Sainsbury's Food Town

A town made of the most common food waste items has been created to mark Sainsbury’s new Waste Less, Save More initiative

Sainsbury’s has named Swadlincote, South Derbyshire as the town it will use as a “living test bed” for a new food waste reduction project. 

The town won out against 189 entries and will now receive £1m investment to reduce food waste by 50%, 15 years ahead of the UN Global Sustainability Goal. 

From January, the town will embark on a year-long project to trial some of the most innovative waste-cutting ideas and technology. 

Community orchards, urban wormeries and growing mushrooms in coffee grounds are among the initiatives, submitted during the application process, which are set to be piloted in Swadlincote. Sainsbury’s will work with the town to plan and test the most effective long-term solutions. The town will also hold a competition to find the street that can collectively save the most household waste.

The project, ‘Waste Less, Save More’ is part of a £10m investment in household food waste reduction over the next five years. About seven million tonnes of food and drink are wasted annually in the UK and the average family throws away £700 of food each year. Sainsbury’s said that the 50% reduction target was an ambitious yet realistic goal and could collectively save the families of Swadlincote £1,160,650 a year. 

“When we set out in search of a town in September we never thought we’d get the overwhelming response and enthusiasm that we’ve seen from Swadlincote and hundreds of other applications,” said Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe.

“Food waste is one of society’s biggest environmental issues at the moment and there is a genuine passion across the UK to tackle it. We know that above all our customers care about reducing waste while saving money, which is why we’ve pledged £10m to invest in reducing store and household waste across the UK over the next five years.”