In spite of a reduction in the amount of food households throw away, the average UK family still wastes almost £700 of food each year, according to new figures.

The government’s Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) results show a 13% reduction in household food waste since 2006/7. To be precise, the amount thrown away has fallen from 8.3million tonnes to 7.2million tonnes, but it still translates to wastage of £680 for the average family – £12billion in total for the UK every year.

A Zero Waste Society

WRAP’s chief executive, Dr Liz Goodwin, said that the fall in waste was “very welcome” but that more needed to be done. She added that when food safety was a major global issue, there was a “significant” amount of food wasted. However, with this no longer being the case, Dr Goodwin is urging households to work with the government to take action.

“All the governments of the UK, which fund our work, have the goal of moving swiftly towards a zero waste society. Their priority is to find ways of tackling waste – including food waste – and keep scarce resources in use for as long as possible,” she said.

Difficult economic conditions and increasing food prices have been cited by the organisation as possible reasons for the reduction in the amount thrown away. According to WRAP, around a fifth of all food is wasted, and a massive 60% of the food that is thrown away could have been safely eaten.

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