Understanding and influencing food waste – The UK experience Andrew Parry WRAP

What I’ll cover  Background/context  Definitions  Food waste in the UK   

Current arisings and drivers Current disposal and treatment routes Changes to date & future scenarios

 Tackling food waste beyond 2015  Summary

The broader picture……

(FAO, 2011)

An increasing evidence base

Increasing action

Increasing collaboration

Targets to stimulate further action

Definitions

New EC food waste definition "food waste" means food (including inedible parts) lost from the food supply chain, not including food diverted to material uses such as biobased products, animal feed, or sent for redistribution

FUSIONS Definitional Framework

Food waste in the UK: Current arisings and drivers

UK food and drink waste    

Around 15 Mt arising each year Equivalent to 35% of that bought Most (>9 Mt) is avoidable >£19 billion; >20 Mt CO2e

* includes other out of home food waste (e.g. in litter), and pre-factory gate food waste. NB data for household also includes waste to sewer, which is not currently available for other sectors

Household food waste 50% of the total UK food waste: – £700 per average family – 13 billion “5 a day” portions – Associated with ca 4% of the total UK water footprint

60% avoidable

 ca

17% ‘possibly’ avoidable

23% unavoidable

Avoidable food waste: amounts and reasons

Not used in time (45%)

Cooked, prepared, served too much (33%)

Personal preference (15%)

Accidents (4%) Other (3%)

Influences: Cultural, Governmental, Demographic, Technological, Economic, Industrial

The Individual

Retail Supply Chain Product

Retail

Attitudes

Knowledge & skills related

- Shelf life /

Portioning &

Values

to behaviour

Motivation

Awareness of the issue Facilities & resources

formulation - Production methods & location

Packaging - Functionality - Labelling

storage ‘devices ’ Marketing Price promotions

Habit

Communications campaign

Food-waste specific

behaviours

Intermediate Outcome: Quantity of household food waste

Final Outcomes: Environmental and economic impact of food waste

Grocery supply chain  Retail

– ca 0.4 Mt food waste  Manufacturing: – 3.9 Mt food waste – 0.45 Mt food that would have become waste diverted to animal feed – 2.0 Mt rendering of ABPs – 1.7-1.9 Mt other byproducts/co-products

Origin of manufacturing ‘food waste’ by industry cluster (based on IPPC 2013 data; preliminary analysis)

Variation in waste types as % of total ‘food waste’ by industry cluster (based on IPPC 2013 data; preliminary analysis)

Influences on food waste in the grocery supply chain

Hospitality and food service food waste

Food waste in the UK: Current disposal and treatment routes

Food and Drink ‘Loop’

Economics

20% UK territorial emissions

£97bn GVA ~3.6 million employees 190,000 enterprises

V5 23.9.14

NET Imports:

70% of UK water footprint

Cost of waste:

£21bn

>£19bn

11 Mt

Design & Manufacture GVA: £24bn

56 Mt

Total FW = 3.9 Mt Avoidable = 3.9 Mt

55 Mt

Trade (Biomass)

Total FW = ca 7 Mt [ca 3 Mt in UK; ca 4 Mt overseas] Avoidable = ??

Inputs Fertilisers, feed, chemicals etc

22 Mt

ca. 54% post-farm gate food waste recycled/recovered

Retail and wholesale GVA £37bn Total FW = 0.4 Mt Avoidable = 0.4 Mt

Agriculture

NET trade = 17.5 Mt

Total food waste = ca. 20 Mt

Hospitality & Food Service

1 Mt

GVA £27bn (Waste data under consumption, but 66% is due to spoilage / food preparation)

1000 GWh

(AD only)

AD & Composting

14 Mt

1.8Mt AD capacity 0.85Mt IVC capacity

Consumption £196bn spend 41Mt purchased

Primary material flow

Household Total FW = 7.0 Mt Avoidable = 4.2 -5.4 Mt

Waste By-products etc Losses to the loop (landfill; thermal treatment, sewer etc) CO2e

