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 publish a timetabled plan for ensuring that food retailers and producers make as much left-over food produce as possible available to foodbanks and other charities.

Businesses are required to follow the food and drink waste hierarchy. This lays out a prioritised list of options to reduce waste. From preventing surplus and waste arising in the first place, to redistribution to charities and commercial redistributors, followed by sending to animal feed.

Food and drink waste hierarchy: deal with surplus and waste - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Businesses are aided in this through following the Defra supported Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) led Food Waste Reduction Roadmap. This sets out a plan for businesses to reduce their food waste and increase redistribution through a Target, Measure and Act approach. By measuring and acting on waste, businesses can take targeted action and more surplus will be redistributed.

To date, 314 businesses have committed to the Roadmap. Recent data from WRAP stated that in 2021 over 106,000 tonnes was redistributed, worth over £330 million and the equivalent of over 253 million meals. Over 40,000 tonnes from the retail sector alone. Data from businesses implementing Target, Measure, Act revealed that they were collectively responsible for 90% of the increase in surplus redistributed between 2018 and 2020 redistributing almost 26,000 tonnes more food between them in 2020 than in 2018.

A consultation on options to improve the reporting of surplus and waste by large food businesses in England has recently closed. Defra will publish a government response in due course.

WRAP Food waste measurement roadmap 2021 Progress report

In order to bolster the capability and capacity of the redistribution sector to take advantage of the increase in surplus made available by businesses, nearly £13 million has been awarded to over 250 redistribution organisations since 2018 across the country. This funding has provided important infrastructure such as additional warehousing, vehicles, fridges and freezers.