Wokingham

A campaign is being launched to encourage people in Wokingham, Bracknell Forest and Reading Boroughs to cut the amount of food they throw away and waste.

Over the next six months, the three councils and their waste disposal partner re3 will be highlighting to residents about how much unused food is thrown away and suggest some practical steps to reduce it; including thinking carefully when doing the weekly shop about how much is needed, and how to store food for longer.

The move comes in the wake of a report from the government funded Waste and Resources Action Plan (WRAP), which shows UK households throw away a third of the food they buy.

WRAP estimate the average household wastes £420 a year on wasted food. The three councils have a population of around 400,000 residents which means they may be throwing away as much as £168 million worth of food each year.

On a daily basis WRAP claims households across the UK throw away:

• 7 million slices of bread
• 260,000 packs of unopened cheese
• 4.4 million whole apples
• 5.1 million whole potatoes

There is also a huge environmental impact when the amount of transportation involved in delivering food to our homes is taken into account. The WRAP study says that if the waste was cut we could save CO2 emissions equivalent to removing one in every five cars from the road.

Chairman of the re3 project and Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for corporate services, Cllr Rob Stanton, said: "The issue of food waste affects all of us. It is an economic, environmental and health issue. People often feel that this type of issue is too big for them to make a difference but this is an issue on which everyone can have a positive impact and if they do, they will not only see a reduction in the amount they throw away but they'll save money too."

Cllr Mrs Dorothy Hayes, executive member for the environment at Bracknell Forest Council, said: “Encouraging residents to think carefully about the amount of food they throw away could not only stop unnecessary waste ending up in harmful landfill sites, but save money at the checkout as well.”

Paul Gittings, lead councillor for environment and sustainability at Reading Borough Council, said: “I was pretty shocked by the findings of the WRAP report. The amount being wasted is a concern, especially as there are plenty of places in the world where the food we are wasting would make all the difference. I hope that people everywhere will do their bit to waste less perfectly good food.”

Wokingham Borough Council