Hospitality industry unites to support new food waste reduction initiative

26-Jun-2012 - Last updated on 26-Apr-2021 at 15:06 GMT

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Sixty-nine British hospitality businesses have already signed up to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement

Sixty-nine British hospitality businesses, ranging from hotels, pubs, restaurants, contract caterers and industry bodies, have today signed up to a new, voluntary agreement which aims to cut food waste by 5 per cent and the associated CO2 emissions by more than 230,000 tonnes.

The Hospitality and Food Service Agreement was launched by the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap). Compass, Domino’s, Greene King, McDonald’s, QHotels and Unilever are among the major players to have pledged their support.

“This new agreement shows these household names are committed to stopping this terrible waste of food,” said Lord Taylor, Defra’s Minister for the Environment.

“By taking additional steps to reduce the amount of food waste these businesses and organisations will stop the equivalent of 100 million wasted meals going to the bin and save themselves money – a win-win for everyone.”

Dr Liz Goodwin, chief executive of Wrap, said: “Tackling food waste brings significant financial and environmental benefits, as already demonstrated through our work on household food waste and within the Courtauld Commitment.

“I am therefore delighted that so many organisations have signed up already to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement, and we continue to urge businesses, large and small, to sign up.”

Cost savings

As well as the reduction in food waste and CO₂ emissions, the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement aims to increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste that is being recycled, sent to AD or composted to 70 per cent (a further CO2 reduction of 336,000 tonnes).

Signatories can also expect to achieve great cost savings - If just 25 per cent of the hospitality industry were to sign up, they could save the sector up to £76m by the end of 2015, reducing their CO₂ impact by 570,000 tonnes.

Organisations that opt to sign up to the agreement either join as signatories or supporters, depending on their role within the sector. Signatories report directly against the two main targets. Of the 69 organisations already signed up to the agreement, 28 are signatories and 41 are supporters.

Hospitality and Food Service Agreement supporters:

Ufi Ibrahim, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association (BHA): “The BHA is committed to working in partnership with government supporting its aim to reduce waste from food and associated packaging on a voluntary basis in hospitality and foodservice businesses.”
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA): “Reducing our impact on the environment is the right thing to do – but reducing waste also makes good business sense. While the brewing and pub industry has a good track record going back over 30 years, we can always do more.”
Mark Linehan, managing director of the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA): “This agreement is a great step forward in the battle to reduce food waste in the hospitality sector – a sector that is beginning to meet this considerable challenge. We would urge all operators to embrace this opportunity to reduce their environmental impact, save money and respond to public demand.”

Government support from the UK nations for the voluntary agreement has also been wide scale with fourteen UK government departments, Scottish, and Welsh governments all signing up to the agreement to encourage their own caterers to cut waste.

For more information on the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement and information on how to sign up, visit www.wrap.org.uk