Shadow Environment Secretary, Rachael Maskell, has called for legislation to force councils to collect food waste according to an exclusive interview in The Independent.
According to Labour, every council should be forced to collect food waste as part of a nationwide policy.
Maskell said that, “Councils should collect food waste,” and that, “we need a sustained policy around the country.”
Currently, less than half of UK councils collect food waste.
In London, only 18 boroughs out of 33 provide a food waste collection service to residents.
Each year the country throws away seven million tonnes of food, costing families on average around £700 a year.
It is thought that at least 4.2 million tonnes of food waste is avoidable.
Food waste in London costs authorities around £50 million and generates 2.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.
These authorities could save up to £50 for every tonne of food waste if it was transported to anaerobic digestion plants.
There the waste would be turned into renewable energy and fertiliser.
Only last week a survey revealed that up to one third of Brits don’t know how to recycle due to confusing and often contradictory rules set out by local authorities.
In order to tackle the “scandal” of food waste, the Evening Standard has launched a major investigation in order to find out just how much food supermarkets are wasting – alongside just how vast the problem of food poverty is in the capital.
Maskell also went on to criticise the Government’s “incomplete” food policy, saying that, “we have a poor relationship with food as a nation, we know as a country we’re overpurchasing food and overeating.”
“We have to look at the whole issue around education around food, how we can conserve it better, so we are reducing food waste but also looking at what we’re putting on our plate,” she said.
