During Defra ministerial questions in the House of Commons yesterday (February 4), Mr Stewart said he had “significant concerns” about the proposed Food Waste (Reduction) Bill, which missed its second reading slot and is now unlikely to progress further through Parliament to become law.
The Bill, which was spearheaded by Labour’s Shadow Environment Minister Kerry McCarthy, sets out mandatory measures to force businesses to reduce their food waste. It would oblige supermarkets to donate unsold food where redistribution charities are willing to form partnerships in a bid to cut supply chain waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, due to overrunning discussions for another bill and two urgent questions from MPs earlier in the day, the proposed legislation missed its second reading slot last Friday (January 29). Ms McCarthy MP has applied for another slot for the Bill to be read on March 4, but even if the application is successful the reading will be lower down the order paper.
“We have significant concerns about the targets set in that Bill, and we believe that its proposals include perverse incentives. Voluntary measures have increased by 70% the amount that retailers have managed to redistribute to charitable organisations, and the real key will be getting councils and retailers to work on a unified system.”
Rory Stewart MP
Defra minister
Speaking yesterday, Mr Stewart paid tribute to Ms McCarthy for having “campaigned strongly on this issue for a long time”, but said that the government has “significant concerns about the targets set in that Bill, and we believe its proposals include perverse incentives”.
The government has previously said it supports the general aims of the Bill to reduce food waste and redistribute edible surplus food, but that it favours voluntary action from businesses rather than mandatory targets.
And, again explaining the government’s position on the Labour-backed Bill yesterday, Mr Stewart also took the opportunity to reiterate his desire for a consistent system of household waste and recycling collections across England as another means of tackling food waste.
Mr Stewart said: “Voluntary measures have increased by 70% the amount that retailers have managed to redistribute to charitable organisations, and the real key will be getting councils and retailers to work on a unified system.”
Earlier in the discussion, Penrith MP Mr Stewart said that the UK’s commitment to the UN target of halving food waste by 2030 is “immensely important”.
He highlighted work being undertaken by WRAP, the Love Food Hate Waste campaign and the Courtauld 2025 retailer agreement which would “aim to build on” the 17% reduction in household food waste since 2009.
House of Lords
Elsewhere in Westminster yesterday, a debate centred on food waste also took place in the House of Lords, during which Defra spokesman Lord Gardiner of Kimble praised the impact of the Courtauld agreement for bringing a 3.2% reduction in signatories’ food waste in 2014.
He added that the new Courtauld 2025 agreement currently being brokered by WRAP was “an ambitions farm-to-fork industry commitment”.
And, echoing Mr Stewart’s comments in the Commons, Lord Kimble said that with regards to food redistribution “the voluntary approach is delivering results, but we want to do more”.
He also said that WRAP would be publishing guidance “in the near future” for local authorities looking to introduce or improve household food waste collection schemes
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