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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks of Lord Harlech on 21 September (HL Deb col 1533), whether any companies have asked them to maintain mandatory reporting on food waste, what were those companies, and whether any such companies have offered to pay the costs of that reporting rather than using public money.

In the 2022 consultation on improved food waste reporting, 40 companies supported introducing mandatory reporting for large businesses in England. These companies were from the manufacturing, retail, hospitality and primary production sectors. A list of respondents, excluding those who requested confidentiality, is included in the Government Response published in July 2023. If a mandatory approach were to have been taken forward, those companies in scope would be liable for the costs of reporting their food waste.