One year on: The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap Progress Report 2019
On the 24th September 2019, one year on from its launch, WRAP released “The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap Progress Report 2019” outlining the progress made so far. Highlights of the first year include:
- 156 food businesses committing to the roadmap;
- 121 large businesses providing evidence of having implemented Target, Measure, Act practices;
- More than 40 businesses publicly reporting food surplus and waste data in 2019; and
- More than 150 businesses currently involved with engagement and training sessions.
This progress is encouraging, however, in order for the UK to achieve SDG 12.3, WRAP is calling on more businesses to implement Target, Measure, Act, and importantly, to publicly report their food surplus and waste data to help track progress and inform action. Tesco CEO Dave Lewis is also calling on more organisations to be transparent about their waste data, stating that “publishing food waste data is vital; without it, efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 – to halve food waste by 2030 – will be severely jeopardised. Without publication, we will never be able to judge whether real action is happening”.
The benefits of measuring and reporting food waste are demonstrated by those businesses that publicly reported 2018 and historical data. Collectively, these organisations reported a 7% reduction in food waste; equating to a saving of 53,000 tonnes, or food valued at £85 million. This represents a major saving of resource that would have been used to produce this food and helps to keep food in the supply chain for human consumption.