uilty of it at one time or another. If the bananas have gone too soft, the potatoes have sprouted too many eyes or the yoghurts are past their ‘best before’ we simply bin it. And you’re not alone.Domestic food waste costs the UK £12.5 billion a year despite a significant drive to reduce the problem, a report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said.
The equivalent of 24 million slices of bread, 5.8 million potatoes and 5.9 million glasses of milk are thrown away every day, while the equivalent of 86 million whole chickens are discarded every year.
But Wrap's ‘Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK 2012’ report suggests a lack of clarity around storage and labelling, over-estimating portions and buying more than is needed were some of the reasons consumers discarded perfectly edible food.
Households have cut avoidable food waste by 21% since 2007, saving consumers almost £13 billion, but the rate of reduction has slowed in recent years and 4.2 million tonnes is still thrown out which could have been eaten.
Almost half of this food goes straight from fridges or cupboards to the bin without ever making it to the dinner plate.
