A new research report “The Food We Waste”, published today by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) reveals that at a time when most people are struggling with their bills, the average household in Shrewsbury & Atcham throws out £420 of good food a year. For some families with children it can be as much as £610 – which could have helped pay household bills.
The cost of needlessly wasted food to UK households is £10 billion a year, £2 billion higher than previously estimated. The research shows that each day 1.3 million unopened yoghurt pots, 5,500 whole chickens and 440,000 ready meals are thrown away in the UK. The study revealed that £1 billion worth of this wasted food is still “in date”.
The environmental impact of food waste is enormous, because of all the energy and resources which are used to get food to our homes, and when it reaches landfill, there is a major carbon impact. Tackling the problem of food waste would be the same as taking 1 in 5 cars off of UK roads.
Launching the report “The Food We Waste” today Liz Goodwin, Chief Executive of WRAP, described the findings as “shocking”. She added “ Food waste has a significant environmental impact. What shocked me the most was the cost of our food waste at a time of rising food bills, and generally a tighter pull on our purse strings.”
Cllr Mrs Judith Williams, Portfolio Holder for waste & sustainability at Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council says“ SABC is backing the Love Food, Hate Waste Campaign because we want everyone to help us to reduce the amount waste going to landfill. This report also shows us that we could all be saving money and so this is a really massive issue for our economy and our environment.”
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