Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recent figures on household food waste published by the Waste and Resources Action Programme; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce domestic food waste.

Rory Stewart

Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), we are helping households waste less and save money through the Courtauld Commitment and the Love Food Hate Waste campaign. They have contributed to a 15% reduction in the amount of household food and drink waste between 2007 and 2012, from 8.3 m tonnes to 7.0 m tonnes. The current phase of the Courtauld Commitment has a target to reduce household food waste by a further 5% by the end of this year.

In addition, signatories have reported a 7.4% reduction in supply chain waste between 2009 and 2012, with interim results for Courtauld 3 showing a further 3.2% reduction by 2014.

WRAP is currently brokering a new agreement, Courtauld 2025, which is expected to start next year and will build on this progress.