The UK’s hospitality and food service sector has run up an annual waste bill of £2.5bn, according to a new report by Wrap.
The report also predicts the figure could rise beyond £3bn by 2016 unless steps are taken.
Wrap says the total annual waste including food, packaging and other “non-foods” produced across the sector is a massive 2.87 million tonnes, of which just 46% is recycled, sent to anaerobic digestion or composted.
Total food waste accounts for 920,000 tonnes, the equivalent to 1.3 billion meals or one in six of the eight billion meals served annually by the sector.
It goes on to say 75% of all food waste was avoidable and could have been eaten. The estimated cost of a tonne of food waste is £2,800.
Last week The Grocer revealed the government had taken the axe to projects aimed at cutting food waste, despite a recent report claiming the problem costs the nation £12.5bn per year.
A spending review by Defra set out a total of £10m of cuts to industry body Wrap’s budget, including £3.6m on specific projects aimed at reducing food waste.
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