising amount of food waste could also be attributed to a change of lifestyle, for instance the buying of produce which has a shorter shelf life, which would involuntarily lead to more food being thrown away.
By the late 1990s, things had worsened, and the food manufacturing sector was estimated to be generating over 8 million tonnes of food waste annually. A documentary in 1998 revealed tonnes of edible food being discarded at a Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
store, provoking a renewed response on the issue of food waste. In 2000, the government created the Waste & Resources Action Programme
Waste & Resources Action Programme
WRAP works with businesses, individuals and communities to help them reap the benefits of reducing waste, developing sustainable products and using resources in an efficiency way....
(WRAP), a government-funded, not-for-profit company that advises on how to reduce waste and use resources efficiently. In 2007, WRAP launched the "Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign and returned food waste to the forefront of the news and public agenda. Two years later, the "Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign is claiming to have prevented 137,000 tonnes of waste being sent to landfill and saved £300 million.
In 2005, facing "limited information about the amounts and types of food waste produced", WRAP launched a "major research programme" which would lead to the publishing of "The food we waste report" on 8 May 2008. Believed at the time to be "the first of its kind in the world", the report interviewed 2175 householders and collected waste from 2138 of them.
Since the developments of 2007-8, food waste has continued to be a subject of attention, discussed in almost every major UK newspaper, often with issues such as climate change and famine in African nations. To reduce the impact of the aforementioned, food waste has been among the topics of discussion at recent International Summits
Summit (meeting)
A summit meeting is a meeting of heads of state or government, usually with considerable media exposure, tight security and a prearranged agenda.Notable summit meetings include those of Franklin D...
; food waste was debated during the 34th G8 summit
34th G8 summit
The 34th G8 summit took place in on the northern island of Hokkaidō, Japan from July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo ; and Nago, Okinawa . The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders...
in Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, Japan, as part of the discussion on the 2007–2008 world food price crisis
2007–2008 world food price crisis
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2008 creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject...
.
In June 2009, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn
Hilary Benn
Hilary James Wedgwood Benn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central since 1999. He served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development from 2003 to 2007 and as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs...
announced the "War on waste", new government plans aimed at reducing Britain's food waste. Planned is the removal of "best before" labels and the limiting of "sell by" labels on foods. New food packaging sizes
Food packaging
Food packaging is packaging for food. It requires protection, tampering resistance, and special physical, chemical, or biological needs. It also shows the product that is labeled to show any nutrition information on the food being consumed....
are planned to be introduced, coming as EU rules on packaging sizes are lifted and people are increasingly living alone. Five flagship anaerobic digestion plants that will demonstrate "cutting-edge technology" are to be built before the end of March 2011; they will together receive a grant of £10 million from WRAP's "Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Programme". Liz Goodwin, WRAP Chief Executive Officer, said of the five projects: "These projects are truly ground-breaking. Between them, they demonstrate how anaerobic digestion can help the UK efficiently meet the challenges of reducing carbon emissions and improving sustainable food production."
Sources
| Domestic food waste in the UK | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | England | Wales | Scotland | N. Ireland | UK |
| Household Waste ('000 tonnes) | 25,688 | 1,585 | 2,276 | 919 | 30,468 |
| Composition of Food Waste (% household) |
17.5% | 18% | 18% | 19% | 17.6% |
| Quantity of Food Waste ('000 tonnes) |
4,495 | 285 | 410 | 184 | 5,375 |
The single largest producer of food waste in the United Kingdom is the domestic household. In 2007, households created 6,700,000 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s of food waste – accounting for 19 per cent of all municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste , commonly known as trash or garbage , refuse or rubbish is a waste type consisting of everyday items we consume and discard. It predominantly includes food wastes, yard wastes, containers and product packaging, and other miscellaneous inorganic wastes from residential,...
. Potatoes account for the largest quantity of avoidable food disposed of; 359,000 tonnes per year are thrown away, 49 per cent (177,400 tonnes) of which are untouched. Bread slices account for the second food type most disposed of (328,000 tonnes per year), and apples the third (190,000 tonnes per year). Salad is disposed of in the greatest proportion - 45 per cent of all salad purchased by weight will be thrown away uneaten.
The amount of food waste produced by a household and its occupants is affected by several factors; WRAP found the most impacting factors to be: firstly the size of the household, followed by the age of the individual occupants and finally the household composition (e.g. single occupant household). The other factors: job status, lifestage, ethnicity and occupation grouping of individuals were found to have less correlation between the amount of avoidable waste.
