The New Food Waste Horizons Report is part of the Horizon 2020, the biggest EU research and innovation programme with €80 billion funding available over seven years.
The report brings together insight, best practice an innovation from UK businesses in order to eradicate food waste from landfill. Also the report outlines areas for improvement and discusses remaining challenges.
The stakeholders that made valuable contributions to the reports include Lord Deben, the Renewable Energy Association, National Farmers Union, British Retail Consortium and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Philip Simpson, commercial director at ReFood, said: “While across the board there have been both challenges and successes, the overall picture is extremely positive. As a nation, we still have a long way to go, but zero waste to landfill is becoming ever-more achievable.
“We have seen the positive impact that technology is having on minimising waste across the supply chain, as well as creating opportunities to share and redistribute unwanted food and re-use or recycle food waste in innovative and exciting ways.
“The commercial, environmental and societal benefits of tackling food waste have gained significant traction over the past few years and it is exciting to see what can be achieved. Challenges remain, not least the lack of consistency in food waste collections at local authority level, but the government’s Waste and Resources Strategy has the potential to provide a perfectly workable policy framework.”
ReFood’s Vision 2020 report was published in 2013 to provide a roadmap to eliminate food waste from landfill. Since launching the initial report they have been supported by 800 organisations including Michelin-starred restaurants and universities.
Simpson concluded: “Ultimately, responsibility lies with all of us, with businesses, with government, with local authorities, educators and consumers. We can all play our part, whether by preventing food waste in the home, asking for doggy bags in a restaurant, donating surplus food, or simply taking every opportunity to reduce, re-use and recycle wherever possible.
“The benefits of tackling food waste, as this report shows, have been well-documented and we hope the latest chapter will inspire new initiatives in the future.”
To read the full report you can download it on the link below: