Saving food waste

Good food goes to waste every day. The latest numbers are enormous.

• Worldwide 1,300 million tonnes
• European Union 89 million tonnes
• United Kingdom 14.4 million tonnes
• Germany 10.4 million tonnes
• Netherlands 9.5 million tonnes
• France 9.1 million tonnes.

There are lots of voluntary schemes to make better use of waste. France has just passed a new law requiring supermarkets to donate surplus food to charity or divert it in other ways such as for animal feed.

The implications of this move are massive. The French National Assembly vote was unanimous. There is bound to be pressure on other countries to take similar initiatives.

Tesco already declares its food waste figures. Last year’s UK total was 55,400 tonnes, 2% less than in 2013. This looks like another example for others to follow.