Labour to face off with government on food waste bill

The Department has stated that it supports the general aims of the Bill to reduce food waste and distribute edible surplus food to charities, but believes voluntary action is a suitable driver in this area.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “We agree with the aims of the Food Waste (Reduction) Bill in seeking to tackle food waste and improve efficiency. However, we strongly believe our ambitious voluntary-led programme of action is delivering results.”

However, Bristol West MP Kerry McCarthy, the author of the Bill and Labour’s newly appointed Shadow Environment Secretary, has criticised voluntary action by the industry as it is “failing to deliver results.”

Food waste reduction bill

The Bill was first introduced to parliament by Ms McCarthy as a Private Members’ Bill in September 2015, when the Bristol West MP was still a backbench MP. While the MP will defend the proposals from the backbenches tomorrow, they have now been adopted as formal Labour policy since her appointment to the Shadow frontbench.

The proposals would oblige UK supermarkets to donate unsold food where redistribution charities are willing to form partnerships, whilst also publishing statistics on the amount of food waste they produce (see letsrecycle.com story). It follows similar recent legislative proposals set in France and Belgium and aims to cut food waste by 30% by 2025.

“My Bill commits us to the UN goal of halving food waste by 2030, setting out a clear path for reducing food waste and ensuring perfectly good surplus food is donated to charities.”

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Shadow environment secretary Kerry McCarthy

She said: “We need urgent action to tackle the scandal of wasted food. The UK is throwing away 15 million tonnes of food a year. But while consumers have reduced their food waste by over 20% since 2007, over half of all food waste occurs before we even buy it.

“My Bill commits us to the UN goal of halving food waste by 2030, setting out a clear path for reducing food waste and ensuring perfectly good surplus food is donated to charities.”

Voluntary programme

Defra currently works with industry through the Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary agreement to reduce food and packaging waste across the supply chain. The commitment is backed by Westminster, and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments and delivered by waste and resources charity, WRAP.

Defra suggested that a vulnerary approach is sufficient to meet targets. Through the Courtauld Commitment, it has successfully reduced food and packaging waste by nearly 10% over the last three years, it claims.

A Defra spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “Leading UK retailers and manufacturers – representing over 90% of the grocery market by sales – have signed up to our voluntary Courtauld Commitment, which has contributed to a 15% reduction in total household food waste since 2007.

“We will continue to work with food manufacturers and retailers and communities through voluntary measures and organisations such as WRAP to reduce food waste while cutting unnecessary red tape to help Britain’s businesses and economy thrive.”