More than one in five households say they are struggling “a lot” with their bills, while 42% report that they are managing comfortably.
Rising food prices appear to be shaping behaviour at the supermarket, with food inflation reaching its highest level since February 2024.
WRAP suggests this environment may be encouraging households to buy the right amount of food, potentially leading to a temporary reduction in self-reported waste.
WRAP’s Household Food Management Survey – previously known as the Food Tracker Survey – has been running since 2007 and is the largest and longest-running study of its kind in the UK.
The latest research was conducted online by Icaro between 30 June and 14 July 2025, with 5,509 adults responsible for food shopping or preparation in their households taking part.
Food waste perceptions and habits
Competence in judging and buying the correct quantity of food has returned to levels last seen in November 2023. Bread showed the biggest improvement, while potatoes remain a key weakness for consumers.
Across four commonly wasted products – bread, milk, chicken and potatoes – self-reported waste has fallen from 21% in 2024 to 18.8% in 2025.
However, the proportion of respondents classified as “high food wasters” has remained unchanged at 27%, indicating that improvements may not be reaching the households responsible for the most waste.
WRAP’s research also found certain groups are more likely to waste food. These include younger people, larger households, those with young children, frequent shoppers and households where meals are more often disrupted or eaten away from home.
Eight in ten respondents believe they waste less than the average household. After being shown images illustrating typical levels of UK food waste, this figure rose to 85%.
At the same time, almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) believe that some food waste is inevitable.
WRAP says tackling “food waste denial” and strengthening food management skills will be key to achieving sustained reductions.
Simpler Recycling
The survey also examined household use of food waste collections.
Around 42% of households say they both have access to and use a food waste collection service. A further 14% have access but do not use it, while 38% say they do not currently have a service.
Usage is higher in Wales and Northern Ireland, where collections are more widely established. In England, however, awareness remains low of upcoming policy changes.
According to the survey, 76% of people in England say they have not seen or heard information about planned universal food waste collections due to come into effect by 2026.
These changes are part of the government’s Simpler Recycling reforms, which will require local authorities in England to provide separate collections for dry recycling, food waste and residual waste from March 2026.
A recent investigation by the BBC found that around three-quarters of councils in England are expected to meet the March 2026 deadline for food waste collections, with many others planning to introduce services shortly afterwards.
WRAP says the rollout of food waste collections should be used not only to divert waste from landfill but also as a tool to encourage prevention.
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