To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce any adverse effects of food waste on climate change.
Answered on
3 February 2023
Separate food waste collections are our biggest waste sector contributor towards reducing waste sector emissions (and towards achieving zero food waste to landfill).
We are bringing forward £295 million of capital funding which will allow local authorities in England to prepare to implement free weekly separate food waste collections for all households. The Environment Act 2021 will enable us to require local authorities to collect food waste weekly, which would divert it from landfill and reduce emissions.
We have been engaging with local authorities as we develop how that funding will be allocated to them to implement separate food waste collections. We are currently drafting the Government response to our recent consultation on consistency in recycling, where we plan to confirm the commencement dates for separate food waste collections to be included in regulations.
We are fully committed to meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 target, which seeks to halve global food waste at consumer and retail levels by 2030 and avoid the greenhouse gas production emissions associated with food that becomes waste.