If you've been watching the news recently you would have heard that France has brought in a legislation to ban supermarkets from spoiling or throwing away food and instead, donating it to charities. The plan is for supermarkets to sign contracts with charities by July next year or face penalties including fines of up to £53,000 or two years in jail. The EU throws away 89m tonnes of food each year and unfortunately, the UK is one of the worst culprits for it. The House of Lords conducted an inquiry and believe the figure will rise to around 126m tonnes by 2020 if no action is taken. This will impact costs to the environment, economy and society. Between them, Asda, Co-operative Food, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose account for around 87% of the UK grocery market and were responsible for the disposal of 200,000 tonnes of food in 2013. Food Waste in EU by Sector
- 42% household
- 39% food/drink manufacturing
- 14% food service/hospitality
- 5% retail/wholesale
These supermarkets contributed to just 1.3% of all food waste in the UK in 2013. However, looking at food waste across the EU, the retail and wholesale sector accounts for 5% of the total food waste arising. Household food waste is the top of the list, with a staggering 42%, although combine the food and drink sector with retail and wholesale, and they would top this. A 2013 report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers claimed that around 2bn tonnes of food produced in the world each year goes to waste. It also highlighted:
- Unnecessarily strict sell-by dates
- Promotional offers such as buy one get one free
- Consumer demand for cosmetically perfect food
- Poor storage as key contributors to the waste
France's legislation will remove the best-before dates on fresh food as well as introduce an education programme about food waste in schools and businesses. This is all part of the plan to halve the amount of food waste in France by 2025. According to official estimates, the average French citizen throws out 20kg-30kg of food a year, of which 7kg is still in its wrapping. In 2012 UK households threw away 7m tonnes of food in 2012, enough to fill London's Wembley stadium nine times over. So what can be done? Should France's new legislation be rolled out all over the EU? Time will tell. 