Reported by The Guardian today, it has been announced that Sainsbury’s has dropped its ambitious target of getting customers to halve their household food waste.
Launched in 2016, the “Waste Less, Save More” scheme began a five-year plan to help customers save money by reducing their food waste.
The supermarket set a target of getting households to slash food waste by 50 per cent, which would save the average family around £350 a year.
With a one year trial held in the market town of Swadlincote, the supermarket has scrapped the target after concluding that it would be an unlikely success.
After finding the task “much more difficult than expected” Paul Crewe, head of sustainability, energy, engineering and environment at Sainsbury’s, said that, “having spent the last year getting under the skin of household food waste, we have realised that this kind of behavioural change won’t happen overnight, but we have definitely seen positive progress on what will be a longer journey.”
The goal that the supermarket set is in line with the UN’s sustainable development target, which estimates that global food loss and waste loses costs the global economy around £770 billion.
It is estimated that households in the UK throw out around 7.3 million tonnes per year, costing, according to Wrap, £700 a year in food waste alone.
Crewe continued, saying that the supermarket will take the campaign nationwide, and that, “even if we inspire small changes within our communities, these will add up to have a big impact.”
A trial will now take place in Peckham to measure and analyse the challenges of reducing food waste for those living in dense residential areas.
The results of the trials are to be independently evaluated by Wrap and published at the end of May.
