Sustainability charity Waste and Resources Action Plan – known more widely as Wrap – is set to launch a food waste action week in March 2021 to “wake the nation up to the environmental consequences of wasting food”.
The inaugural Food Waste Action Week, scheduled for 1-7 March 2021, aims to bring together organisations such as retailers, local authorities, restaurants, and manufacturers to raise attention to the environmental consequences of wasting food.
Working with a variety of partners, Wrap intends to show how wasted food is an issue affecting everyone, not to mention the planet. The charity said wasted food contributes 8–10% of total man-made greenhouse gas emissions, adding that roughly one-third of food produced around the world is wasted.
Citizen prevention will be a key focus for Food Waste Action Week 2021, as Wrap looks to build on historic work that has brought down waste in the UK over recent years.
The week will also focus on the hospitality and food service sector, helping that industry understand the changes that can be implemented to ensure as little food as possible is thrown away.
Marcus Gover, CEO of Wrap, said: “The climate crisis remains one of the biggest and most urgent challenges facing humanity.
“Wasted food has a significant contribution to climate change, and is something we need to address together. Wrap has the data and research to demonstrate the reality of the issue – what we need is for partners to get this date in the diary, and join us in the Food Waste Action Week activities to make wasting food a thing of the past.”
Ben Elliot, food surplus & waste champion for the government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, added: “The Food Waste Action Week next March is going to be crucial for raising everyone’s awareness of wasted food as an environmental concern.
“I urge businesses from across the food industry to lend their support to this week of action, working with Wrap to share these vital messages and make essential changes that can reduce wasted food.”
(Image credit: Wrap)