Collection >0.6 Mt HH and HaFS food waste

Hospitality & Foodservice Total FW = 0.9 Mt Avoidable = 0.7Mt

Preventing food becoming waste

Waste management

Household

HaFS*

Total food waste

7.0 Mt

0.9 Mt

0.4 Mt

Preventable food waste

4.2 – 5.4 Mt (£12.5 bn)

0.7 Mt (£2.5 bn)

0.4 Mt (£0.5 bn)

‘Redistribution’ (humans & animals)

0.3 Mt

nk

[n/a humans 0.3 Mt pets/ other animals

Retail** Manufacturing

9 Mt (>£19 bn)

0.45 Mt

[c3,000t humans n/a animals]

[c3,000t humans 0.45Mt food to animals]

nk

> 0.75 Mt

Recycling (AD/composting)

1.0 Mt

0.1 Mt

0.4 Mt

1.3 Mt

nk

> 2.8 Mt

Recovery (thermal, landspreading)

1.0 Mt

0.16 Mt

nk

2.6 Mt

nk

> 2.6 Mt

nk

> 6.6 Mt

nk

2.0 Mt 1.7 – 1.9 Mt

Disposal (sewer, landfill)

4.7 Mt

0.65 Mt

[1.6 Mt sewer 3.1 Mt landfill]

[0.14 Mt sewer 0.51 landfill]

In addition: Rendering of animal by-products Other food by-products11

nk

0.05 Mt [nk sewer 0.05 Mt landfill]

2.0 Mt 1.7 – 1.9 Mt

* HaFS = hospitality and food service; ** Retail includes wholesale; nk = not known; n/a = not applicable

Food waste in the UK: Changes to date & future scenarios

Tackling food waste - a collaborative, ‘whole chain’ approach, enabled by frameworks for action, supported by governments

Design

Production

Retail

Consumption

Consumer engagement

Food waste prevention: UK progress 

UK food waste arisings (postfarm gate) were almost 14 Mt in 2007



By 2012 food waste had reduced by 1.6 Mt, or ca 12%



By 2015, if current voluntary agreements are successful food waste could be 15% lower than in 2007

Greater progress in some areas than others…. Greater reduction in some food categories than others  More movement in certain habits and behaviours than others – e.g. use of the freezer, use of leftovers  Differences between groups of people 

Reductions in avoidable household food waste (2007-2012; ‘000t)

Scenario analysis on future food waste levels (tonnes total food waste, post farm gate, UK)

Historic and targeted reductions to 2015

Scenarios based on different population projections, economic conditions and levels of intervention

Scenario analysis on future food waste levels (tonnes total food waste, post farm gate, UK)

Historic and targeted reductions to 2015

Scenarios based on different population projections, economic conditions and levels of intervention

Tackling food waste beyond 2015

Courtauld 2025 

Discussions with industry, Governments and other stakeholders about a new framework for collaborative action in the UK – tackling food waste across the whole life-cycle – taking a whole system view to address other areas of resource efficiency, including getting more value from unavoidable waste



The new framework, Courtauld 2025, would start in 2016, and run until 2025

Courtauld 2025 Change what we supply: embed criteria into decision-making processes for product design and development, buying and sourcing for priority product categories

Change what we do with wastes and byproducts: quantify the benefits of materials processing routes which deliver higher value, and develop new markets

Sustainable design, buying and sourcing

Maximising the value from waste materials and by-products

Value chain optimisation

Consumption behaviours

Change how we supply: identify and quantify potential savings in whole supply chains for priority product categories, and implement changes

Change how we consume: engage consumers to influence behaviour, initially on food waste, and potentially extend this to support them in choosing more sustainable and healthier lifestyles

Summary

Summary Reducing food waste is a global, regional and national priority  Collaborative action, informed by robust evidence, will be key to delivering against challenging new targets  There are gaps in our knowledge which need to be addressed in order to maximise impact, and achieve greater value from food waste that will not be eliminated  Courtauld 2025 aims to foster greater whole chain collaboration, inform action and evaluate progress – get in touch to find out more! 

Thank you – questions?

Andrew Parry Special Advisor - Food & Drink Email [email protected] Website www.wrap.org.uk