Wasted food and drink ‘cost £13.7 billion last year'

The cost of buying and throwing away food and drink reached £13.7 billion last year, according to new analysis published by the Local Government Association.  
The analysis, which combined the purchasing price of food which wasn’t eaten with the cost to council tax-payers of sending it to landfill, indicated that households paid an estimated £520 each for uneaten food over the past 12 months. The estimated cost and tonnage of food waste was calculated using the latest existing figures on avoidable waste published by WRAP for food and non alcoholic beverages. This totalled 5.07 million tonnes and £11.2 billion.
 
The tonnage of food waste was multiplied by the rate of landfill tax in 2010/11 and added to this figure, taking into account inflation.
 
Now, the LGA is calling on retailers to start making a ‘serious contribution’ to reducing the amount of food waste discarded from people’s homes. In particular, it wants them to change the way they promote the sale of perishable goods like fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat – by replacing multi-buy deals with discounts on individual products.