Minister praises “impressive” food waste prevention

His comments came as the FDF released a report outlining how the activities of its members were reducing waste and emissions.

The truth is we are showing that we can cut emmissions and we can cut waste

 
Hilary Benn

The FDF also reported that 82% of the packaging created by its members factories is now recycled or recovered and said members' carbon emissions had been cut by 17%.

Speaking at the launch of the report yesterday (November 27), Mr Benn said he was “impressed” by the work that the FDF and its members were doing. He commented: “The truth is we are showing that we can cut emmissions and we can cut waste.”

He said that reducing emissions and cutting waste was even more important in the light of the Climate Change Bill becoming an Act this week (see letsrecycle.com story).

Landfill 

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which is the trade body for the food and drink sector, said its members had avoided food waste going to landfill by finding other areas where it could be used. It explained that much of the food, which might have gone to waste, was now used to make animal feed instead.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has said that its provisional figures show that the food and drink manufacturing sector currently wastes up to 4.1 million tonnes of food waste a year.

The FDF report also claimed that its members now recycle and recover 82% of the packaging they create.

It revealed that 22 of its members, including Cadbury, Coca Cola, Nestle and Kellogg's, had signed up to the Courtauld Commitment in a pledge to reduce packaging waste.

Participation in the Commitment, the voluntary agreement between WRAP and UK grocers to reduce packaging and food waste, doubled among its members over the last year.

In addition to waste prevention, the report showed that the sector's carbon emissions also fell. The FDF said that this was achieved “on the back of efforts by member companies to improve energy efficiencies in their factories, boost productivity, and make greater use of renewable sources of energy.”

Ambition 

The report also marked the first anniversary of the FDFs Five-fold Ambition plan. The Ambition aims to reduce the environmental impact of the food and drink manufacturing sector.

Its targets include sending zero food and packaging waste to landfill from 2015, reducing the amount of packaging reaching households by 2010 and cutting C02 emissions.

WRAP also praised the achievements of FDF members. Chief executive, Liz Goodwin, said: “WRAP is delighted with the growing number of FDF members who have signed up to the Courtauld Commitment.

“With their support we will continue to see less packaging being used on everyday products on our supermarket shelves, as well as identifying ways of reducing the amount of food that consumers throw away. This will be beneficial to the environment and also help save money.”

Fiona Dawson, chair of FDF's sustainability and competitiveness steering group and managing director of Mars UK Snackfood, added: “Our report demonstrates that our members are committed to making a real difference to the environment.

“Our achievements to date are impressive and provide a strong foundation on which we will build as we look to meet the ambitions we set ourselves in 2007.”