London to pioneer new waste campaign

A new campaign plans to save Londoners a combined £330m each year by reducing the amount of food they throw away.

The EU funded initiative is being led by Resource London and plans to combine advice around avoiding food waste with messages on how to eat healthily and sustainably.

Branded TRiFOCAL London (Transforming City Food Habits For Life), the initiative will also act as a test bed for other European cities looking to target food waste prevention and recycling alongside healthy eating.

Resource London is a joint partnership between WRAP and LWARB. Together with Groundwork London, the organisation successfully bid for €3.2m from the European Commission to deliver the initiative in the English capital.

London households throw away an estimated 900,000 tonnes of food each year, of which 540,000 tonnes could have been eaten, according to WRAP.

The three year project aims to use innovative approaches to prevent food waste by changing planning, shopping, storage and meal preparation behavior; promoting healthy and sustainable eating by changing purchasing and preparation practices; and recycling more unavoidable food waste.

By the end of the initiative, a ‘food waste behavioural change resource bank’ will be developed, which can be used to help other European cities replicate the achievements of London.

“TRiFOCAL London represents a fantastic opportunity for Resource London to look at the bigger picture around food: what we consume in London, and how we deal with the unavoidable food waste that’s generated,” says Antony Buchan, head of programme at Resource London. “We want to help Londoners consume food more sustainably, save money and get a bit healthier by doing it, and then use their food recycling services more effectively.”