Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce mandatory food waste reporting for (a) large and (b) medium sized businesses.

The Secretary of State decided in November 2023 to look again at how best to secure the benefits of food waste reporting for large businesses. We now intend to gather further evidence and re-consider all options in the 2022 consultation, including mandatory reporting, using the latest available data. We expect to make the decision later this year.

Medium sized businesses (MSBs) are not under consideration for mandatory reporting approach. MSBs are supported to report voluntarily, including through the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap and the Guardians of Grub programme, which provide guidance to businesses of all sizes on tackling food waste.