West Dunbartonshire Council are continuing to urge employees and residents to make small changes to the way they manage their food to help reduce waste sent to landfill, reduce carbon emissions and save themselves over £500 per annum..
Last year in the most detailed study of its kind, a new report, The Food We Waste in Scotland, published by Zero Waste Scotland highlighted that £1 billion of food is needlessly thrown away by Scottish households each year which equates to over 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere each year. This year a Council survey revealed that over 60% of residents on the alternate weekly service now notice they have food waste. By planning in advance consumers can reduce food waste and save money.
The national report revealed that Scottish households throw out 570,000 tonnes of food and drink each year, most of which could have been avoided if it had been planned, stored or prepared better. This is a loss to the average household of £430 every year. For families with children it is higher at £550 – a significant chunk of the family budget.
Based on a survey across Scotland, the most common items thrown away were milk (31,000 tonnes), sliced bread (25,000 tonnes), fizzy drinks (23,000 tonnes), potatoes (19,000 tonnes) and ready meals or snacks (14,000 tonnes). In addition, 96,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables were binned. If these had been eaten, they could have contributed 1 billion portions of our recommended 5-a-day intake. Half of the good food thrown out for council collection was whole and uneaten, with one in seven items still in their packaging.
For more information on the campaign visit the website www.wasteawarelovefood.org.uk or download the Love Food Hate Waste Recipes & Tips Cards (139 KB .pdf document) or the Recipes & Tips Leaflet (178 KB .pdf document).
For tips on how to make the most of your freezer download these hints from Zero Waste Scotland.
Zero Waste Scotland is the new programme created by the Scottish Government to support delivery of its Zero Waste Plan. It integrates the existing programmes WRAP Scotland, Waste Aware Scotland, Remade Scotland, Envirowise, NISP and some programmes delivered by Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Community Recycling Network for Scotland.
For more information on any waste prevention or recycling issues visit the Waste Services webpage or call 0845 111 0050.
