UK’s Top Supermarkets Vow to Lessen Food And Drink Waste By 2025

United Kingdom's leading supermarkets including Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons have signed a voluntary agreement committing to reduce food and drink waste by 20 percent in the next nine years. The agreement called Courtauld 2025 is aiming to cut waste and greenhouse gas emissions created by the food and drink industry by at least one-fifth until 2025.

According to The Guardian, the Courtauld 2025, which was spearheaded by the charitable organization Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), have garnered a total of 98 signatories. Aside from the top supermarkets, 24 local authorities, including the London Water and Recycling Board, have joined the movement. Major brands and manufacturers such as Nestle, Pizza Hut and Coca-Cola have also pledged to hit the targeted food and waste reduction.

Wrap has produced Courtauld 2025 after its studies found that the UK's annual food waste has amounted to almost 12 million tons per year, and 75 percent of it could have been avoided. This waste has a value of more than £19 billion.

Wrap projected that Courtauld 2025 will provide the UK economy a cumulative savings of around £20 billion. It will also put the country on track to meet the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal to reduce retailers and consumers' food waste by 50 percent in 2030.

"To safeguard UK food, we need a step-change to increase sustainable food and drink production and consumption, conserve resources and combat climate change. Courtauld 2025 will do this," Dr. Richard Swannell, Wrap director of sustainable food systems, told the Independent. "This is an ambitious undertaking and having key signatories on board on day one puts us in a strong position at the start of this new era for our food industry."

Commenting on the recent development, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs minister Rory Stewart said that he is delighted that food and drink companies have committed to Wrap's agreement to reduce UK's food waste. "Under the last framework we have already reduced food waste in the supply chain by 10 percent. And this teamwork and leadership should allow us to go much further," he stated.