Tesco, Nestle, Sainsbury's and Waitrose to halve food waste by 2030

Businesses will set their own targets to participate in the UN Sustainable Development Goal which aims at halving per capita food waste across the globe by the year 2030.

Tesco, Nestle, Sainsbury's and Waitrose will reportedly pledge to help halve the food waste by the year 2030. The major food retailers have joined about 300 other businesses and individuals at a symposium to adopt a package of commitments to help slash food waste.

According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Britain presently wastes 10.2 million tons of food each year. Out of this, one million tons comes from the hospitality sector, 260,000 tons from retail, 1.8 million tons from food manufacturers and the rest from households.

Michael Gove, Environment Secretary, UK, reportedly stated at the Step Up to the Plate event in London that millions of tons of food is being thrown away which is an economic, environmental and moral scandal, and he is determined to tackle this issue. Millions of tons of nutritious and good food is thrown away every year, he further added.

Ben Elliot, food surplus and waste champion of government is conveyed to delegates that food worth £5 billion is thrown away by businesses and food worth £15 billion is wasted from homes. The emissions created by this waste is equivalent of every third car on the road.

It is expected that businesses will set their own targets to participate in the UN Sustainable Development Goal which aims at halving per capita food waste across the globe by the year 2030. The government also expects that attendees will employ the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap to support companies in measuring and reporting on efforts to cut back waste.

While Dave Lewis, Chief Executive, Tesco, welcomed the pledge, he said a commitment from all UK food companies to publish their respective food waste data within the coming 12 months should also be part of the deal.

Tesco reportedly stated that the latest food waste data of the company will be published in its annual report soon.

Source credit: https://news.sky.com/story/tesco-sainsburys-waitrose-and-nestle-to-halve-food-waste-by-2030-11718820

https://www.marketingweek.com/2019/05/13/everything-that-matters-this-morning-13-may-2019/