'Throwing out food worth millions' - hotels and restaurants under fire

More than three-quarters of all rubbish they generate is recyclable and 64 million could be saved every year through better management of food waste, according to a report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap).

But the findings came under fire by industry chiefs who said they lacked "credibility".

It is estimated that 53,500 tonnes of the waste from the hospitality sector is food waste - two-thirds of which could have been eaten.

Environment secretary Richard Lochhead said: "Scotland's hospitality sector plays a huge role in our economy and is enjoyed by visitors and residents alike.

"It's staggering that an estimated 64m could be saved by the Scottish hospitality sector each year through preventing food waste and increasing recycling. Harnessing the energy and resource potential of food waste - which can be made into clean energy and fertiliser - is a core aim of our zero waste agenda.

"The Scottish Government wants to drive behaviour change in all sectors to prevent waste arising in the first place and recycle what we can."

The Scottish Government's zero waste plan, published last year, is aimed at driving down the amount of waste sent to landfill.

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But Stephen Leckie, chief executive of Crieff Hydro Hotel and chairman of the Scottish Tourism Forum, raised questions over the research.

"They've not asked the big groups, or the big groups they asked chose to ignore it," he said.

"The big companies in tourism are much more efficient because it's down to money. The smaller guys don't bother because they can't. If you're a big unit like Crieff Hydro, we have a compactor, we have bottle skips, we have different colour codings for card and cardboard and different coloured bottles.

"But we didn't participate in the survey so I would question the credibility of the figures.

"The sample they've taken is not a representative sample of what actually is the reality because the big companies are the ones who are more efficient. The simple reason they're more efficient is down to cost."

Food waste extends beyond the hotel industry, with more than 1 billion worth of food wasted by consumers in Scotland each year - an average of 430 per household. Households throw away 566,000 tonnes of food every year in Scotland.

Iain Gulland, director of Zero Waste Scotland, said: "Many businesses in the hospitality sector are already working hard to increase recycling rates, and Scotland's commitment to becoming a green tourism destination will hopefully motivate more businesses in the sector to embrace zero waste.

"However, the amount of waste going to landfill which could be recycled still remains an issue in this sector."