A new behaviour initiative to prevent food waste has been launched by WRAP and Resource London that could save Londoners £330 million a year.
Known as TRiFOCAL (Transforming City Food Habits for Life), the organisations won €3.2 million from the European Commission after bidding to deliver the initiative to London.
The initiative is to be seen as a test before implementation occurs across other European cities.
It is estimated that London households throw away 900,000 tonnes of food each year. More than half could have been eaten.
The initiative aims to use innovation to:
- Prevent food waste by changing planning, shopping, storage, and meal preparation behaviour.
- Promote healthy and sustainable eating by changing purchasing and preparation practices.
- Recycle more unavoidable food waste.
Starting in September 2016, TRiFOCAL will run for three years and is set to engage with 33 London boroughs, including the likes of hospitality and food service businesses and schools.
Antony Buchan, Head of Programme at Resource London said:
TRiFOCAL London represents a fantastic opportunity for Resource London to look at the bigger picture around food: what we consume in London, and how we deal with the unavoidable food waste that’s generated.
“We want to help Londoners consume food more sustainably, save money and get a bit healthier by doing it, and then use their food recycling services more effectively.
“TRiFOCAL will build on the work we’ve done with Recycle for London and the Little Wins Love Food Hate Waste campaign. It delivers an exciting new chapter in making the capital greener.”
It costs consumers a total of £1.4 billion a year to purchase all the food and drink that is wasted, and generates the equivalent of 2.1 million tonnes of C02e emissions.
A recent study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), estimates that reducing food waste could mitigate climate change and that up to 14 per cent of emissions from agriculture in 2050 could be avoided.
Co-author, Prajal Pradhanm, said that:
Agriculture is a major driver of climate change, accounting for more than 20% of overall global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010
Avoiding food loss and waste would therefore avoid unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate climate change.”
In January, 30 company heads, government ministers, and executives with foundations launched a coalition to work towards cutting food waste by half and reducing food loss by 2030.
