A Deep Dive into Household Food Waste in the UK, 2022 (Reasons, patterns, and opportunities for change)

To cut household food waste at scale, we need to know what’s being wasted, when and why. This report builds on WRAP’s research on household food waste volumes by revealing further information on the most wasted foods in UK homes, as well as the behaviours and moments driving that waste.

Members of the UK Food and Drink Pact are already making changes to help their customers reduce food waste at home, such as removing ‘best before’ dates from fresh produce and changing freezing guidance. But to achieve the scale of change needed, more must be done to make it easy for people to buy the right amount, keep food fresh, and use what they buy.

For government and business, these findings are a tool for action. They provide detailed insights into the most wasted food products in UK homes with suggestions on interventions that can reduce household food waste to reduce emissions, as well as save valuable resources and money.

Key insights

• A small number of events when a large amount of waste occurred accounts for a big share of food waste. These larger waste events are more likely to be edible parts of food (that is, excluding parts like egg shells, bones, inedible fruit peel) and commonly linked to milk, bread and packaged drinks.
• Nearly half of all packaged food waste comes from products that are more than 75% full when discarded. Much of this waste comes from fresh produce and bakery items.
• Evening meals and fridge/cupboard ‘clear-outs’ are when most food waste happens. Much of this is the edible parts of food and could have been frozen or used with better planning. Products like cakes, sauces, and bakery items are particularly likely to be wasted during clear-outs.
• Date labels are a leading driver of avoidable food waste. For example, of all bread wasted, one in three loaves is thrown away because of its best before date, even though it may still be edible.
• Food waste prevention must work hand-in-hand with food waste collections. Most food in packaging still ends up in our black bins, from where it is either incinerated or reaches landfill where it decomposes with high levels of harmful emissions.

Read the full report to see the most wasted food products by weight, in packaging and at different disposal occasions.

What needs to happen to reduce household food waste in the UK?  

Reducing household food waste cannot solely be done through actions at home. People need the right infrastructure, product types and information to buy only what they need, store it properly, and dispose of inedible waste so that it doesn’t end up in landfill. Together we must align across policy, changing the retail environment, and increasing public engagement to not just recycle more, but to waste less in the first place.

Household food waste collections help people physically see what they’re throwing away, creating an opportunity for behaviour change. When paired with targeted interventions, collections can become more than a recycling tool – they can help reduce waste in the first place. Government and businesses should invest in designing, testing, and scaling behaviour-change interventions that help people understand why reducing food waste matters, ways to achieve it and how to dispose of what’s left properly.

Brands and retailers can also use food waste collection data to identify prevention opportunities, such as selling loose produce, reducing pack sizes and changing product date labelling to support households to waste less, not just recycle more.

Read the full report and findings below.