Regarding household size, the relationship is not proportional (two occupants do not dispose of twice as much food waste as one occupant); single-occupancy households, on average, throw away 3.2 kilograms (7.1 lb): per week the least food waste by weight but the most proportionately. This disproportional wastage has been partially attributed to food packaging sizes being largely inappropriate for people living on their own. Families with children (under the age of 16), on a per household per week basis, are shown to waste the most food by weight (7.3 kilograms (16.1 lb)); when taken individually however, members of a family that includes children waste the least food (1.8 kilograms (4 lb)). Contrary to both previous research and conventional wisdom, the report discovered that older people waste as much avoidable food as younger people (1.2 kg per person per week); in terms of mean average cost and weight of food waste, older people do waste less, although for retired households this may be because they are smaller.
Other sectors also attribute to the amounts of food waste. The food industry
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
produces large amounts of food waste, with retailers alone generating 1,600,000 tonnes of food waste per year. Supermarkets particularly have been criticised for wasting items which are damaged or unsold (what the industry calls 'surplus food'), but that often remain edible. However, exact statistics for the amount of food wasted by supermarkets is mostly unavailable; although a few voluntarily release data on food waste, it is not required by law. Similarly, limited information is available on amounts generated by the agricultural sector
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. Before a reversal of European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
policy in 2008, which came into effect on July 1, 2009, misshaped or 'wonky' fruit and vegetables could not be sold by retailers and were required to be thrown away.
Impact
Food waste puts a large burden on the finances of each household and local councils in the UK; wasted food is estimated to cost each British household £250–£400 per year, accumulating to £15,000–£24,000 over a lifetime. This comes from the total purchasing cost of the food against what is thrown away uneaten. Additionally, households pay for the collection and disposal of food waste by their local council in the form of council taxCouncil tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
. For councils, the cost of food waste comes from its collection and disposal as a part of the waste stream; this is especially an issue for councils that run separate food waste collections.
Food waste is generally considered to have a damaging effect on the environment
Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
; a reduction in food waste is considered critical if the UK is to meet obligations under the European Landfill Directive
Landfill Directive
The Landfill Directive, more formally Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste, is a European Union directive issued by the European Union to be implemented by its member states....
to reduce biodegradable waste going to landfill and favourable considering international targets on climate change, limiting greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
. When disposed of in landfill, food waste releases methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
, a relatively damaging greenhouse gas, and leachate
Leachate
Leachate is any liquid that, in passing through matter, extracts solutes, suspended solids or any other component of the material through which it has passed....
, a toxin
Toxin
A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...
capable of considerable groundwater pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....
. The food supply chain accounts for a fifth of UK carbon emissions; the production, storage and transportation of food to homes requires large amounts of energy. The effects of stopping food waste that can potentially be prevented has been likened to removing one in five cars from UK roads.
Internationally, food waste's effect on the environment has been an issue. Ireland is facing fines of millions of euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s if the amount of biodegradable
Biodegradation
Biodegradation or biotic degradation or biotic decomposition is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means...
waste it sends to landfill does not fall below the maximum quantity set by the European Union's Landfill Directive
Landfill Directive
The Landfill Directive, more formally Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste, is a European Union directive issued by the European Union to be implemented by its member states....
. By 2010, the same directive will impose fines of £40m a year across England, rising to £205m by 2013, if its own targets on biodegradable municipal waste are not met; the amount of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill in 2010 must be 75% of that sent in 1995, by 2013 it must be 50% and by 2020 it must be 35%.
In the context of the 2007–2008 world food price crisis
2007–2008 world food price crisis
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2008 creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject...
and potential food shortages, food waste is an important and impacting issue. The United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its...
(UNEP) identified food waste as being a critical problem, a view shared by a Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
report on food; it said that doing nothing to solve it would lead to severe food shortages, which may trigger food price climbs of up to 50%. With a third of food purchased in the UK never eaten, the country was singled out in the report. UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner
Achim Steiner
Achim Steiner is a German expert in environmental politics. From 2001 to 2006 he was Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources...
said that: "Over half of the food produced today is either lost, wasted or discarded as a result of inefficiency in the human-managed food chain. There is evidence within the report [The Environmental Food crises: Environment's role in averting future food crises] that the world could feed the entire projected population growth alone by becoming more efficient while also ensuring the survival of wild animals, birds and fish on this planet."
Prevention
| Reasons for food waste | |
|---|---|
| Reason for disposal | Weight of all food waste |
| Inedible | 36.5% |
| Left on plate | 15.7% |
| Out of date | 15.1% |
| Mouldy | 9.3% |
| Looked bad | 8.8% |
| Smelt/tasted bad | 4.5% |
| Left from cooking | 4% |
| Other | 3.8% |
| In fridge/cupboard too long | 1.5% |
Planning, before food shopping, and knowing what purchases are necessary is among ways of reducing food waste; buy one, get one free
Buy one, get one free
"Buy one, get one free", or "Buy one, get one" is a common form of sales promotion. While rarely presented to customers in acronym form, this marketing technique is universally known in the marketing industry by the acronym BOGOF, and it is regarded as one of the most effective forms of special...
