How reducing food waste is saving the UK millions
Food waste accounts for seven percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, which equates to more than three聽billion聽tons of carbon emissions each year. The聽聽(WRAP), a United Kingdom聽based organization working to advance food sustainability and decrease food waste, recenltly released a report delineating聽. WRAP emphasizes the need for collaboration between private and public institutions to implement 鈥渇ood waste prevention plans throughout the entire supply chain.鈥� Additionally, the report highlights the prodigious economic and environmental benefits gained聽from food waste reduction initiatives in the UK.
The impetus for the聽report comes from the larger set of figures presented by the聽U.N.聽聽(FAO) on the environmental and economic impact of food waste, globally. In 2013, the FAO estimated the global value of food waste to be between US$750 billion and US$1 trillion a year. WRAP鈥檚聽revealed that global consumer level food waste amounts to more than US$400 billion every year. As the middle class population continues to grow, WRAP estimates this value to increase even more, reaching US$600 billion over the next ten years.
In the UK, efforts to incentivize consumers to waste less have demonstrated great success. WRAP鈥檚 consumer聽targeted campaign project,聽, has helped raise public awareness on issues of food waste and the environment. In聽, the Love Food Hate Waste campaign facilitated through radio advertisements, local cooking clubs, social media, and other online and local advertising initiatives, resulting in savings of around 拢1.3 million (US$2.1 million) in disposable costs.
WRAP鈥檚 research explicates on ways to reduce global food waste. The organization urges countries to employ preventative food waste initiatives and offers an illustration of successful tactics to help commence those efforts internationally.
