Written evidence submitted by the Hampshire County Council (FOW0007)

Submitter

Introduction

Hampshire County Council welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to this important inquiry. The issue of food waste is an important debate that has far-reaching implications for the waste industry and it is vitally important that all elements of the process chain come together to consider this issue collaboratively. At a time when all local authorities are facing challenging decisions to make regarding financial projections, a reduction in food waste arisings cannot be overlooked as a means of achieving greater economic stability. Local authorities and their citizens cannot do this alone however, and the input of all stakeholders in the supply chain, including the UK Government, is necessary to effect lasting change.

Hampshire is the third largest shire county in England with over 1.3m residents. The proximity to London as well as a busy coastline and two National Parks gives Hampshire a unique combination of dense urban communities and rich rural landscapes. Working in partnership with the 11 borough and district councils and two unitary authorities through the long-established Project Integra partnership, Hampshire has been at the forefront of viewing waste as a resource for over 10 years, and currently landfills less than six per cent of its total household waste. Hampshire County Council is also a strong advocate of waste prevention and currently manages Smart Living, a behavioural change campaign aiming to make residents more aware of what they buy and throw away.

What is the economic, environmental and social impact of food waste in England?

It is clear that food waste makes up a significant proportion of household waste, and with it comes a substantial cost. As a result of sampling undertaken at Hampshire County Council’s Material Analysis Facility (MAF), the Authority was able to estimate that total food waste in the kerbside residual stream in 2014/15 across Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton accounted for over 86,000 tonnes. This resulted in a disposal cost to Hampshire County Council of approximately £2.5m on its own[1], although clearly this does not take into account other associated costs such as APC residues or emission control premiums. It should be noted that while Hampshire was able to send all of this material to energy recovery, other authorities that need to rely on landfill disposal would have faced an even more severe economic impact.

The social impact of food waste is equally negative. National research by WRAP suggests that around 25% of residual household waste is food waste, and Hampshire’s own local analysis supports this. Critically however, approximately 60% of that food waste was deemed to be avoidable; i.e. it need not have occurred if the food had been eaten. The impact is three-fold: firstly this waste has to be disposed of somewhere which obviously comes with a secondary cost, and thirdly it highlights a wider social problem whereby consumers are unaware of the wastefulness they are purporting. It is perhaps indicative of the ‘throwaway society’ that consumers in general are content to buy more than they need, with modern lifestyles that are built around speed and convenience. Many residents are not aware of the simple steps they could take to reduce what they throw away whilst simultaneously getting more value for their money.

A distinction needs to be made between avoidable and non-avoidable food waste. Non-avoidable items such as teabags, egg shells and banana skins can make effective compost ingredients and more needs to be done to promote this to consumers, perhaps through extended subsidies for home composters. A greater impact can be made however with avoidable food waste as that is what costs the most in economic and environmental terms, both for local authorities and individual consumers, and we would strongly recommended that this is a priority area of focus for national Government.

What measures could be most effective in reducing food waste by retailers, the hospitality sector, local government, and consumers?

While there is clearly a need for all sectors to ‘do their bit’ to reduce food waste volumes, Hampshire County Council considers that a joined-up collaborative approach would be most effective. In this way, all parts of the process chain would take responsibility to do what they can as individuals, while working collectively to achieve the best results instead of apportioning blame elsewhere. The new Courtauld 2025 Commitment is an excellent example of this, and it is to be hoped that many organisations take the opportunity through the Commitment to work together on pioneering projects, with WRAP’s support through the Innovation Project for signatories being a good initiative.

Increased communication with consumers that is consistent and targeted is a highly beneficial tool for effecting behavioural change. In today’s modern world, a vast range of communications channels exist for engaging with consumers and it is crucial for the success of any campaign that a variety of techniques and messages are used. Clearly, local authority budgets are currently under severe strain and marketing is invariably seen as a luxury activity that can be significantly cut, however this misses the point that the great majority of consumers respond positively to regular reminders on what to do. There is also a need for local authorities to take more of a longer-term view as authorities such as Surrey and the North London Waste Authority have achieved significant disposal cost savings as a result of investing in communications and/or engagement. Through Smart Living, Hampshire is just starting to realise similar benefits and this is something the County Council hopes to significantly develop in the short to medium term.

In order for local authorities to successfully initiate effective promotional activities, WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which provides artwork and tools to assist local initiatives, needs to continue to fund, develop and make available supporting materials to authorities in order that they may initiate campaigns that get best value from their resources. A greater focus on educational materials would be beneficial as children are a key target audience both in terms of encouraging good behaviour in the future and due to ‘pester power’. At present, the National Curriculum does not allow significant time to be dedicated to important social themes such as waste and recycling, and this needs to change. There is also a case that major retailers should be encouraged to provide support, both materially and financially, to develop Love Food Hate Waste, noting that they could stand to benefit themselves as it would be an effective reputational aid for all parties.

A key element of any waste related campaign is to inspire and educate consumers with simple tips and advice, in this case, on how they can reduce their food waste. Love Food Hate Waste already publishes recipes for using up leftovers but these require greater promotion. Consumers can also benefit from better understanding portion sizes to prevent over-cooking or over-buying and Hampshire County Council has found simple measures such as inexpensive giveaways like rice scoops and spaghetti measurers provide both a talking point and a subsequent motivation to amend behaviour. The Council is also currently working on a number of short (3-4 minute) cookery demonstration videos to be hosted online which will again give consumers information on skills and tips to allow them to get the most value from the food they buy. It would be welcomed to see major retailers increase the amount of information published on their packaging and at point-of-sale too to help consumers understand how much they should be cooking as well as more advice on storage and freezing methods.

