Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK 2015 (Jan 2017) and related publications

Overview

Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK 2012 (Nov 2013)

WRAP research that revealed a substantial reduction in the amount of household food and drink waste arising between 2007 and 2012. However, the research also highlighted the scale of the opportunity remaining. The results showed that avoidable household food waste had been cut by an impressive 21% since 2007, saving UK consumers almost £13 billion over the five years to 2012. However, despite this significant drive to reduce food waste, UK households were still throwing away 4.2 million tonnes of avoidable household food and drink annually; the equivalent of six meals every week for the average UK household.

A Product Focus (Jun 2014)

Provides extensive details about household food and drink waste including detailed reasons about why it is thrown away, the size of individual instances of waste and the proportion of food left in packaging. It also provides details of which meal occasions are linked to the most waste and the percentage of purchases that are wasted.

A People Focus (Oct 2014)

Explores the relationship between the level of avoidable food and drink waste from households in the UK and factors including socio-demographics, behaviours and others relating to food, such as healthy eating and time available for food-related activities.

Household Food Waste in the UK 2015 (Jan 2017)

Estimates for total and avoidable household food waste (HHFW) for 2014 and 2015 for the UK. The changes compared to 2012 and previous estimates are discussed in the context of factors influencing food waste and the Courtauld Commitment 3 target for household food waste prevention. The estimated amount of HHFW in the UK for 2015 was 7.3 million tonnes. Overall, there has been no statistically significant change in the estimated levels of HHFW between 2012 and 2015.

WRAP has published data on household food waste (HHFW) regularly since 2007, and these have constituted the principal source of UK-level data on this topic.