Food waste campaign could save families £700 a year

Published on 23/01/2013 00:53

A GLOBAL campaign to tackle food waste claims UK families could save almost £700 a year.

Simple steps taken by consumers and retailers could help reduce the 1.3 billion tonnes of food, worth more than £600 billion, which is lost or wasted around the world each year.

The amount of edible waste discarded in developed countries would feed the estimated 870 million people going hungry in the world, said the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The campaign has been launched following a recent report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers which suggested that as much as half of the food produced globally is wasted.

In the UK, the average family could save £680, while the hospitality sector could save £724 million a year, according to waste reduction organisation Wrap.