Yesterday, Ágnes Szuda, Policy Manager in the Sustainability team, spoke at a Public Policy Exchange webinar on Tackling Food Waste.

Why should we eliminate food waste?

• One third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost every year, accounting for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions– if this was a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. 
• This costs $940 billion every year. 
• And yet, worldwide, 1 in 9 people are undernourished. 
• In the UK specifically, over a quarter of the food grown is not eaten, accounting for 6-7% of UK greenhouse gas emissions.

What can be done? 

As the government prepares its Food White Paper it is essential to consider food loss and waste. Policy steps:

• Mandatory business reporting on food waste (see Waste and Resources Strategy 2018).
• Mandatory separate collection of food waste.
• Banning biodegradable waste from landfill.