Food Waste in the European Union - The Economic Utilisation of Food Co-Products - page 36

high moisture content;
low calorific value;
prone to bacterial contamination.

2.13 Reducing Food Waste
Under the waste hierarchy and resource eciency agenda the need to reduce
total volumes of food waste has received much attention. The degree to which
strategies have been implemented to achieve this ambition varies between
Member States. A number of UK initiatives aimed at various stages of the food
supply chain are outlined in the case study below.

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Case Study: UK Initiatives to Reduce Food Waste
across the Supply Chain

Courtauld Commitment: a voluntary agreement between food retailers,
brand owners, manufacturers, suppliers and WRAP. It initially
launched in 2005 with an aim to reduce household annual food waste
by 155,000 tonnes between 2008 and 2010.
Phase 2 of the Courtauld Commitment aims to reduce household
food and drink waste by 4%, to reduce the environmental impact of
packaging, and to reduce packaging waste. The activities undertaken
by Courtauld Commitment signatories to achieve these goals have
targeted products, packaging, shopping behaviours and the way the
food is sold, and the behaviour of consumers in the home. 17
Love Food Hate Waste: a customer facing programme launched by
WRAP in 2007, the programme aims to help households recognise and
reduce food waste. The campaign promotes the benefits of saving
money and reducing the environmental impacts of food waste, and
specifically encourages consumers to take the following actions: 18
1. Check the contents of cupboards, fridges and freezers before shopping.
2. Plan meals in advance and prepare shopping lists.
3. Store fruit and vegetables in a fridge to extend the shelf-life.
4. To ensure fresh food are stored in airtight containers to extend the
shelf-life.
5. Check use-by dates regularly and use products with the shortest
shelf-life.
6. Freeze food you will not eat before use-by dates expire.
7. Measure portion sizes to avoid preparing and serving excess food.
8. Use leftovers.
Hospitality and Food Service Agreement: launched in 2012 by WRAP
on behalf of UK, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland governments.
The voluntary agreement aims to reduce food and associated
packaging waste by 5%, and to increase the rate of food and packaging
recycling, including AD and composting, to 70%.

3 .