Banbury - New research led by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) is set to calculate the amount of waste in the UK retail supply chain for pre-prepared food for the first time – and identify how this can be reduced in order for businesses to make cost and environmental savings.

Covering four representative products - sandwiches, pizza, quiche and ready meals - the research will develop detailed ‘resource maps’ to highlight the amount of food and packaging waste generated for each product type at key stages in the chilled and frozen supply chains. It will also calculate the associated carbon emissions and economic impact, as well as detailing the amount of water used and disposed of during the manufacture of these products.

Best practice guidance covering storage, handling and packaging will then be produced to enable companies in the pre-prepared food categories to benchmark themselves against data and maximise opportunities for achieving environmental benefits and cost savings. This will include solutions for minimising waste and improving resource use from initial production through to distribution and back of store. The maps will also include WRAP data on levels of packaging and food waste from households, so that a whole chain can be seen and the ‘hot spots’ identified.

WRAP is urging companies throughout the sector to take part in the research to help provide a detailed understanding of the waste produced across all components of the supply chain. Data collection will include a comprehensive industry survey and company-specific resource minimisation reviews, covering 80 percent of the UK market for the products selected.

Charlotte Henderson, Retail Supply Chain Programme Manager at WRAP, said: “Identifying where waste is generated, and the reasons why, will help the development of effective solutions which are tailored to these products, with learnings then applied across the category. By sharing these with the sector, we aim to help companies at all stages of the supply chain access these commercial and environmental benefits.”

Quelle: WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme)

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