Up to 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin flesh will be thrown out by the end of today, according to a leading British waste management company.
Business Waste said that despite encouragement to try pumpkin recipes, most UK households are not sure what to do with the product and are most likely to put them in the bin.
The website’s Mark Hall said that the worst thing is that just a week after the controversy of supermarket food waste comes a festival that openly wastes food.
He said: 'Unfortunately, most people don't have a clue what to do with the pumpkin flesh, and bins up and down the country are bursting with the stuff because many people still don't compost. It's food waste on a grand scale.'
The website said that assuming four million pumpkins are sold each year to be hollowed out as Jack-o'-lanterns, up to 18,000 tonnes of the fruit will be wasted this week alone.
This compares to Tesco's own figures, which revealed that 30,000 tonnes of food were wasted from its stores in the first six months of 2013.
Hall added: 'Every year, people are being told to try out pumpkin recipes, but the bottom line is that people are either too lazy, or just don't like the idea.
'Pumpkins are a culinary unknown to most people, and the bin is by far the easiest option. It's a shame because farmers are growing whole fields of these things just to be wasted.'
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