Food Waste

WRAP estimates the annual Food Waste arisings within households, hospitality & food service, food manufacture, retail and wholesale sectors in 2018 at around 9,500,000 tonnes, 70% of which was intended to be consumed by people (30% being the 'inedible parts')

Source : Mental Floss - Picture of General Household Food Waste

Summary

WRAP estimates the annual Food Waste arisings within households, hospitality & food service, food manufacture, retail and wholesale sectors in 2018 at around 9,500,000 tonnes (down from 11,200,000 tonnes in 2007), 70% of which was intended to be consumed by people (30% being the 'inedible parts'). Food Waste is part of wider reported figures on Organic Waste (on a dedicated Wikiwaste page) by DEFRA, although these figures pre-date the WRAP figures.

In the graphic below (reproduced table 1 from the most recent WRAP briefing note) the total waste is split at around 6,400,000 tonnes of edible Food Waste and 3,100,000 of inedible Food Waste (the inedible fraction shown red in the graphic and should not be added to the numbers in black or blue).

Figures in blue are not classed as Food Waste (food surplus) or by-products and so are not included in the figures in black. They included around 700,000 tonnes of food surplus from manufacturing, retail and hospitality and food services being redistributed via charitable and commercial routes or being diverted to produce animal feed (classified as waste prevention under the food material hierarchy and based on 2015 numbers). Management of all Food Waste has to comply with the Animal By-Products Order and some diversion, for example to animals, may require treatment to comply with the regulations.

Source: WRAP Graphic - Key Facts Report Updated May 2019

Summary of notes embedded in the graphic above:

1. Estimates in the total column exclude farm based tonnage/Agricultural Waste (shown in grey)
2. This includes 780,000 tonnes collected separately by Waste Collection Authorities and 530,000 tonnes of Food Waste which is composted at the home
3. This is an estimate based upon research and sector feedback that around half is sent for recovery (primarily via thermal treatment/Energy from Waste) and half is classed as recycling (via Anaerobic Digestion or Composting)
4. Destinations of Food Waste from manufacturing is based on the split identified in 2014 work by WRAP
5. Based on Local Authority Collected Waste data that WRAP have analysed as 79% being Incineration With Energy Recovery, 1% being Incineration Without Energy Recovery, and 19% going to landfill
6. The split between recovery and disposal has been based on the same percentage split as household Food Waste
7. (note shown as 9 in the table) Examples include spent grain from brewing and dried sugar beet pulp
8. (note shown as 10 in the table) Includes 261,000 tonnes from retail and 43,000 tonnes from wholesale

Sources of Food Waste

In the graphic above, the figures in black and in bold are the total Food Waste tonnage and its origin and excludes food waste arising from primary production (so the numbers are expressed in the briefing note as 'post-farm gate'). Note household food waste represents 70% of the post-farm-gate total, manufacturing 16%, hospitality and food services 12% and retail 3%.

Food Waste collection can be via a number of different measures, which affects the treatment option once collected. For household Food Waste the Collection System Design that WRAP recommends is shown in the arrangements section of WikiWaste as Food Separate, either as Food Fortnightly or more ideally Food Weekly. This then allows for multiple options for subsequent treatment. However, some systems have been designed for a mixed collection of Food Waste with Green waste (Food Comingled) which have more limited options for subsequent treatment.

Tonnage of Food Waste 'on farm' or classified as Agricultural Waste in the table above is estimated at between 900,000 tonnes and 3,500,000 tonnes.

Destinations of Food Waste

The WRAP report does not analyse the proportion of Animal By-product Material, but the nature of the material and its category (i.e. whether its Cat. 1, 2 or 3) will determine, to a large extent, the type of disposal/treatment and operational route required for the treatment of the material to meet the regulations. The table above shows that around 1,900,000 tonnes of Food Waste was treated via recycling, with the remainder staying in mixed waste streams that are treated via recovery or landfill. This is primarily a function of the ease of collecting Food Waste from producers and the associated cost, which means that a large proportion (around 80% in the above table) is still not separately collected for recycling. The primary route for recycling of Food Waste that has been separately collected is Anaerobic Digestion, whereas In Vessel Composting is the primary route for Food Waste collected mixed with Green Waste.

Targets for Food Waste Reduction

There are currently no targets for the reduction of Food Waste in England.

The target for Scotland is a 33% reduction in Food Waste from the 1m tonnes produced in 2013, by 2025.

The target for Wales is a 50% reduction in Food Waste from 2006/2007 levels by 2025 and a limit of 5% to landfill.

The Courtauld Agreement is a voluntary agreement which brings together organisations from across the food system with a key area of focus on the target of reducing food waste. Those signatories are committed, on a voluntary basis, to reduce food waste against historical levels.

EU Directive 2018/851 which amends Directive 2008/98 on waste (the Waste Framework Directive) suggests that measures to promote prevention and reduction of Food Waste should be in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations on 25 Sep 2015 and in particular its target of halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses, by 2030.

It is hoped this will put countries on track towards the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and that Member States should aim to achieve a food waste reduction target of 30% by 2025 and 50% by 2050.