Toolkit: reducing food waste at home
Why food waste matters
Cost
Cost of living challenges have caused many households to explore different ways to save money.
Wasting food comes at a cost to:
- residents, who are buying food that's not eaten
- the council, who dispose of the food in refuse or recycle facilities
Resources
Food production takes resources including:
- land use
- water
- harvest
- packaging
- transport
4.5 million tonnes of food that's still good to eat is thrown away every year in the UK.
Carbon footprint
The resources used to produce food all have a carbon footprint associated with them.
When food breaks down at landfill sites it releases harmful greenhouse gases like methane into the atmosphere. Approximately 8 to 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions relate to food waste.