Households

1. Weekly collections

   Weekly general waste collections make it easy to throw materials away without giving a second thought to re-use or recycling. The easy option inadvertently locks society into carrying out less desirable behaviours and is, therefore, a significant barrier to change.

2. Inconsistent local authority collections

   Furthermore, the lack of a clear, consistent, national strategy for waste collection is stalling investment in collection and an optimal disposal infrastructure and confuses the public that use them.

WRAP's 'Love Food Hate Waste' campaign, the Courtauld Commitment, and the work of celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver have all highlighted food waste and encourage waste prevention. Recent figures suggest that in real terms, food waste generation by UK households has fallen by 1.1m tonnes.⁵

In Northern Ireland, a formal consultation process began in September 2013 on legislation to ban food waste to landfill.

In Scotland, Zero Waste Scotland has included the phased banning of food waste to landfill and incineration, a ban on the use of macerators and the introduction of separate collection of food waste from households and businesses for AD.

In Wales, the Welsh Assembly commissioned a leading consultancy to review the option for Welsh waste, which concluded they set a target of 70% for household recycling by 2025. The separation, weekly collection and recycling of food waste is central to that strategy. Although in its infancy, this nationwide initiative has exceeded its interim recycling target and achieved a 54% recycling rate.

England is yet to offer a clear, national strategy to realise the full resource potential of its waste streams and specifically food waste. Consequently, different local authorities take different approaches to their waste. However, we are starting to see examples of collaboration at local authority level in the form of waste procurement partnerships, which are demonstrating clear cost and environmental benefits.

• Government to provide a strategic framework for tackling household waste, centred on best practice, commercial benefits, cost efficiencies and positive environmental outcomes that encourage separate food waste collections.
• Support the development of further collaborative waste collection partnerships between councils to maximise operational efficiencies and process recyclates locally.
• Where long contracts are in place, the local authority to explore mutually beneficial solutions with the waste provider to prevent food waste going to landfill or incineration.
• Local authorities to be urged to speed up the adoption of separate food waste collections to maximise environmental benefits and reduce contamination of other forms of recycling.
• Extend and increase support for food waste education programmes such as ‘Love Food, Hate Waste’, and review the effectiveness of campaign strategies.
• Find more innovative ways of reinforcing the food waste recycling message using the medium of TV programming.
• Government to introduce a phased ban on food waste to landfill starting in 2017. The second phase will ensure that all food waste from households and businesses be diverted by 2020.