Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to eradicate domestic food waste.

Waste is a devolved matter. Data recently published by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government’s delivery body on food waste, shows household food waste reduced in the UK by over 1.4 million tonnes between 2007 and 2018. That’s a fall of almost 18%. However, there is more to do.

The Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS), published in December 2018, outlined our continued support for WRAP’s citizen food waste strategy to reduce food waste in our homes, for example through the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign. In addition, a Citizen Food Waste Behaviour Change Grant was launched on 30 January 2020 to identify new behaviour change interventions that can be tailored to food waste prevention. Ben Elliot, our Food Surplus and Waste Champion also recently announced the first ever ‘Food Waste Action Week’ from Monday 11 May and called on households and businesses across the country to join forces to reduce food waste.

We also want households to be able to separate their food waste from residual waste, which will prevent it going to landfill. Following support for separate weekly food waste collections at public consultation, the Environment Bill proposes legislation that will require all collectors of waste to collect a core set of materials from households, businesses and other organisations such as schools from 2023.