In the UK we waste 6.5 million tonnes of food every year, 4.5 million of which is edible and is enough to fill 38 million wheelie bins.

Christmas food waste

Christmas is the time of the year when food waste is at it's highest. Just during Christmas, almost 270,000 tons of edible food is wasted every year.

Information about how you can reduce your food waste during Christmas can be found on the Respect Food website.

How can you reduce waste

Shopping sensibly

The average family of four can save just over £60 per month by reducing their food waste by shopping sensibly or by not over ordering at a restaurant. If you cannot make good use of the extra portion do not be tempted by it. As well as saving you money this is also helping to look after the environment.

Make a shopping list before you visit the supermarket and do not be tempted by the ‘buy one, get one free’ offers if they are not going to get eaten. More information about saving money on food can be found on the Love Food Hate Waste website.

Preparation

There are two main reasons why we throw away good food, we either cook too much food, prepare too much or we do not use it in time. The foods we waste the most are fresh vegetables and salad, milk, fresh fruit and bakery items such as bread and cakes. More information about portion sizes and preparing food can be found on the Love Food Hate Waste website.

Food storage

Knowing how to store your food correctly will help to reduce the food waste. There are lots of food types that you may not know how to store correctly. An A-Z food storage list can be found on the Love Food Hate Waste website.

Fridge temperature

You need to make sure that your fridge is always at the right temperature. Your fridge should be below 5°C, but the average UK fridge is set to 7°C which is too hot. More information about how to correctly store food in your fridge at the right temperature can be found on the Love Food Hate Waste website.

Leftover food

You could always try looking for some leftover food recipes to make use of your leftovers and reduce the food waste. The Love Food Hate Waste website has some simple, creative recipes to use up any leftover food. You could also take part in with their two week food challenge 'Make Food Matter'.

Even if you are determined to reduce the amount of food waste, there will always be some leftovers. Most leftovers can still be recycled at the kerbside in your brown food bin. More information about what food can be recycled can be found on our waste and recycling page.

Personal food waste journey

You can take the Out of Date quiz to find out where you are on your own personal waste journey and for tips to further your journey on the Out of Date website.

Climate change

If we all stopped wasting food for just one day, it could do the same for climate change as planting half a million trees. Whether it’s leftovers from dinner or an unopened bag of salad that’s gone out of date, every little bit of food we waste contributes to climate change.

Recycling process

If you want to know what happens to your food waste once your brown bin is emptied, you can watch a video about it on our YouTube channel.

More information about recycling food waste can be found on our interesting recycling facts page.

Different waste and materials

Baby waste

Electrical items

Food waste

Glass

Home composting

Metals

Paint and paint cans

Paper and cardboard

Textiles