(BOGOF) offers have been criticised for encouraging customers to purchase food items that are eventually thrown away; as part of its own campaign on food waste, supermarket retailer Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
is to offer “One Free to Freeze” as a replacement for BOGOFs, with hopes that these promotions will encourage customers to plan ahead.
Understanding food storage
Food storage
Food storage is both a traditional domestic skill and is important industrially. Food is stored by almost every human society and by many animals...
and food date labels
Shelf life
Shelf life is the length of time that food, drink, medicine, chemicals, and many other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale, use, or consumption...
is an important, but currently problematic, measure; in 2008, research by the Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...
(FSA) showed that food dates were poorly understood by consumers; only 36 per cent of people interpreted a best before date as a use by date and only 55 per cent correctly interpreted use by dates. Food date labels are planned to undergo radical changes as part of the "War on waste".
Leftover foods can and are encouraged to be used in other meals; currently this is not widely undertaken due to a "lack of confidence". Specialist cookbooks and waste campaigns include recipes which are designed to incorporate typical leftovers and require minimal cooking skill.
Food industry
The food production is a complex, global collective of diverse businesses that together supply much of the food energy consumed by the world population...
(manufacturing and retail) have pledged to reduce the amount of food they directly waste, and additionally what they cause households to waste indirectly. This is planned to happen through a combination of: effective labeling, pack size range, storage advice and packaging that extends the duration of food freshness. The latest initiative in May 2009, rather than a new policy, is seen as an expansion to ongoing attempts to reduce the wider food packaging
Food packaging
Food packaging is packaging for food. It requires protection, tampering resistance, and special physical, chemical, or biological needs. It also shows the product that is labeled to show any nutrition information on the food being consumed....
. The aim is to cut UK household food waste by 155,000 tonnes (2.5% of total waste) before the end of 2010 by helping UK households prevent food going to waste.
"Food charities", the most widely known being "FareShare
FareShare
FareShare is a national United Kingdom charity operating since 2004, aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste. They do this by taking surplus food and drink from the food industry and redistributing it amongst communities.-See also:...
", distribute surplus food from the food industry among disadvantaged people in the communities. As of 2006, three of the 'Big Five' supermarkets – Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
, Sainsbury's and Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
– are working with FareShare and similar charities to reduce the amount of waste they produce going to landfill.
Collection
Municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste , commonly known as trash or garbage , refuse or rubbish is a waste type consisting of everyday items we consume and discard. It predominantly includes food wastes, yard wastes, containers and product packaging, and other miscellaneous inorganic wastes from residential,...
; estimates made in 2007 put the amount of food waste collected separately, for either composting
or anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy....
, at only 2% of what is available. Where food waste is collected separately, it is usually incorporated into an existing garden waste collection. If applicable, separate collections for garden and food waste typically run on intervening fortnightly weeks to those of municipal waste and share infrastructure and transport.
It has been suggested that given its proportion of the waste stream and the lack of distinct collections, food waste is not currently being targeted appropriately. However proposals by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, which would require local authorities to provide separate collection of food and garden waste, have been met with opposition; critics of the proposals argue that local authorities understand the specific needs of the areas they serve, and that they should decide waste policy. Advocates of the proposals say that it will ensure energy is not wasted in sorting biodegradable waste
Biodegradation
Biodegradation or biotic degradation or biotic decomposition is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means...
from other materials.
Figures from WRAP revealed the most efficient method of collecting food waste to be separate collections, followed by mixed green and food waste on a weekly basis. A mixed fortnightly collection was shown to be the worst performing. This was considered confirmation of earlier suspicions that, if carried out correctly, separate collections can result in less wastage of biodegradable waste. A widespread pilot scheme for separate food waste collection, involving nineteen English local authorities, achieved success and 'high levels of satisfaction' from households.
One option for separating food waste at source is the in-sink food-waste disposer (FWD). It was invented in 1928 and is used in 50% of households in the USA, 34% in New Zealand, 20% in Australia and increasingly in some European countries, notably Sweden. A FWD has no blades or knives, it has a grind chamber, the floor of which is a spinning disc with lugs spin the waste against the perforated wall of the chamber, particles exit when they are small enough. measured particle size distribution and found 98% <2mm. They also measured settleability and found the ground waste would be carried/resuspended easily in conventionally designed sewers. estimated the Global Warming Potentials (100 year) of options for food waste management were landfill +740 kgCO2e/t food waste, incineration +13, centralised composting -14 and that anaerobic digestion was about -170 kgCO2e/t food waste whether it was kerbside collected and transported by truck or FWD to sewer to AD at a wastewater treatment works. In a follow-up paper, analysed data from Surahammar, Sweden comparing the time when there were no FWD with the present when 50% of households have FWD. This study verified laboratory etc. work published earlier by other workers. They found there was no increase in wastewater treatment works' cost, nor the volume of wastewater but that there was a 46% increase in biogas.
