Senior MPs have demanded a ban on food waste going to landfill.
A new report by the Environmental Audit Committee notes that a 'circular economy' approach is needed to save resources as the world's population rises.
In England, 8.5 million tonnes of local authority-collected waste goes to landfill, according to Government figures.
If Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are included, the amount of waste in the UK being buried is in the region of 11 million tonnes.
Committee chair, Joan Walley, said: 'It's really looking at a whole new way that we do business and how we live our lives, and really accepting that it makes sense from everyone's perspective to have a circular economy where we reuse and recycle and have virtually zero waste.'
The crux of the report is that local councils should be banned from sending leftover food to landfill sites.
Of the 7.2 million tonnes of food thrown out every year, only 400,000 tonnes is collected separately for recycling in the UK.
The MPs also want separate food collections for composting or making biogas, renewable energy and fertiliser through the anaerobic digestion process.
In Wales, more than 90 per cent of homes now have access to organic recycling facilities, but in England, only around a quarter of local councils provide a separate food waste collection.
Aleyn Smith-Gillespie, of the Carbon Trust, told BBC News: 'Stronger signals are needed to encourage businesses to take action on ending the throwaway society.
'Many companies do recognise the potential in a shift towards a more sustainable circular economy, but currently only a handful of pioneers are taking the important first steps.'
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