WRAP and Tesco call for urgent action to reduce global food waste

Tesco has reinforced its partnership with WRAP to inspire fresh action to tackle global food waste.

The new collaboration will deliver a programme of high-impact initiatives at key moments in the environmental calendar to drive forward action across the whole supply chain – from farm to fork – and motivate government action ahead of COP30.

Food waste currently contributes between 8-10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, and totals more than one billion tonnes every year.

The World Economic Forum estimates that food loss and waste also costs the global economy $936 billion a year, when more than 783 million people go hungry every day, and a third of humanity faces food insecurity.

Tony McElroy, Tesco’s head of circularity campaigns, said: “We’re incredibly proud of all the steps we’ve taken so far, from avoiding waste by redistributing over 300 million meals to charities and communities, to helping customers save money and cut waste at home.

“We remain focussed on driving forward action across our entire supply chain and in collaboration with our key partners as we accelerate progress to halve our food waste.”

The supermarket was a founding member of the UK Food and Drink Pact, managed by WRAP, and was one of the first retailers to ask suppliers to adopt the Target-Measure-Act approach to food waste that it had already adopted in its own operations.

For its part, WRAP has led work on transforming global food systems across food waste prevention, water security and GHG emissions for more than 20 years.

The two have a long association of working together, but this is the pair’s first partnership with an ambitious new global focus.

WRAP CEO Catherine David said: “The need to reset our global food system is imperative as our population grows and the climate changes. One third of what we produce goes to waste every year while millions go hungry. We need a fair and sustainable system to protect these fragile networks from future disruptions and to make the most of the food we have, for all.

“Food security will become a priority for governments as the real impacts of climate change bite harder in coming years, and tackling waste is a key step they must take. WRAP and Tesco are taking a stand to call out inaction, and demand more from those who fail to act.”

London Climate Action Week

The Tesco-WRAP partnership includes a panel at the Climate Innovation Forum on Wednesday 25 June for London Climate Action Week.

The panel brings together senior representatives from governments, businesses, cities, finance, the UN and the climate community at the key midpoint between COP meetings to show how business and industry can take action with meaningful consequences.

The panel will consist of: Catherine David (CEO, WRAP), Tony McElroy (head of circularity campaigns, Tesco) Kris Gibbon-Walsh (CEO, FareShare), and Mark Willcox (agronomy director, Branston).

Rosemary Brotchie senior manager for health and sustainability at The Consumer Goods Forum will chair the discussion.

The session sets out the aims to address every link in the food supply chain from farm to fork. This includes tackling food waste in the home (which makes up 60 per cent of the UK’s 10.7 million tonne total each year); increasing redistribution in retail and manufacture; and working with farmers and growers to reduce and redistribute surplus produce.

New WRAP targets

To redouble global action, WRAP has announced a series of ambitious new targets to drive action within other companies and across governments.

These address the twin pressures of producing food in ways we can sustain in the long term and reducing the impact that food production has in driving up GHG emissions, degrading water systems and fuelling food waste globally.

WRAP has set out:

• A collective business target – to drive 50 international retailers and manufacturers to adopt food loss and waste targets in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 (SDG12.3).
• A collective action drive – to inspire 50 new businesses to join WRAP’s food agreements across Brazil, the UK, Indonesia, Mexico, Australia, South Africa and the EU in line with SDG 12.3.
• A policy push – to create a united business voice calling for the inclusion of food loss and waste in national policies and NDCs. WRAP is calling on G20 member states, the Community of Latin American & Caribbean States, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to prioritise food loss and waste reduction, and to set targets and provide a supportive policy environment for businesses to act.