Nestlé UK and Ireland
Reducing food waste
Food waste is a significant contributor to climate change. Approximately a third of all food generated by producers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers is never eaten.
UK households produce around 70% of the UK’s 9.5 million tonnes of food waste every year. That’s 6.6 million tonnes at a cost of around £14 billion.
This food waste creates between 8 and 10% of greenhouse gas emissions.
What are we doing to change things?
Acting on food waste is a key part of our commitment to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050. Since 2016 we’ve reduced food waste in our operations by 41%.
“With food waste worth more than £19 billion, which contributes to more than 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK each year, it is crucial that we accelerate collective action on food waste…”
The less we waste the less we need to produce
Our approach is ‘Waste not want not’. We conduct food-waste audits to identify hotspots where we can reduce food waste at source. These assessments ensure we have a consistent approach to measurement and reporting of food waste, making us better able to identify opportunities and implement changes.
In 2015, we achieved zero waste to landfill, including food waste, across our entire UK and Irish operations.
We work with Fareshare and Community Shop in the UK and Food Cloud in Ireland to redistribute more of our surplus food for charitable and commercial use.
We are a member of Champions 12.3, a coalition of the world’s leading food retailers and providers working to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 – to reduce food waste, by 2030, to 50% of its 2016 level.
Nestlé UK and Ireland Food Loss and Waste reports
Managing our food waste effectively can not only help reduce its environmental impact, but also helps address some of the food inequality issues experienced in our communities. We are proud to commit to the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap. Only by working together we can address this issue at the pace and scale required.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP)
