Businesses from major UK food retailers and brands, to food service companies, trade bodies and local authorities have become signatories to the Courtauld Commitment 2025.
The commitment includes three major goals including a 20% reduction in food and drink waste arising in the UK, a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas intensity of food and drink consumed in the UK and a reduction in impact associated with water use in the supply chain.
Signatories will work together with WRAP to identify new actions and opportunities to save resources which can be shared across the entire supply chain, to make the whole system more sustainable and resilient to supply chain disruptions.
Dr Richard Swannell, director of sustainable food systems at WRAP, said “The pressures of resource scarcity, population growth and our changing climate will have profound effects on our food supply in the coming years, and business efficiency. 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.”
WRAP will report on progress to reflect the combined impact across the entire food system, and estimates that meeting the Commitment targets will deliver £20 billion worth of savings to the UK economy. The majority of the savings will be enjoyed by individuals; with approximately £4 billion in business savings possible.
The British Beer & Pub Association, KFC and The University Caterers Association are amongst the founding signatories.
Brigid Simmonds, BBPA chief executive, said: “In the UK today, for every two tonnes of food consumed, one tonne is wasted, and with projections for two billion more mouths to feed across the globe by 2050, it’s easy to see why the commitments agreed to in Courtauld 2025 are so important.”
Janet Cox, head of health, safety and environment at KFC UK & Ireland, said: “We are proud to be a founding signatory of the Courtauld Commitment 2025 and welcome the ambition to cut the amount of resource used to produce our food and drink by a fifth over the next ten years.
“Our food donation scheme, which is now in 60 restaurants around the country, will help us make progress as we continue to roll it out into half of all of our 890 restaurants in the UK & Ireland by the end of 2016. In addition, 2015 saw us we reach our target of recycling 80% of back of house waste and we are pushing to go beyond this in 2016 and by April 2017, we aim to have zero waste to landfill.”
Julie Barker, chair of TUCO, said: “Sustainability remains a hugely important issue for our members, and indeed the Industry. As an organisation we strive to lead the way on finding innovative solutions to the widespread challenges – our commitment to Courtauld 2025 is a key part of this programme.
“As part of TUCO’s involvement, we hope to harness the efforts and passion already demonstrated by member institutions, encouraging them to go one step further, reducing waste even further, recycling more and together, reaping the significant environmental and financial rewards.”
The full list of signatories is as follows:
Retailers: Aldi, ASDA, Central England Co-operative, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Musgraves, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Co-operative Food and Waitrose.
Brands & manufacturers: Associated British Foods, ARLA, Birds Eye UK, Castell Howell Foods, Coca Cola Enterprises, Concha Y Toro, Dawnfresh Seafood Ltd, Heineken, Kingsland Drinks Ltd, Nestlé UK and Ireland, Premier Foods, Unilever, and Warburtons.
Hospitality and food service: apetito, Bidvest, Compass, Greene King Retail, KFC, OCS, Pizza Hut, Sodexo UK & Ireland.
Local authorities: 23 authorities including the London Waste and Recycling Board representing more than 42% of the UK’s population.
Trade and sector organisations, Government and academia: Agrimetrics Ltd, Alupro Ltd, British Beer & Pub Association, British Glass, British Hospitality Association, British Retail Consortium, British Sandwich & Food to Go Association, British Soft Drinks Association, Business in the Community, Café Society, Centre for Sustainable Energy Use in Supply Chains, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and The Institute of Food Safety Integrity and Protection, Chartered Institute of Waste Management, Chilled Food Association, Company and Community Shops Ltd, Confederation of Paper Industries, Dairy UK, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Department of the Environment Northern Ireland, Eating Better, Envrionmental Association of Universities and College, Food & Drink Federation, Food and Drink Wales Industry Board, Food Cardiff, Food Innovation Wales, Food Standards Agency, Foodservice Packaging Association, Fresh Produce Consortium, Hospital Caterers Association, Institute of Hospitality, Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, Metal Packaging Manufacturing Association, National Association of Waste Disposal Officers, Olio, The Packaging Federation, Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food Association, Plan Zheroes, The Rubbish Diet, Scottish Government, Sustainable Restaurant Association, The University Caterers Organisation, UFS United Against Waste, University of Lincoln, Welsh Government, WWF and 2Degrees.