Government funding worth £1.15 million has been announced to tackle food waste in households and supply chains.
Businesses will benefit from the fund to help come up with new ways to tackle food waste by changing people’s behaviour or transforming it into other materials.
Grants will be available for creative solutions, such as educating the public on how to store fresh food, or even turning food waste into new, edible products.
With 4.5 million tonnes of food wasted every year, the grants are the latest step to reduce food waste in the UK by 20% by 2025.
It forms part of a wider £15 million government scheme to specifically address surplus food from the retail and manufacturing sectors.
Environment minister Rebecca Pow said: “The UK is a proud world leader in tackling food waste, owing in part to the innovation and creativity of many organisations across the UK.
“I look forward to supporting UK organisations who are taking up the mantle to tackle food waste and to create a better world for ourselves, as well as generations to come.
“It makes sense in every way – it cuts collection costs, saves the customer money and importantly reduces emissions which benefits the environment.”
It comes as the government’s Environment Bill was introduced to parliament today, which highlights a commitment to reduce the UK’s food waste footprint.
The government is pledging to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025, as UK households still waste 4.5m tonnes of food that could have been eaten every year, equivalent to ten billion meals.
Despite this, data released this week shows a half a million tonne reduction in total UK food waste in just three years – enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall ten times.
