Voluntary agreement on waste

THE FOODSERVICE industry will have to reduce its food and packaging waste by 5% under proposals published by the Waste and Resources Action Programme.

 

The percentage of food and packaging waste recycled, composted or sent to anaerobic digestion will also have to rise from 47% to 70%.

 

These targets will be against a 2011 baseline and those for waste reduction will be measured in relation to carbon emissions rather than tonnages. This puts the agreement in line with a similar one for the grocery industry, the Courtauld Commitment, which is in its fifth year.

 

If delivered, WRAP says the targets will see 418,000 tonnes less waste going to landfill and save businesses £76m – even if only a quarter of the sector, by turnover, signed up.

 

However, WRAP is keen for as many businesses as possible to sign up to the agreement when it is launched later next year. The methods used for reporting will be adjusted according to the size of the business. Smaller businesses will not have to provide waste figures, but larger companies will report annually to WRAP.

 

Are these targets realistic? Or too ambitious? Or even perhaps not ambitious enough? WRAP is calling on the foodservice sector to feed back on the proposals by 11 January 2012. The full proposals are available for consultation and feedback at: www.wrap.org.uk/hospitality.