The Mayor of London Boris Johnson today launched ‘FoodSave’, a new scheme to help food businesses maximise their profits by reducing food waste and diverting surplus food to useful purposes and away from landfill.
Food waste is a huge issue in the UK. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimate that around 15 million tonnes of food and drink are thrown away every year, of which four million is from food service, restaurants and manufacturing. Food waste makes up 41per cent of all waste generated by the UK hospitality sector.
To help address this, the Mayor is working in partnership with the European Regional Development Fund and London Waste and Recycling Board to support over 240 small and medium-sized businesses in cutting food waste over the next 18 months.
The ‘FoodSave’ project will help businesses in a variety of ways including:
- Identifying where most food is wasted
- Providing advice on how to reduce food waste
- Helping businesses send food to people in need through organisations that redistribute food
- Helping businesses to direct food waste to feed animals such as pigs (where legally permitted)
- Where food waste can’t be avoided, support composting and renewable energy generation.
Matthew Pencharz, the Mayor’s Senior Adviser on Environment said: “’FoodSave is a brilliant initiative that can help businesses reduce their food waste disposal costs and become more efficient. I encourage as many businesses as possible to get involved and both save money and help the environment.”
The Mayor is working with the Sustainable Restaurant Association and Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming to deliver the project directly with food businesses.
FoodSave will directly support 240 businesses, and by March 2015 aims to achieve overall savings of £360,000 and prevent more than 1,000 tonnes of food waste being sent to landfill. The Sustainable Restaurant Association will work with restaurants, hotels, pubs, quick service restaurants and canteens. Sustain will work with businesses involved in food retail, food manufacturing and preparation, food growing, farming, catering, street food, market stalls and wholesale markets.
FoodSave has already started working with a small number of businesses and the project will be rolled out to many more early in the new-year. If you are a food business and would like to find out more about the project you can visit www.foodsave.org.
FoodSave is part of the Mayor’s wide ranging support for London’s food economy which aims to help make it healthier, more sustainable and more profitable.
Notes to editors
1, FoodSave will be delivered by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) and Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, and their partners. The SRA will work with restaurants, hotels, pubs, canteens and quick service restaurants whit Sustain will work with business involved with food retail, food manufacturing and preparation, catering facilities and street food traders, and market tall holders, wholesale markets and food growers, and farmers
2, Other schemes the Mayor is involved in include supporting local food growing groups to develop into social enterprises (this includes growing on large scale in parts of London) and initiatives to promote jobs, apprenticeships and skills in the food sector (supported by Food Ambassador Raymond Blanc).
3, The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB), chaired by Richard Tracey, Assembly Member, working in conjunction with the Mayor of London and London Councils, has a remit to improve waste management in the capital. For more information on LWARB visit www.lwarb.gov.uk. For media inquiries please contact Marilyn Ayoade Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm 020 8536 5922 or e-mail [email protected]
4, The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) is a national, not-for-profit membership organisation providing restaurants with expert sustainability advice through a team of specialist account managers. The SRA helps member restaurants source food more sustainably, manage resources more efficiently and work more closely with their communities. Members enjoy the economic benefits of greater sustainability and the SRA promotes their activities to consumers. To get in touch about taking part in FoodSave, email [email protected] or call 020 7479 4224 www.thesra.org@thesra.
5, Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity. Sustain is a registered charity and represents around 100 national public interest organisations working at international, national, regional and local level. The organisation runs a number of projects and campaigns working towards a more sustainable food system, including Capital Growth (the food-growing network for London), London Food Link (a network for Londoners interested in local and sustainable food), and the Real Bread Campaign. To get in touch about taking part in FoodSave, contact Charlotte Jarman on [email protected] or 020 7065 0902. www.sustainweb.org.
6, Source of waste figures: 15 million tonne figure from Love Food Hate Waste (WRAP).