The UK’s largest retailers, food producers, manufacturers, and hospitality and food service companies have made a range of ambitious commitments to tackle food waste.
Developed with IGD and WRAP, a new industry Food Waste Reduction Roadmap and toolkit will help businesses to take targeted action to reduce waste in their own operations, in their supply chain and from consumers. It will also allow businesses to measure and report on these actions.
A range of resources have been published with the Roadmap to enable a consistent approach across the industry, and to support work already underway by many companies.
WRAP has announced 90 early adopters who are supporting the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap. The first major milestone on the Roadmap is is to have fifty per cent of the UK’s largest 250 food businesses measuring, reporting and acting on food waste by September 2019, with all 250 companies doing so by 2026.
The Roadmap has the support of the UK’s largest food trade bodies, businesses across the supply chain and Defra, Welsh and Scottish Governments. WRAP says widespread adoption of the roadmap is vital to achieve national policy objectives and targets on food waste reduction, including Courtauld 2025 and the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3.
Marcus Gover, CEO of WRAP, explains “Together, WRAP and IGD have mobilised industry leaders to create a bold sector-wide Roadmap, showing clearly what UK businesses must do. This Roadmap is hugely ambitious, and I’m delighted that the UK is the first country anywhere to set a nation-wide plan towards delivering its part in SDG 12.3. There are many businesses working hard already, but many more need to focus on food waste. If the food sector follows this Roadmap it will significantly accelerate work to achieving both Courtauld 2025, and SDG12.3 targets. And I urge other companies to adopt the principles laid out in the Roadmap and join the rest of the sector on this historic journey.”
Joanne Denney-Finch, Chief Executive of IGD said “The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap presents a huge opportunity for every business within the UK food and grocery industry to provide reassurance for shoppers. UK shoppers see industry food waste at the top of their priorities and by working together with the total food chain, we’re delighted to have secured a world first, with the UK leading the way in this important area. As a result, I’m confident we will see continued momentum on this high profile initiative.”
Businesses wishing to access the free resources and find out more about using the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap can click here.
Does your business want to reduce waste?
If your business is looking at ways to become more sustainable, our packaging compliance scheme can help. We have pledged to help our members investigate and determine how they can become more sustainable. As part of our Beyond Compliance service, we are offering tailored workshops for existing and new members, providing the opportunity for businesses to understand the impact of their packaging, the customer perception of their brand, and re-design concepts to green their packaging. Contact our team on 0845 129 7177 to find out how we can help your business.
