The three-month research project will also look into detailed reasons why food ends up in the household bin. WRAP hopes the work will help the food retail and packaging industries act to reduce the amount of usable food that is thrown away by householders.
” We want to look at all the causes of food waste “
– Dr Robert Pocock, MEL Research
MEL will work with WRAP's research and evaluation team to devise a practical method to measure food waste in household waste containers.
Once complete, WRAP will develop a strategy with leading retailers and brand-owners to try to reduce the 5.2 million tonnes of household food waste generated in UK homes each year. And, where food waste is generated, the work will help encourage consumers to divert it from landfill by composting it in the home or, where facilities exist, through local authority kitchen waste collection schemes.
Strategy
Barbara Leach, evaluation manager for WRAP explained: “The project will give us a much clearer understanding of the types of food waste that are being thrown away and the reasons behind that. Our aim is to work with a consortium of retailers to work on a strategy, with the goal of reducing this type of waste by 100,000 tonnes by the end of 2008.”
The first stage of the project has involved commissioning M•E•L Research to analyse samples of food waste in household bins, to categorise it into ‘types’ of food that people are throwing away.
Dr Robert Pocock, chief executive for M•E•L Research, said: “We are developing a precision grade technique for analysing food waste based on the principle that food purchases have a ‘life cycle’ within the household and may be thrown away at any stage.”
Reasons
M•E•L are also tracing the factors explaining why people may be throwing food away and who the responsible producers are. Examples of aspects being considered include the overbuying of foods with short shelf lives, the impact of “buy one, get one free” offers and whether food does not last long enough once containers have been opened.
Even the current fad for calorie-cutting will be examined.
Dr Pocock said: “If people are encouraged to buy too much food, the surplus may get discarded without ever being opened or used. Poor packaging may result in food deteriorating and being binned. Scraps and off-cuts may also get thrown away from food preparation. Finally the household plate may simply be too full for calorie-conscious eaters, with half eaten portions then being binned. We want to look at all the causes of food waste.”
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Once this initial work has been done, the categorizations will be used to form the basis of a large national household food waste compositional study beginning later in 2006.
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