Disposal
Food waste remains primarily disposed to landfill (54 per cent of total municipal waste was disposed of in this way in 2007/8), although year-on-year the amount being sent to landfill is decreasing.Composting, the purposeful biodegradation
Biodegradation
Biodegradation or biotic degradation or biotic decomposition is the chemical dissolution of materials by bacteria or other biological means...
of organic matter
Organic matter
Organic matter is matter that has come from a once-living organism; is capable of decay, or the product of decay; or is composed of organic compounds...
by microorganism
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
s, is among the most simple ways of treating food waste and thereby preventing it being sent to landfill. Since all biodegradable materials will eventually oxidise
Redox
Redox reactions describe all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation state changed....
to become compost
Compost
Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Compost is a key ingredient in organic farming. At its most essential, the process of composting requires simply piling up waste outdoors and waiting for the materials to break down from anywhere...
, the process can be undertaken at home with no running costs, although equipment can accelerate the process. Most components of food waste are putrescibles and will be broken down in a compost, however some exceptions will not (e.g. cooked foods and feces) and can attract vermin
Vermin
Vermin is a term applied to various animal species regarded by some as pests or nuisances and especially to those associated with the carrying of disease. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included will vary from area to area and even person to person...
. The effectiveness of composting food waste depends on the available space (or storage capacity in the case of a compost bin) and the method of composting. Unlike in landfill, where it is mixed with other (non-biodegradable) materials, food waste decomposing
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
in a compost does not release harmful gases. Similarly to compost created from other waste sources, composted food waste can be used to return nutrients to the soil if spread on the garden (see uses of compost).
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy....
(AD), the breaking down of biodegradable material by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen, is recognised as an effective method of waste disposal, with the potential to address the food waste problem nationally. AD technology has a small environmental impact, producing less greenhouse gas emissions than composting. However, although the process is well established in the water industry
Water industry
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. The water industry includes manufacturers and suppliers of bottled water...
, it is less so within the waste sector. Despite this, the AD industry is being (and planned to be further) expanded by local councils and retailers to deal with food waste; several local authorities in the UK are planning to build anaerobic digestion plants, with the largest, to be located in Selby
Selby
Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...
, due to operate from 2010. Supermarket chains Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
and Sainsbury's are both adopting AD technology to dispose of their waste, while Tesco's head of waste and recycling said: "As renewable energy technologies now become mainstream, there is no excuse for sending waste to landfill that could actually be put to positive use." AD technology remains an experimental field though, and there is potential for advancements to increase efficiency.
Incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of organic substances contained in waste materials. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas, and...
waste has traditionally been viewed as a method with the main purpose being the destruction of the waste involved. Recovering the energy generated from this process has become of greater importance, and all incineration facilities in England now operate as energy-from-waste
Waste-to-energy
Waste-to-energy or energy-from-waste is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the incineration of waste source. WtE is a form of energy recovery...
plants (with many operating as combined heat and power
Combined Heat and Power
Combined Heat and Power may refer to:* Cogeneration* Combined Heat and Power Solar...
facilities). Critics question the safety of the pollutants emitted during the process and argue that, as incinerators require constant levels of waste to operate, it encourages more waste. However, the levels of emissions from the incinerating process has been greatly reduced by developments in technology and legislation.
See also
- Food waste in New ZealandFood waste in New ZealandFood waste in New Zealand is one of the many environmental issues that is being addressed by industry, individuals and government.Statistics on exactly how much edible food is wasted is difficult to determine however non-edible food waste is regularly composted either through a collection service,...
- Food wasteFood wasteFood waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. As of 2011, 1.3 billion tons of food, about one third of the global food production, are lost or wasted annually. Loss and wastage occurs on all steps in the food supply chain...
- Waste managementWaste managementWaste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
- Waste treatmentWaste treatmentWaste treatment refers to the activities required to ensure that waste has the least practicable impact on the environment. In many countries various forms of waste treatment are required by law.-Solid waste treatment:...
External links
- Love Food, Hate Waste
- Love Food Hate Waste - Scotland
- Waste Aware Scotland
- This is Rubbish
- Tristram Stuart Waste
- Waste & Resources Action Programme
- Thriving trade in out-of-date best-before foods - BBC Magazine article on the selling of out-of-date best-before foods