Another measure, and one that would potentially receive a positive reception from consumers, would be greater support and promotion for smaller retailers such as butchers and greengrocers. Such an initiative would need to focus on the enhanced freedom and choice that consumers can have purchasing items from small retailers as they would be better able to specify the exact amount of produce that they require, which would have the knock-on effect of reducing the volume of food waste thrown away. 

Hampshire County Council also strongly believes that, while an understanding of recycling and recovery of food waste is clearly important, it should not be confused as a waste prevention intervention as this is about dealing with the food waste once it has arisen. As alluded to above, greater focus needs to be placed on educating and inspiring consumers to prevent the waste being produced in the first place, while working with major retailers (particularly supermarkets) in order for them to become more responsible in their promotions and packaging so that consumers are not encouraged to buy more than they need.

What proposals are necessary to further reduce food waste?

While local campaigns have their place and can be very effective in targeted areas, there can be no denying that larger-scale national initiatives can make a greater impact. The recent high-profile campaign fronted by celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and aired on BBC1 primetime, Hugh’s War on Waste, highlighted how a heightened national consciousness can lead to a massive call to action and, crucially, a significant change in behaviour. It also shows why spurious tabloid newspaper articles on waste issues can be so damaging as consumers place high credence in what they see or hear. It would therefore be good to see campaigns such as Love Food Hate Waste take on an even greater national profile by receiving investment from central Government to fund regular advertisements and editorials, both digitally and in print, ideally to the point where Love Food Hate Waste becomes as instantly recognisable as the Keep Britain Tidy campaign materials and logo from the 1980s.

Hampshire County Council would also like to see Love Food Hate Waste supported by WRAP and DEFRA to undertake more research and development into new and innovative approaches to publicise the impact of food waste and solutions to mitigate it. Technological advances offer previously undreamed of opportunities to directly engage with consumers through apps and social media, which would help encourage engagement with today’s digitally savvy generations. Recent media reports have indicated that millennials have a far greater sense of their economic and environmental impact on the world they live in, and engagement with these influential groups could have very positive impacts.

A further initiative which could have extensive success would be to better promote the links between food waste and healthy eating. Television programmes such as the BBC’s Eat Well For Less are popular as they bring together key household management themes such as budgeting, portion control, cooking tips and waste reduction. Love Food Hate Waste could partner with a well-known lifestyle campaign such as Change 4 Life to collaborate on messages and showcase how the two initiatives together could have great benefits to consumers’ wellbeing. Health research has time and again highlighted the benefits of home cooking through being able to control salt intake etc., however there has been little evidence to date of a link to the impact this could have on food waste arisings which could be significantly reduced by consumers taking greater responsibility for what they buy and cook.

How effective are existing voluntary initiatives in England and is there a need for legislation?

It is Hampshire County Council’s view that voluntary initiatives are useful but that they can only achieve so much. The recent launch by WRAP of Courtauld 2025 – a commitment by a multitude of organisations with an interest in reducing food waste – highlights the impact that voluntary initiatives can have, however, it fair to say that the large majority of signatories are either existing advocates of the debate or have the financial wherewithal to be in a position to initiate change. Obtaining the support of those organisations that are not yet engaged in the debate is much more difficult.

Legislation and/or mandatory targets could be helpful, however again the effects could be limited. Imposing food waste targets on local authorities for example would be difficult as it would have the potential to conflict with recycling and recovery processes and may encourage the wrong behaviour. Hampshire County Council believes that increased regulation of the retail and hospitality sectors is more likely to have an impact as it would encourage these organisations to make greater efforts to ensure that food and drink sold is stored more effectively and that unsold surplus is minimised wherever feasible or redirected to social welfare organisations such as Fareshare for redistribution to ensure it is not wasted. That said, incentivising consumers can be successful in the right circumstances, with the implementation of the five pence carrier bag charge across the UK being a case in point. 

What are the comparative approaches to reducing and managing food waste in the devolved nations, and across Europe?

Comparative approaches in the devolved nations appear to be more advanced than in England. However, the overall focus seems to be primarily on treatment of food waste rather than actual prevention. The Welsh Government published its Towards Zero Waste Strategy in 2010 which set out that food waste must be collected separately for anaerobic digestion treatment, with a focus on reuse by 2050 across all waste operations to aim for closed loop or upcycled solutions. The Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Plan similarly imposes segregated food waste collections and calls for a focus on waste prevention for all waste, but again this concentrates on reduction rather than actual prevention. A report issued by the Scottish Government in 2009, The Food We Waste in Scotland, made some alarming findings regarding the volume of food waste thrown away, but the only truly ‘preventative’ measure proposed was to promote Love Food Hate Waste.

The European Union Waste Framework Directive stipulated that all member states should establish a waste prevention programme by 2013. It recommended strong emphasis on preventing waste generation “at all levels from product comparisons at community levels through action by local authorities to national measures”. The Framework outlined that action was needed at all stages of the process chain including design, production, distribution, consumption and use phases through the employment of educational, economic and logistic measures. This once again highlights just how important a collaborative approach across the whole supply chain is if England is going to make a major step forward in the way in which food waste is viewed and handled in the future.

September 2016