Toolkit: reducing food waste at home

Cost of living challenges have caused many households to explore different ways to save money.

Wasting food comes at a cost to:

• residents, who are buying food that's not eaten
• the council, who dispose of the food in refuse or recycle facilities

Food production takes resources including:

• land use
• water
• harvest
• packaging
• transport

4.5 million tonnes of food that's still good to eat is thrown away every year in the UK.

The resources used to produce food all have a carbon footprint associated with them.

When food breaks down at landfill sites it releases harmful greenhouse gases like methane into the atmosphere.  Approximately 8 to 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions relate to food waste.